The Ethics of Reproductive Choices: Religious Codes and Women Autonomy

Abstract

The  Cultural, historical, religious and social factors have shaped the perceptions and roles of  women in society since ancient times. Gender roles are integrated deeply within cultural practices, traditions and institutional structures and are reinforced over time with slow changes  over time with modernisation, education and legal reforms. The traditional  conservative or modern view of women’s sexual rights vary across cultures, historical periods  and contexts in urban and rural  areas equally. Social norms are influenced by social systems like patriarchy, religion, economic  and political ideology. Dominance of males over females is significant feature of patriarchal societies, exerting control over the women in all domains of life  including the androcentrism to ensure patrilineal inheritance, family honour and male dominance  and constraining women’s worth  to her chastity, modesty and reproductive capacity to be calculated by norms settled by  patriarchal society.