REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND POLITICAL ECOLOGY OF WOMEN’S HEALTH IN NIGERIA: A CURSORY LOOK AT THE HEALTH STATUS OF WOMEN IN NIGERIAN
Abstract
This study was embarked to ascertain the reproductive and political ecology of women’s health in Nigeria with a view to understanding the health status of women in rural and urban Nigeria. The researcher used existing literatures in women’s reproductive health technology for the study. Feminist theory was used to underscore the political ecology of women’s health within the socio-cultural and economic position of the women in relation to their reproductive health rights. From a feminist approach, the study identified different ways boys and girls socialized in order to have access to reproductive healthcare. The study identified that women face barriers to equal opportunity in education, paid work, and politics. The unequal division of domestic responsibilities between women and men are some of the main sources of gender inequality. The study also disinter the level of plight Nigerian women are facing in their struggle for reproductive health rights. Their denial of adequate education about reproduction and its impact on their health was discovered. The study notwithstanding recommended that the couples and individuals should have right to decide freely and responsibly the number and spacing of their children. They should also have right to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health, and the right to make decision free of discrimination, coercion or violence. Social workers therefore should help them to improve their health and the ability to exercise control over their fertility. This is a major step to enable them make the necessary choices in the other areas.
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