Examination of adolescent and youth modern contraceptive users’ perceptions on how religion influences contraceptive use and their rationale and circumstances of use: qualitative evidence from Burkina Faso, Kenya and Niger

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While religion is a key determining factor of contraceptive use, few studies examine how religion influences adolescent and youth contraceptive attitudes, beliefs, and use. We use recently collected (August–November 2022) qualitative data from Burkina Faso, Kenya, and Niger among young users of modern contraception who practice Christianity or Islam. In-depth interviews with married and unmarried young women ages 18–24 years were conducted in two sites in each country to obtain a mix of religions and method users. In each country, many young Christian and Muslim women perceived that their religion is not supportive of contraceptive use. Some nuances around perceived acceptability of use were identified in Niger and among Muslim women in Kenya particularly for married women for spacing or health reasons. Reasons given for using related to realities of life, personal choices, and that use is their prerogative and God will forgive them. Most married women felt there would be few consequences if their religious community learned of their use whereas unmarried young women feared more consequences from their religious and broader community. These findings demonstrate that while religion is important in all three study contexts, decisions around contraceptive use among the young women included were not necessarily influenced by their religious beliefs and practices. As a greater number of young people adopt contraception, with or without perceived religious support, social norms are likely to change leading to increased access to contraception for all young women, married and unmarried, when or if they need it.