Home Institution
Vassar College
Publication Date
Fall 2011
Abstract
This paper is the product of three weeks of research on contraception and the lives of married Fulani women in Ngaoundéré, Cameroon. Based on interviews with Fulani women, conducted both in French and in the Fulani language of Fulfulde with the aid of a French interpreter, I discuss the cultural and religious influences on women’s lives that impact their decisions or abilities to use contraception, as well as the ways these influences and realities have changed, are changing, and are expected to change in the future. I also look into the more practical concern of the availability and accessibility of contraceptives in the city of Ngaoundéré, which I base on interviews conducted with health care workers in the city. I conclude that both culture and structure are in a state of transition, and show that both aspects can limit women’s ability to willingly choose to use contraceptive methods to space out births or limit the size of their families.
Disciplines
Family, Life Course, and Society | Maternal and Child Health | Public Health Education and Promotion | Social Welfare | Women's Studies
Recommended Citation
Regnier, Corrina, "Reproductive Realities: Fulani Women & Contraception" (2011). Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection. 1111.
https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/1111
Included in
Family, Life Course, and Society Commons, Maternal and Child Health Commons, Public Health Education and Promotion Commons, Social Welfare Commons, Women's Studies Commons
Program Name
Cameroon: Social Pluralism and Development