• How culture, religion influence women’s decisions
From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
From all indications, women in Nigeria are far from being free from the “clutches” of culture and religion, especially in decisions that concern their sexual and reproduction health rights.
These two factors (religion and culture) and, perhaps, many others have kept many Nigerian women away from the knowledge and freedom they require to make informed decisions about their health, education, human rights particularly reproductive health rights.
Sadly, despite several campaigns that have lasted for decades championed by local and international organisations, many women in Nigeria are still held down in silence and obscurity due to the strong and significant roles that religion and culture play as regards the level of liberty a woman could enjoy particularly in decision of sexual and reproductive health.
Ummi Salisu, an indigene of Katsina State but resident in Abuja, told journalists at an event in Abuja recently that she got married six years ago, and her father solely decided who became her husband. “I was just informed about the decision a few days before my husband and his people came to carry me.
“I couldn’t contest the decision because it has been the tradition for years, and no one particularly the women could contest it. Many women passed through that tradition, and many are still being subjected to that tradition.
“My father and his people might have their reason for that traditional practice that had lasted for decades, but from all indications, we are not too far from being liberated from the bondage,” she said.
Kosara Okeke, in her submission, said the case of violation of sexual and reproductive health rights of women is still a big challenge, particularly in southern Nigeria, where she comes from.
From the south to the north, the cases are similar, though with little changes due to certain peculiarities. Women and girls are faced with different kinds of oppressions with little or no voice to demand their sexual and reproductive rights. Poor education and financial empowerment have further worsened the matter.
Investigations by Daily Sun revealed that across the country, some ethnic groups still adopt and maintain the ancient practice of subjecting women and girls to the total authority of the men who determines the level freedom the female folks could have or enjoy particularly on the issue of sexual and reproductive health.
The finding further confirmed that the challenges differ from one part of the country to the other. But in most cases, religion and culture are the major factors that influence the actions.
Some traditional practices placed the decision of sex and reproduction on the man, and the woman has no right to contest the decision nor make contributions. In some communities, the harmful practices of naming and shaming a woman for alleged related cases still exist, including banishment.
In the north, for instance, the vulnerability of women and girls has risen significantly because of the prolonged activities of armed non-state actors (Boko Haram) that have visited unprecedented penury on the women and girls, particularly those from the displaced communities and forced them to seek refuge at various IDP camps.
Cases of rape, unplanned pregnancies, prostitution, female genital mutilation, early marriage, and child labour, among many others, are conspicuous in these northern communities.
The United Nations and its agencies, particularly the World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations Children Funds (UNICEF) have said that poor sexual and reproductive health rights and knowledge are threat to achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 3 and 5, which are related to health and gender equality, respectively.
At the 8th Nigerian Family Planning Conference held in Abuja in December 2024, experts and other participants highlighted the importance of accelerated campaigns on family planning products in order to control some unplanned pregnancies
They highlighted the dangerous roles religion and culture have played over the years and demanded reinvigorated efforts from the religious and community leaders towards liberating women and girls from the clutches of religion and culture.
However, the conversation is expected to continue at the seventh International Conference on Family Planning that will take place in Bogota, Colombia, later this year.
Different experiences
In southern Nigeria, the challenges are apparently different from what’s obtained in the northern Nigeria because of their peculiarities.
Records indicated that most women in southern Nigeria are faced with the challenges of unplanned pregnancies, female genital mutilation, gender-based violence, rape, child labour, and infertility, amongst many others.
For instance, Emem Sunday, a mother of four children who is resident in Uyo, said she got married to her husband because she got pregnant for him some sven years ago, and that was because of her ignorance and misconceptions about contraceptives.
She said: “I couldn’t have imagined myself giving birth to four children within seven years, and that was simply because of my poor knowledge of family planning products. Another factor was my exposure to wrong information in my early stage in life. That affected my ability to form the right opinion about family planning products.
“I was innocently dating my husband (then boyfriend) without any plan of getting pregnant for him. But suddenly, it happened without being ready for motherhood. In my family, we are against abortion. My parents
insisted that I discuss the pregnancy with my husband, and they were glad he accepted the responsibility, even though that was against my early wish.
“It happened the second and third time, respectively. I had recently had my fourth child, which i didn’t plan for. At a point, I was confused if my body was selective of contraceptives because I have used different ones on different occasions, and they failed. I don’t know whose fault, whether I didn’t manage it well or the health workers didn’t do their job well.”
