Fiji Villagers And Birth Control

By B. S. Deo

FPHE importance of haying a -*■ manageable-sized family is better realised by the urban dwellers in Fiji.

It’s more an economic consideration for them than anything else. But the government’s attempt to control the rapid increase of birth rate in the rural areas has not been very successful. The country dwellers seem to have a very indifferent attitude towards family planning.

To wish that destiny might be kind is one matter; to seek actively the prevention of birth is another for the villagers—be they Indians or Fijians-the two major ethnic Soups in Fiji. 8 p Ihe idea of birth control has been so fascinating that I decided to do some research on it. Recently, an Indian woman m a village told me, it the soul of a dead person wishes to be reborn into your family, it u-°!i d a s i n t 0 Prevent its birth. We will pay for such acts in our next life. Children which God wishes to give you, must be allowed to be born. I suppose her ideas well illustrate the comparatively fewer

cases of abortion we see in villages than in the urban areas. Urban girls in Fiji—they love to have sex with all precautions against conception.

But once they become pregnant by any error, they hate to pass through their complete gestation period. Thus the crime of abortion, committed increasingly by the urban dwellers, has become a political issue today.

Any pregnancy should result in su<^ sf f confinement—this is the £° ICe a ? y r '? U . age community in FlJ u • rh ! bell< r f l n J reincarnation is a bas ?f tei J e VP Indian . culture. But m l plte of * hls a ma J ont y of tbe mothers would welcome some morally suitable relief from the imminent arrival of the next baby. rpHE attitudes of men towards A family size and birth control are not modified by the burden of child-bearing and child-care. Villagers want more children, especially sons “Children mean prosperity”. Not even once, in my extensive discussion with village men, was there a mention of the difficulties of child-care in the villages. In each case, I found

that the husband has no concern and no part to play with these difficulties, He accepts child-care as the natural function of his wife. The personal trials and burdens of parenthood are almost wholly the mother’s. The husband is only concerned about being the proud father of a large family, and being a “more potent” male compared with those men who have fewer children. In the case of impotent husbands their wives always desire “more masculine” males. Thus, the larger a rural father’s family the greater is his dignity and in the villa 8 e - Through children, especially sons, the villager gains status as a man and is assured that his responsibilities will be inherited by others and that he himself will have security in old age. The wife has no avenue of escape from the increasing demands made upon her by the growing family The fathers work only slightly harder to provide for a larger family. Un fortunately, this tendency is more marked among the native Fijians who have easy access to more land On a very small scale the pressure of land

shortage is awakening some of the Indian farmers these days.

The husband’s sexual authority is the most important single element for an understanding ot tertility. lime and again the word “property” ap pears describing the wife, or in pro miscuous sex relations. Once a woman is given in marriage, she is expected to stick to her husband. How trying her married life may be, is irrelevant.

To speak frankly, some husbands seem obsessed with sex. Their wives are commodities for sexual satisfac tion rather than real partners in life.

It isn’t presumptuous of us to believe that the villagers have a com paratively greater inclination towards sexual pleasures probably because they lack any other attractive re creational facility in the country.

WHEN charged with the animal instincts the villagers easily overlook the importance of con traception. No doubt, the village

women get impregnated more often than their urban counterparts. Newly married village couples teel than contraceptive devices will hinder their complete satisfaction in sex. The result—an average of five or more children are added to the couple within a decade of their married life.

Tt • tW remote areas girls are fre tl married soon § after nubertv

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n c • t t , ’ - th onH v,ll^ H es P ro I es , 8 F th ti g n f ‘ ir l * y • . rhilH o e en g .

Only a substantial minority of village women today are trying to reduce frequency of their pregnancies.

Lack of technical knowledge is perhaps no greater a handicap than the unsympathetic attitude of the dominant males. It seems fair to con-

elude that if the village women were

provided with simple contraceptive

techniques which were made con sistent with moral precepts, and if the techniques were used without the husband’s knowledge, the more young mothers of several children would use them.

However, the secret use of con traceptive devices is less probable, An actlve Famil y Planning Campaign is tr y in § t 0 reduce the birth-rate in the country. Unfortunately, the cam paign is less successful in rural areas wh?re most people are still un educated and very unyielding to any change in personal life, It is always difficult to tell what a villager feels about the govern ment’s attempts to control the present birth-rate. Recently, some village boys told me that condoms pro vided good baits for their fishing hooks in streams and rivers. I wish condoms were originally designed for catching fish.