Role of Males' in Reproductive and Sexual Health Decisions

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The importance of male involvement in sexual and reproductive health decisions emerges especially to encompass the various ways in which men relate to reproductive health problems, programmes, reproductive rights and reproductive behaviour. It is evident from our past experiences that marginalizing men in the reproductive sphere has proved harmful to women's health in general and reproductive health in particular. There is an urgent need for equity in gender relation, responsible sexual behaviour and active involvement of men in reproductive health programmes in order to fulfil women’s reproductive health requirements as well as their own. The International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD, 1994) and the Fourth World Conference on Women (1995) emphasized the importance of reproductive rights and reproductive health both for men and women and the greater involvement of men in reproductive health. In postICPD era the world has seen a paradigm-shift away from focused family planning programs towards more general reproductive and sexual health. Specifically, the focus is on key concepts and programmatic implications for locating men’s involvement within a reproductive health framework. During the ICPD, the programme of action endorsed emphasized the need for equity in gender relations with a special focus on men’s shared responsibility and active involvement to promote reproductive and sexual health. There have also been substantive evidences, which demonstrate that disregarding sex education and sexual health needs of men could lead to wider social health consequences. Failure to address sexual health needs, particularly among males, contribute to the poor preparation of men for adulthood, contraceptive usage, and safe sex. A rational strategy for looking into males’ role in decision making, participation and shared responsibility for sexual and reproductive health are important in the context of social, economic, and political factors reflecting the disadvantaged position of women. The present paper is an attempt to understand the role of males in reproductive and sexual health decisions in relation to sexual and reproductive health rights and reproductive health programs including women’s empowerment, and male involvement. We have seen that improved reproductive and sexual health programs have helped to reduce morbidity and mortality rates in recent years, but much remains to be done. The traditional focus on women in family planning programs reinforces the idea that women are responsible for contraception, obscuring male co-responsibility. Excluding male from family planning programs deprives them of opportunities for obtaining information and decreases women’s options. The gender focus implies that males must assume greater responsibility for their sexual and reproductive behaviour, a view endorsed in recent international conferences.