Spatial multilevel modelling male partners' influence on women's modern contraceptive use: a study in Angola and...

The main objective of this paper was to model the relationship between married women's contraceptive use and the influence of their male partners. The study took place in Angola and Zambia, which stems from the fact that these countries ratified the Maputo Protocol that emphasises promotion of reproductive health among women. Most previous studies investigating women's progress towards the realisation of what is advocated in this protocol have overlooked the role of the male partners. Hence, it has become imperative to reduce this gap in the literature. This paper discusses the application of spatial multilevel modelling, which incorporates two levels of information based on the nature of the data available. This approach acknowledges the hypothesis that contraceptive use is a social phenomenon occurring within the geographical space and is therefore susceptible to autocorrelation. Findings confirm that the level of influence of male partners' exertion on women's contraceptive use is dependent on the situation in the country where it takes place as shown by various study variables analysed. The results indicate that socioeconomic and education factors play a major role, a phenomenon that calls for tailor-made reproductive health policies considering these aspects.