Reproductive Health Vulnerabilities among Urban Poor Women: A Study across Three Indian Cities

Reproductive morbidity was considered a first priority on the research agenda set by the programmers about reproductive health in Indian society. To examine the magnitude of the problem of reproductive morbidity and by the... [ view full abstract ]

Reproductive morbidity was considered a first priority on the research agenda set by the programmers about reproductive health in Indian society. To examine the magnitude of the problem of reproductive morbidity and by the adoption of reproductive health perspectives in strategies addressing women’s autonomy, gender role attitude and reproductive health issues. The data extracted from Health of the Urban Poor (HUP), recently collected from both Slum and Non Sum across three cities Bhubaneswar Jaipur, and Pune in year 2011-12. The sample size in Bhubaneswar (1,839 HHs), Jaipur (1,995 HHs) and in Pune (1,884 HHs).The respondents were currently married women aged 15-49. This study has used bivariate, multivariate and index like women’s mobility, household decision making, and women’s autonomy. It is found that sexual violence is high among slum women in all the three cities. It is highest in Pune i.e. (26 %) and the lowest in Jaipur (16 %) whereas in non-slum it is the highest in Pune (19 %) and the lowest in Bhubaneswar (11%). Results shows that the women having any STI in three cities Bhubaneswar (5.4), Jaipur (9.6) and Pune (6.7) also having problems as bad smelling genital discharge, genital sore or ulcer in all the three cities. HPU data illustrates the incidences of reproductive morbidities across all cities which is captured STIs. Therefore, health care planners and health educators need to empower women and also stress the specific relationship between women’s control over their own bodily rights, Sexuality and risk of reproductive morbidity.