Similarly, Ugochi Agbo, with six children who resides in Warri, Delta State, said her case wasn’t unplanned pregnancies or recklessness but alleged ineffectiveness of different family planning methods she has used.
She said: “I don’t know the kind of body that I have when it comes to family planning products. I tried injections, tablet, and several other ones, but they failed. I couldn’t have had up to six children because of the cost of caring for them if the methods were effective. I don’t know if it’s my fault, the products or the health workers.”
Judith Etem, a mother of three children, told Daily Sun that she was lucky to have a husband who was knowledgeable of family planning services and was willing to support her. “I have three children so far, and they are all well spaced, two years each. The credit is to my husband because I was completely naive about family services prior to meeting my husband.
“But at a point, I became afraid of what i was seeing and hearing from different women regarding the side effects of the different family planning products. “I heard from a friend that it affects women’s chances of conceiving again. Another said that it often leads to unnecessary weight gain, among several others. But my husband tried as much as he could to neutralise my fears, and he ensured that I followed the processes as stated by the doctor.”
She added: “Undoubtedly, family planning services in a country like Nigeria with a high fertility rate should be a life-saving procedure that provides many benefits to mother, children, father, and the family.
“Ideally, It enables the mother to regain her health after delivery and gives her enough time and opportunity to love and provide attention to her husband and children before the next pregnancy. Family planning help couples to attain their desired number of children, the spacing and timing of their births.
“Sadly, conspiracy theories about family planning due to limited knowledge and other factors continue to limit access to contraceptives and their benefits, resulting in unplanned and unintended pregnancies across the country.”
Meanwhile, in northern Nigeria, most of the cases border on early and forced marriage, female genital mutilation, abandonment, non usage of contraceptives/family planning products, maternal mortality, gender-based violence, divorce, among several others.
Some research works indicated that the usage of some family planning products is not allowed in the region due to either cultural or religious beliefs. Local and global indices confirmed that the literacy and numeracy levels in the region are low compared to other regions, and that could be responsible for low access and usage of contraceptives.
These conspiracy theories about family planning continue to limit access to contraceptives and their benefits, resulting in unplanned and unintended pregnancies across the country.
Expert speaks
National Family Planning Campaign Rotary (RMCH) Nigeria, explained that despite a population of over 200 million, Nigeria has a Modern Contraceptive Prevalence rate (mCPR) of 12 per cent, attributing the low number to myths and misconceptions.
Meanwhile, a family planning expert, Dr. Ejike Orji said that the two factors have been the major impediment to women having their full sexual and reproductive health and rights in Nigeria.
“For instance, in christianity, a woman who has been raped, or where there’s an incest in the family, the full reproductive rights of that lady is that she has a right to whether she wants to keep that pregnancy or not.
“But some Christian denominations would insist she has no right to terminate the pregnancy, regardless of how the pregnancy came even when the world is moving towards body autonomy where only the woman take decisions on her body
“In my work over the years, over religious people make so much noise about protecting religion. But if you check their closets, you will see that when it comes to their own rights or something that affects them, they act based on their own best interests, regardless of what religion say. But when it concerns other people, they would preach religion.
“Evidently, the most contentious issues in reproductive health and rights is abortion. When a woman is raped, religion says she can not terminate the pregnancy, not considering what the woman wants and who committed the crime. So, the full reproductive rights of any woman or man is to ask what she or he wants. You provide a non-biased, balanced, non-directional counsellor. This means exposing the woman to the advantages or disadvantages of whatever decision she takes regarding the pregnancy. That is when we say a woman has full reproductive rights.
“Regarding social norms, culture. Already in our environment, it’s a man’s world. The man takes all the decisions and, in some cases, does not consider the woman as prescribed in some cultures and traditions, as well as religion.
“Similarly, there are so many issues regarding family planning, but the problem that we are beginning to see that the biggest challenge we have, in terms of women not being able to take up family planning is the issue of misguided information on the side effects.
“But what we are now seeing is that, regardless of what the culture or religion is saying, women are becoming wiser and bolder.
They are making decisions based on their own best interests. In fact, if you look at the new demographic health survey that came out for family planning, it has shown that the unmet need has increased from 19 to 21 per cent.”
He appreciated the President for the recent approval of $200 million to the sector-wide to intervene in areas of health in response to the withdrawal of US interventions through USAID.