1 research outputs found
"Who am I? Where am I?" Experiences of married young women in a slum in Islamabad, Pakistan
Background: According to the cultural tradition in Pakistan, young women belonging to poor families should
marry shortly after menarche. However, existing data show that young people, especially women, are not
prepared for sexual life and have poor knowledge about sexuality and reproductive health. Many of the
difficulties young women experience are related to beliefs and expectations in the society related to their
reproductive roles making them more vulnerable to reproductive ill health.
Aim: The study explores the preparedness of young women for married life (communicating with spouse,
initiation of sexual activity and child bearing) and ability to negotiate in marriage with spouse on number of
children to have and on contraceptive use.
Methods: In order to obtain an in-depth understanding of young women’s lives qualitative and quantitative
approaches were used. Three qualitative studies using narrative and content analysis were carried out in a slum
setting in the outskirts of Islamabad city in Pakistan. Married young women (I), unmarried young women (II) and
parents (III) were selected with the help of a community worker. Young married women were interviewed three
times at different occasions. Narrative structuring was used to explore how the participants represented their
situation. In addition twenty qualitative interviews and three focus group discussions were conducted with young
unmarried women (II). Twenty-five parents participated in four gender specific focus group discussions (III).
Content analysis was used for analysis of study II and III. For the quantitative study (IV), a subset of 1803
married young women aged 15-24 years was drawn from a nationally representative adolescent and youth survey
conducted in Pakistan in 2001-2002 by the Population Council. Regression models were used for analysing the
following outcomes: reported agreement with spouse on the number of children to have, current use of
contraceptives, intention to use contraceptives in the future and the time elapsed between marriage and the first
contraceptive use. Key co-variates of interest were variables that measure the involvement of young women in
their marriage as having a say in selection of spouse, mobility outside the household, social role and decision
making in their homes.
Results: The main theme in all the qualitative studies was ‘socialisation of young women into submissiveness’.
For the married young women two themes were identified a) submissive-accepting and
b) submissive-victims. The married young women who belonged to the accepting group lived under compromised
conditions but described themselves as satisfied with their situation. Women belonging to the victimized group
experienced physical and verbal abuse for their inability to cope with the duties of a wife, caretaker of the home
and bearer of children. Their situation was compounded by the power dynamics within the household (I). For the
unmarried young women the main theme identified was security lies in obedience. The two sub-themes
contributing to the main theme were socialisation into submissiveness and transition into adulthood in silence
(II). The theme and the sub-themes illustrate the situation of young women in a poor setting in Pakistan. The main
theme identified in the study with the parents was ‘Good parents’ strive to raise ‘innocent daughters’. The three
sub-themes contributing to the main theme were: a daughter - a responsibility and a burden, social and sexual
innocence and parents’ roles in the preparation for marriage. The theme and the sub-themes illustrate how the
parents saw themselves as responsible for raising ‘innocent daughters’ and arranging good marriages (III). The
quantitative study on the married young women showed that having a say in the selection of spouse at the time of
marriage was significantly associated with agreeing with spouse over the number of children to have, intention to
use contraceptives and the time between marriage and first contraceptive use. These relationships existed after
controlling for education, socioeconomic status, mobility outside of house and decision making in the home (IV).
Conclusions: In a culture of silence around sexuality, young women’s socialisation into submissiveness lays the
foundation for the lack of control over their future reproductive health (I and II). The parents realised, though, that
bringing up daughters for marriage requires not only obedience, but also building confidence and knowledge
during their childhood (III). Women who had decision making freedom in their parental home carried this ability
with them into marriage in their new home and were better able to negotiate about their fertility (IV). Knowledge
about reproductive life could prepare young women better for the future life and give them more control of their
fertility. Innovative interventions targeting women need to challenge current societal norms of womanhood to
promote the upbringing of confident and knowledgeable young women