ArticleSocial science & medicine (1982)2020
'I am the master key that opens and locks': Presentation and application of a conceptual framework for women's and girls' empowerment in reproductive health.
Article in Social science & medicine (1982), 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 66 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
66 citing papers in PubMed, 132 citations in OpenAlex.
- Rural-Urban Differences in the Association Between Reproductive Coercion and Postpartum Family Planning.Studies in family planning · 2026Article
- Association between women's empowerment dimensions and use of skilled birth attendance in southwest Ethiopia: a community-based cross-sectional study design.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2026Article
- The effect of health awareness promotion with stress management-based consultation on anxiety and reproductive and sexual self-care in women with human papillomavirus: A randomized controlled clinical trial.Journal of education and health promotion · 2026Article
- Article
- Defining infertility: The varied criteria people in two regions of Uganda use to identify infertility in themselves and others.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2025Article
- Postpartum emotional fertility intentions in Ethiopia: an insight and correlates from a national women and newborns cohort study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- What to expect when you want to be expecting: time-to-pregnancy expectations and anticipated worry and help-seeking among a nationally representative survey of women in Uganda.Reproductive health · 2025Article
- Prevalence and correlates of reproductive coercion in the months before pregnancy: cross-sectional findings from pregnant women in Ethiopia.Reproductive health · 2025Article
- Adolescent Girls' Agency in an Integrated Sexual and Reproductive Health and Economic Empowerment Intervention Pilot.Journal of adolescence · 2025Article
- Empowering Women in Tobacco Control: A Participatory Study on Household Smoking Behavior in Aceh, Indonesia.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Short interpregnancy interval following reproductive coercion: A prospective cohort study of pregnant Ethiopian women.Pregnancy (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2025Article
- Development and Validation of the Agency in Contraceptive Decisions Scale in Uganda and Nigeria.Studies in family planning · 2025Article
- Using causal loop diagrams to examine the interrelationships between factors influencing family planning utilisation in urban east central Uganda.BMJ global health · 2025Article
- Index pregnancy emotional fertility intention and its correlates in Ethiopia: evidence from a national women and newborns baseline survey.Reproductive health · 2025Article
- Women's and girls' sexual empowerment differs by geographical context: a population-based validation study.BMC women's health · 2025Article
- Knowledge and attitude on family planning among medical students in Egypt: a multicentric cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- The association of women's empowerment dimensions and antenatal care utilization in Ethiopia; facility based cross-sectional study.BMC women's health · 2025Article
- Partner conflict during their index pregnancy and its correlates among a cohort of six weeks postpartum women in Ethiopia.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Article
- Cohort Profile: The Performance Monitoring for Action (PMA) panel surveys.International journal of epidemiology · 2024Article
6 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 5 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
rationaleA renewed focus on women's and girls' empowerment in the era of Sustainable Development Goals reflects the belief that empowerment is central to health and development. Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) outcomes, including pregnancy and contraceptive use, may contribute to and result from empowerment. However, enhanced understanding of how women become empowered for SRH requires clear conceptualization of empowerment.
objectiveWe aimed to assess the applicability of a proposed framework for women's and girls' SRH empowerment (WGE-SRH) in sub-Saharan Africa. We sought to understand what shapes and motivates preferences for childbearing and contraception, exploring how women and girls navigate external pressures or rewards to exercise and achieve their reproductive goals.
methodsGrounded in the WGE-SRH framework, we conducted a qualitative study in four distinct contexts (Ethiopia, Kano and Anambra States in Nigeria, and Uganda). We implemented and analyzed 120 in-depth interviews and 38 focus group discussions with 440 women and men and translated results to refine the WGE-SRH framework.
resultsFindings demonstrate the salience of women's internal motivations, including the social value and joys of motherhood, in shaping existence of reproductive choices. However, existence of choice was limited by couples' economic situations, pressures from providers, partners, and family members, and women's fears of contraceptive side effects or relationship dissolution. Despite these constraints, many found ways to exercise their reproductive choices through negotiation with partners, third party involvement in reproductive discussions, non-verbal communication, and covert use of contraception.
conclusionsThe WGE-SRH framework is useful for exploring SRH empowerment, embracing the multilevel, dynamic nature of empowerment, as a process transitioning from existence of choice (autonomy) to exercise of choice (self-efficacy, decision-making, negotiation), and, ultimately, to achievement of choice. Future research and programs related to SRH empowerment should distinguish between existence and exercise of choices to promote the health and well-being of women and girls.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.