During my last school holiday break, sometime around June this year, myself and my dad saw a movie title 'birth control.'
The movie was quite straightforward. It told the story of a family; a couple and their three kids(all girls). This man, angry that his marriage had no male child became resentful of his family. He ignored them and spent his days taking/stealing from his wife who solely catered for the home, he used the money to drink and at night, he forced himself on his wife and beat her at the slightest hint of refusal. He totally ignored the needs of his kids and wanted nothing to do with them.
Image is mine
His wife, on the other hand, took responsibility for her hone and bore it all. Her friend advised her about taking an initiative against the abuse she suffered which she would noy hear of and also she advised her about taking birth control pills to prevent any more pregnancies, as, more kids meant more struggles and responsibilities on her. Her husband found the pills, beat her and had his way with her. She got pregnant, again, and having to deal with joggling so much work and pressure and ill-health, she fell sick but could barely afford treatment. Unfortunately, she died. Guess what? The man fled, leaving his one teenage and two little girls alone. And the movie progressed to show the hard-life and losses that the kids encountered. On and on.
In the movie, the narrator, a medical practioner was sharing this story to a man who was about abandoning his wife and newborn because, again, she bore a female.
I remember my dad and I would sigh so many times in course of the film. Frankly, I considered the movie boring and incapable of happening but looking around the society that I am in plus during the long conversations with my dad centred around the movie and similar life occurrences, I realized that it was indeed the reality of many.
You see this family planning topic, it's been preached on and on. One thing too, that I have come to notice is that it is the low-class and struggling who pay no heed to it. That's why you hear excuses as, "God gives children, he will provide," "When the children grow up, they'll become rich and wipe away suffering from the family," blah blah blah. Just anything to cover up their lack of self-control. I'm not in doubt to those eventualities. The issue is, while the child is still young, what sort of life would he/she be exposed to. In the present economic situation, many are unable to feed twice a day but keep popping kids every eke market day. You talk about birth control and they either give lame excuses why they can't go for it, or they look at you like you've blurted out something horrendous.
I don't even think that they give any thoughts to the welfare of these kids, and that's why you go out and find little kids looking miserly and raggity, begging for food and alms, hawking, even delving into crime. These days, the norm is to use these kids as bus conductors. The last one I saw would not have been up to 13years of age. I felt so much rage, it took a lot for me to not question him and even pour out the bile on the driver. Exposing that kid to that sort of environment would be very harmful on him, I know so. I bet if you spoke to the parents on why they let their very young child, who should be in school or otherwise enjoying his childhood to do such work, they would blame it all on the government. As usual, the government is responsible for all their lapses.
I understand that too, that in certain marriages, women face criticism from their husband should they choose that path, but I want to think that they are in control of themselves. Most of them, even inspite of medical advises against birthing more due to one/two health challenges would still not obey for fear of facing rebuke.
Some women dread the palava that comes with birth control and end up giving birth to a whole football team(literally). While some are scared of over bloating, excessive bleeding or other complications they believe are associated, some women have no clue whatsoever which one to go for. I ask, to what end? Do they not think of themselves?
Presently, Healthcare institutes offer family planning treatments which come in methods as; oral contraceptive pills, implants, injectables, vaginal rings, intra uterine devices, condoms, male and female sterilization, etc. There are certain criteria too to be considered before a person is let into the plan and to certain plans.
It's not compulsory for anyone but it's readily available and the sensitization and teaching of its importance is being carried out from schools to communities and even higher.
The thing i can say here is that, birth control is available in my country but not yet accepted by everyone. May never even be.
This is my participation to the August Inleo prompt Day #6
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Greetings!