Dessalegn, M. et al. (2020) “Gender inequality and the sexual and reproductive health status of young and older women in the Afar Region of Ethiopia,” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(12), p. 4592.
Deslagne et al. aim to investigate how gender dynamics and inequality in Afar, Ethiopia, contribute to low use of reproductive health services and high levels of harmful sexual and reproductive health (SRH) outcomes. The study used an explorative qualitative study design and was conducted in five primarily rural districts of Afar, Ethiopia. Focus group discussions and key informant interviews were chosen as the methods for examining the gender context, and desk reviews as well as multiple gender analysis frameworks (GAF) for gender analysis were carried out.
Deslagne et al. found that, in contrast to younger and older men, Afar’s younger and older women carry out the majority of unpaid domestic and external duties. Young women in Afar are more or less equal to older women in many ways when it comes to gendered formal and informal tasks. The majority of laborious tasks in the community are carried out by women, and some of the daily responsibilities of young and older women keep them from participating in public or community affairs.
Daughters spend the majority of their time doing a variety of things, including tasks that are beyond their capacity. It is revealed that older and younger women are the most underrepresented sections of society, and it is argued that as a result of the high workload on women and girls, they are also less valued, have no control over resources, and have no part in decision-making, including their personal life choices. As a result, they rarely access school and health facilities. Though this argument is valid for the most part, the association between the workload they have and the health facility is not strongly supported by the data included in the article.
The other investigation focused on how well women, young people, and adolescents understood their attitudes and behaviours regarding gender-related roles and responsibilities, their sexual orientation, and their level of involvement in decision-making processes regarding sexual and reproductive health rights, as well as their life choices. According to the study’s findings, women in particular are not aware of the problems with reproductive health, and they experience the worst sexual and reproductive health outcomes due to their poor decision-making autonomy, lack of control over resources, limited participation in socioeconomic practises, early forced marriage, and poor service utilisation.
Dessalegn et al. assert that men and religious leaders should be educated to ensure that people continue to live their lives in a way that ensures economic and social rights are upheld. Furthermore, because cultural ideas, norms, and customs are so deeply ingrained in the societal structure, the government in this region needs to work together to target legal practises and policies in order to eradicate women’s poor decision-making capacity.