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‘Disrespectful men, disrespectable women’: Men’s perceptions on heterosexual relationships and premarital sex in a Sri Lankan Free Trade Zone - a qualitative interview study

BACKGROUND: Gender norms have been challenged by unmarried rural women’s migration for employment to urban Sri Lankan Free Trade Zones (FTZ). Men are described as looking for sexual experiences among the women workers, who are then accused of engaging in premarital sex, something seen as taboo in th...

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Autores principales: Jordal, Malin, Wijewardena, Kumudu, Öhman, Ann, Essén, Birgitta, Olsson, Pia
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4346104/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25889367
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12914-015-0040-4
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author Jordal, Malin
Wijewardena, Kumudu
Öhman, Ann
Essén, Birgitta
Olsson, Pia
author_facet Jordal, Malin
Wijewardena, Kumudu
Öhman, Ann
Essén, Birgitta
Olsson, Pia
author_sort Jordal, Malin
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Gender norms have been challenged by unmarried rural women’s migration for employment to urban Sri Lankan Free Trade Zones (FTZ). Men are described as looking for sexual experiences among the women workers, who are then accused of engaging in premarital sex, something seen as taboo in this context. Increased sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) risks for women workers are reported. To improve SRHR it is important to understand the existing gender ideals that shape these behaviours. This qualitative study explores men’s perspectives on gender relations in an urban Sri Lankan FTZ, with a focus on heterosexual relationships and premarital sex. Further, possible implications for SRHR of women workers in FTZs are discussed. METHODS: Eighteen qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with men living or working in an urban Sri Lankan FTZ and were analysed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Two conflicting constructions of masculinity; the ‘disrespectful womaniser’ and the ‘respectful partner’, were discerned. The ‘disrespectful womaniser’ was perceived to be predominant and was considered immoral while the ‘respectful partner’ was considered to be less prevalent, but was seen as morally upright. The migrant women workers’ moral values upon arrival to the FTZ were perceived to deteriorate with time spent in the FTZ. Heterosexual relationships and premarital sex were seen as common, however, ideals of female respectability and secrecy around premarital sex were perceived to jeopardize contraceptive use and thus counteract SRHR. CONCLUSION: The ‘disrespectful’ masculinity revealed in the FTZ is reflective of the patriarchal Sri Lankan society that enables men’s entitlement and sexual domination over women. Deterioration of men’s economic power and increase of women’s economic and social independence may also be important aspects contributing to men’s antagonistic attitudes towards women. The promotion of negative attitudes towards women is normalized through masculine peer pressure. This and ambivalence towards women’s premarital sex are undermining the SRHR and well-being of women, but also men, in the FTZ. Awareness and counteraction of destructive gender power relations are essential for the improvement of the SRHR of women and men in the FTZ and the surrounding society.
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spelling pubmed-43461042015-03-03 ‘Disrespectful men, disrespectable women’: Men’s perceptions on heterosexual relationships and premarital sex in a Sri Lankan Free Trade Zone - a qualitative interview study Jordal, Malin Wijewardena, Kumudu Öhman, Ann Essén, Birgitta Olsson, Pia BMC Int Health Hum Rights Research Article BACKGROUND: Gender norms have been challenged by unmarried rural women’s migration for employment to urban Sri Lankan Free Trade Zones (FTZ). Men are described as looking for sexual experiences among the women workers, who are then accused of engaging in premarital sex, something seen as taboo in this context. Increased sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) risks for women workers are reported. To improve SRHR it is important to understand the existing gender ideals that shape these behaviours. This qualitative study explores men’s perspectives on gender relations in an urban Sri Lankan FTZ, with a focus on heterosexual relationships and premarital sex. Further, possible implications for SRHR of women workers in FTZs are discussed. METHODS: Eighteen qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with men living or working in an urban Sri Lankan FTZ and were analysed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Two conflicting constructions of masculinity; the ‘disrespectful womaniser’ and the ‘respectful partner’, were discerned. The ‘disrespectful womaniser’ was perceived to be predominant and was considered immoral while the ‘respectful partner’ was considered to be less prevalent, but was seen as morally upright. The migrant women workers’ moral values upon arrival to the FTZ were perceived to deteriorate with time spent in the FTZ. Heterosexual relationships and premarital sex were seen as common, however, ideals of female respectability and secrecy around premarital sex were perceived to jeopardize contraceptive use and thus counteract SRHR. CONCLUSION: The ‘disrespectful’ masculinity revealed in the FTZ is reflective of the patriarchal Sri Lankan society that enables men’s entitlement and sexual domination over women. Deterioration of men’s economic power and increase of women’s economic and social independence may also be important aspects contributing to men’s antagonistic attitudes towards women. The promotion of negative attitudes towards women is normalized through masculine peer pressure. This and ambivalence towards women’s premarital sex are undermining the SRHR and well-being of women, but also men, in the FTZ. Awareness and counteraction of destructive gender power relations are essential for the improvement of the SRHR of women and men in the FTZ and the surrounding society. BioMed Central 2015-02-07 /pmc/articles/PMC4346104/ /pubmed/25889367 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12914-015-0040-4 Text en © Jordal et al.; licensee BioMed Central. 2015 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
spellingShingle Research Article
Jordal, Malin
Wijewardena, Kumudu
Öhman, Ann
Essén, Birgitta
Olsson, Pia
‘Disrespectful men, disrespectable women’: Men’s perceptions on heterosexual relationships and premarital sex in a Sri Lankan Free Trade Zone - a qualitative interview study
title ‘Disrespectful men, disrespectable women’: Men’s perceptions on heterosexual relationships and premarital sex in a Sri Lankan Free Trade Zone - a qualitative interview study
title_full ‘Disrespectful men, disrespectable women’: Men’s perceptions on heterosexual relationships and premarital sex in a Sri Lankan Free Trade Zone - a qualitative interview study
title_fullStr ‘Disrespectful men, disrespectable women’: Men’s perceptions on heterosexual relationships and premarital sex in a Sri Lankan Free Trade Zone - a qualitative interview study
title_full_unstemmed ‘Disrespectful men, disrespectable women’: Men’s perceptions on heterosexual relationships and premarital sex in a Sri Lankan Free Trade Zone - a qualitative interview study
title_short ‘Disrespectful men, disrespectable women’: Men’s perceptions on heterosexual relationships and premarital sex in a Sri Lankan Free Trade Zone - a qualitative interview study
title_sort ‘disrespectful men, disrespectable women’: men’s perceptions on heterosexual relationships and premarital sex in a sri lankan free trade zone - a qualitative interview study
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4346104/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25889367
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12914-015-0040-4
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