Gender in reproductive decision-making: issues of intersectionality and Kyriarchy

Donatus Yaw Atiglo, University of Ghana

Though many scholars acknowledge that gender interacts with multiple factors in the reproductive decision-making process traditional perspectives of gender in reproductive decision-making have overlooked the framework of intersectionality. Less acknowledged is the theory of kyriarchy which describes the power structures developed by intersectionality. Using a Critical Interpretive Synthesis of 24 peer-reviewed articles on women’s or men’s reproductive decision-making and behaviour within dyads, key constructs are developed that represent perspectives on gender in reproductive decision-making. The synthesis reveals that gender intersects with multiple social axes of identity to determine reproductive decision and behaviour amidst unequal power structures. The influence of gender in reproductive decision-making within dyads fits into a framework of intersectionality and is adequately depicted by systems of kyriarchy.