Women's fears and men's anxieties: The impact of family planning on genderrelations in northern Ghana

The Navrongo experiment, a family planning and health project in northern G hana, has demonstrated that an appropriately designed, community-based fami ly planning program can produce a change in contraceptive practice that had been considered unattainable in such a setting. Simultaneously, however, e vidence suggests that newly introduced family planning services and contrac eptive availability can activate tension in gender relations. In this socie ty, where payment of bridewealth signifies a woman's requirement to bear ch ildren, there are deeply ingrained expectations about women's reproductive obligations. Physical abuse and reprisals from the extended family pose sub stantial threats to women; men are anxious that women who practice contrace ption might be unfaithful. Data from focus-group discussions with men and w omen are examined in this report and highlight the strains on gender relati ons resulting from contraceptive use. The measures taken to address this pr oblem and methods of minimizing the risk of adverse social consequences are discussed.