Women opposed to spouses using condom, Study reveals

Women are opposed to their spouses undergoing vasectomy or using condom as methods of family planning, a study by National Council for Population Development reveals.

The 2014 National Survey on Male Involvement in Family Planning established that the only two available family planning methods for men are not popular in most communities because their spouses are opposed to their use.

The survey also disclosed that some men found the permanence and irreversibility of vasectomy unpleasant and intolerable, it is equated to castration. They think it makes them not function well, and hence lose their masculinity.

Most women also do not like their spouses to use condoms because of trust concerns. Most partners associate it with unfaithfulness.

"As women, we will fight our husbands if they come home with condoms. As a wife, if you get condoms in your husband's pocket, you either throw them away or burn them in the fire," the report indicates regarding adult Women in Homa Bay.

"Being married, they do not use condoms and those who do, use them for promiscuity. Personally there is no way I will tell my husband to use a condom with me," said another woman in Nairobi County.

Family size preference was also identified as a barrier to men's participation in family planning and reproductive health services. Some communities believe that having numerous children is a sign of wealth and financial security.

Some also felt that that family planning would result into further political marginalization on account of numbers. They argued that family planning will continue reducing their already less population yet they also want to achieve tyranny of numbers.

Meanwhile, the conservatives challenged the moral validity of family planning. They alleged that it undermines the husband's fertility desires.

"FP is not good, it is ungodly. We don't like FP because it is like we are being oppressed by that person who has a big family," stated the report on Maasai men.

Common belief in almost all regions particularly the rural settings that use of certain FP methods causes infertility, weight gain and low libido among women is also to be blamed for the negative attitude by both women and men, and hinders male participation.

"We hear FP brings about infertility and makes women barren and it is also said it can bring infections," said the report on young men from Wajir County.

The report also reveals that socio-cultural norms affect male participation in FP. The perception that family planning is a woman's domain is also a barrier to male participation, and their participation is seen as a sign of disempowerment.

"Majority of respondents in the rural regions reported that some men do not want to participate in FP, because they fear that some people may say they have lost power and their position as the head of the family," the report said.

The report also blames inadequate male service providers at health facilities, slow service and long waiting hours at service delivery points, rudeness from the service providers and stigmatization associated with use of contraceptives for poor participation of men in family planning and reproductive health.

Mass media, spouses and friends were also revealed to be the most common sources of family planning information preferred by most men.

The survey also revealed that the reason why most men do not go to health facilities for family planning information is because they fear being tested for HIV/AIDS.

In a speech by Devolution Cabinet Secretary Ms Anne Waiguru read by the Ministry's Senior Administrator,Mr Hassan Noor, Ms Waiguru said that there is need to engage men more in order to increase their knowledge in use of family planning.

"Use of modern contraception and family planning services is integral in the prevention of unwanted pregnancy, reduction of unsafe abortions, and promotion of childbirth spacing to lower maternal and child mortality risks in developing countries," she said.