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Gendered Inequalities on Contraceptive Use and Women’s Reproductive Rights

Gendered Inequalities on Contraceptive Use and Women’s Reproductive Rights

28 september 2022

Gendered Inequalities on Contraceptive Use and Women’s Reproductive Rights

A Philosophical Reflection on Women in the Johane Marange Apostolic Church in Harare

Chipo Mable Hatendi, PhDLecturer,
University of Zimbabwe

 

Religion plays a significant role in creating inequalities between men and women in different facets  of  life.  The  Johane  Marange Apostolic  Church  (JMAC)  doctrine  particularly  on contraception has created inequalities with regard to women’s reproductive rights. This paper is a qualitative investigation and examination of the gendered inequalities on contraceptive use and reproductive rights of women in the JMAC. The paper made use of the Johane Marange Apostolic  Churches  in  some  selected  districts  of Harare  as  case  study.  The  paper  seeks  to answer the following research question, how has the JMAC doctrine on contraception created some gendered inequalities  particularly on contraceptive use and reproductive rights of women in this Apostolic church. In answering this research question, I made use of field data collected through participant observation and in-depth interviews with women in some selected JMACs in Harare. The paper takes a qualitative research approach. I analyse the data in order to draw conclusions  regarding  gendered  inequalities  on  contraceptive  use  and  reproductive  rights  of men  and  women  in  JMAC.  Major  findings  of  the study  showed  that  the  clandestine  use  of modern contraceptives by women in JMAC against their church doctrine has turned them into independent  agents.  Women  in  JMAC  have  now  changed  the  way  in  which  they  view  their sexuality, thus, they are now able to control their sexual and reproductive capabilities. Through the clandestine use of modern contraceptives, the paper showed that most married women in JMAC  now  liberate  themselves  from  being  passive  sexual  and  reproductive  vessels.  On  the whole,  the  paper  submits  that  it  is  the  JMAC  religious  doctrine  against  contraception  which has created some gendered inequalities on sexual and reproductive rights of women in JMAC.

 

The  paper investigates  and  examines  the  gendered  inequalities  on  contraceptive  use  and reproductive rights of women in the JMAC. The purpose here is to demonstrate the impact of religion in creating inequalities particularly on contraceptive use and reproductive rights in the JMAC community.

The paper makes use of field data collected on contraceptive use and gender implications for married women in JMAC in Harare. Research findings on contraceptive use have positively indicated a widespread reception of these contraceptives by most married women in the JMAC. Such  a  widespread  reception  of  modern  contraceptives  raises  issues  in  two  important  areas, gender relations and reproductive rights of women in JMAC, The paper gives particular focus on the gendered inequalities on reproductive rights of women in JMAC.

Research Questions

The research was guided by the following research questions;

1)Do women in the Johane Marange Apostolic Church use contraceptives?

2)What are the gendered inequalities on contraceptive use and women’s reproductive rights in JMAC?

 

Research Methodology

The study took a qualitative research paradigm which is concerned with subjective assessment of  attitudes,  opinions  and  behaviour  (Kothari,  2004:  5).  The  quantitative  research  paradigm could not be employed in this study because the approach surveys a large number of individuals and applies statistical techniques to recognize overall patterns in the relations of processes. The research  design  adopted  in  this  study  is  a  case  study  design.  Participant  observation  and  in-depth interviews were conducted with married women and church elders in the selected Johane Marange Apostolic Churches in Harare. We conducted one-on-one interviews at their different homes in order to avoid bias. We noted  that if  these oral interviews were to be conducted at their places of worship, it would distort information since participants would not open up  to give true information in fear of their church elders. Key informant interviews were conducted with family planning providers to understand their engagement with women from the Johane Marange Apostolic Church. These interviews were carried out in order to ascertain the position of the Church on the use of contraceptives and to determine women’s reception of modern contraceptives.  Also,  the  interviews  sought  to  investigate  and  examine some  gendered inequalities issues that were associated with utilising modern contraceptives. Twelve different Johane Marange Apostolic Churches (JMAC) in Harare were consulted. The different   JMACs   which   include,   Belvedere,   Kuwadzana   4,   Kuwadzana   Extension, Dzivaresekwa, Warren Park, Budiriro, Glenview, and Chitungwiza districts among others were engaged.  In  each  Apostolic  church,  twenty-five  to  thirty  women  were  interviewed  on contraceptive use and their implications or repercussions on gender. Three to five church elders were also interviewed in order to ascertain the position of the church doctrine on contraception. One  member  of  the  Zimbabwe  National  Family  Planning  Council  (ZNFPC)  and  two  other family planning service providers were also consulted, to understand how they engaged women from Johane Marange Apostolic Churches on modern contraceptives. Data for this study were collected in one phase between July 2017 and January 2018. Collection of data was through one-on-one interviews, and participant observation. The time frame of data collection from July 2017 to January 2018 was adequate enough. Given the qualitative nature of this study, it utilized the inductive approach to data analysis.The inductive approach takes qualitative data analysis to beginwith a complete set of collected data in form of transcripts of 70 interviews,  focus  group  discussions  and  participant  observation  conducted  during  field  data collection.

 

Read the full article here.

 

About the article

The article is published in the Journal JOCAP n° 3 under the title "Politics, Afropolitanism, and Human Development" .  

JOCAP (Journal of Contemporary African Philosophy) is the journal of Domuni University and is interested in contributions that specifically link philosophy to the contemporary needs of Africa (from philosophy) as well as contributions that are imaginative in their attempt at shaping African philosophical discourse beyond affirmations of its existence.