KARACHI:
In a conservative society like ours, women’s role has been considerably limited. Women are required to live according to the patriarchal interpretation of religion. Most of the women cannot even make decisions about something as simple as the number of children they want to give birth to. Improper reproductive health and a lack of awareness often put women and the health of their children in a vulnerable state. Reproductive health is crucial for women to gain autonomy over their bodies. In most Pakistani households, it is usually the men who make decisions about reproduction and cannot be excluded from family planning decisions. Our population will continue to grow in large numbers if women do not have agency over their bodies.
It is necessary to encourage the participation of men in reproductive health programmes because it will allow them to understand fertility and how male and female bodies function. It will also allow them to distinguish between the roles men and women play in family planning decisions and how they can support better reproductive behaviour.
Punjab is in dire need of rigorous population control strategies particularly in the wake of the consequences of climate change. Skill mapping in Punjab should be a pressing priority to cater to the magnanimous chunks of the population. This will ensure women’s economic, political and individual security by reducing crimes based on gender.
Coming back to family planning, institutions like the Punjab Population Innovation Fund need to work on breaking stereotypes and taboos associated with family planning practices in society. These strategies need to target the socially excluded strata of society to yield economic, political and climate prosperity. It is imperative to start taking measures to control population before the situation spirals out of control.
Sidra Virk
Lahore
Published in The Express Tribune, September 10th, 2021.
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