The biggest misconception in life is that Africa needs birth control

[AdoonkaAlle]

good question walal.

I have read into this topic and have read a lot of research papers. In Africa women don’t have contraceptions readily available and when they do it’s often condoms. What a lot of women have said is that they are afraid to suggest a condom to a man because he will either refuse or accuse her of having HIV.

there’s also the fact that in countries where there are contraception the birth rates get reduced. What’s wrong with giving women the OPTION to use contraception? It’s not against Islam I have a feeling men who are against contraception like to have power of a woman’s reproductive system.

I understand and agree with what you said above esp about men's refusal of using condoms and i'm not contesting this. My issue is with regards to the priority given to the reduction of fertility rates and intention behind it. This top-down approach and imposition of western views on african women and dictating to them what should the right course of action be about their own reproductive autonomy is what i've issues with. They use the plight of african women as a pretext to implement their own agendas.

African women like their male counterparts don't have the same privileges as westerners do and when solutions are sought that don't take into consideration the cultural norms and impacts of such solutions then you end up creating more problems than you're solving. Take for example the use of oral and injectable contraceptives for how long will they be able to use it? if the husbands were not willing to use condoms what do you think their reaction would be when the women don't get pregnant ? Even if birth rate is reduced child mortality will still be high and women will expect half of their kids to die what then is benefit ?


Instead of prioritising population control they need to recognise the ordinary woman's need not just her reproductive abilities. Isn't it surprising that more effort is done on the availability of contraception than the general well being of women ? improving health care and socio economic factors is a far more viable solution that will help reduce child and maternal mortality rates.

Contraceptions as far as i know are allowed in islam laakin it comes with some conditions like spouses need to be in agreement, have a legitimate reason (birth spacing etc), shouldn't be permanent etc. The problem that people have with contraception is due to the manner it's imposed and the negative outcome it brings on a national scale.

In islam having kids is something that's encouraged and sunnah as well so trying to interfere with this natural process without a shariah reason isn't allowed. Furthermore there's also the risk that it has the indirect effect of normalising premarital sex. Even though i don't dispute the argument that some men do it to control women they however don't constitute the majority, furthermore many women are against it as well.

Framing this entire issue under the banner of "women's reproductive rights" while trying to engineer only one outcome where poor women have fewer kids is nothing but contradictory, if anything it's an example of modern day neocolonialism. Why offer contraception as a solution when it's not going to stop the causes of child and maternal mortality ?