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Abstract

Family planning methods have the potential to improve maternal and child health outcomes; thus, ensuring the right to family planning methods is critical in safeguarding the sexual and reproductive health rights of women. Despite the high standards of maternal and child healthcare in Kerala, a southern state in India, tribal pockets within the state such as Attappady have a high prevalence of maternal health issues and infant death rates. The present study conducted in Attappady, which focuses on an intergenerational comparison from an intersectional approach, is intended to explore the trends, practices, and experiences of tribal women regarding their awareness of, access to, and use of family planning methods. Qualitative fieldwork was carried out based on 45 in-depth, dyadic (two-subject) interviews with Attappady women (specifically mothers and grandmothers), and case studies were also used to substantiate the data. The intergenerational comparison revealed the following: a higher acceptance of sterilization among the older women; an increasing awareness and assertiveness in demanding their rights among the younger generation of mothers, who were nevertheless denied their demand for female sterilization by healthcare workers; and fear, stigma, and misconception among women due to lack of reliable information and awareness about temporary modern methods. Thus, the majority of women are opting for natural methods like abstinence to avoid unplanned/unwanted pregnancies. Other major factors determining the family planning experiences of tribal women are lack of men’s engagement, lack of timely and quality family planning services, and patriarchal norms and gendered roles in families. The study proposes the need for men to be engaged in the process along with realigned efforts from the state, both of which are crucial to the fulfilment of the right to family planning among tribal women.

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