Male contraceptive knowledge and practice: what do we know?

Abstract

The post-Cairo period has seen a dramatic increase in interest in ‘men’ but there is little known about male knowledge, attitudes and practices with regard to contraceptive use. This paper examines current knowledge about male behaviour, and extends that knowledge using data from Demographic and Health Survey Male Surveys. Findings cast doubt on the conventional wisdom that male knowledge is low. Married men’s use of any method is relatively high compared to that reported by their female counterparts, and is predominantly made up of two methods, the condom and withdrawal. Use of these methods by married women is considerably lower. This is due to differential use inside and, more importantly, outside marriage. These findings suggest that it is less the lack of knowledge amongst men concerning the means to prevent conception than the lack of male motivation that explains the low use of contraception within marriage.RésuméLa période qui a suivi la Conference du Caire a vu une augmentation spectacula...