Reproductive health status of left behind wives of male out migrants: a study of rural Bihar, India

Archana K. Roy, Banaras Hindu University
Parveen Nangia, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)

Separation from families makes males migrants vulnerable to sexually transmitted infections (STDs) due to risky sexual behaviour which may be transmitted to their wives after visiting home. This study explores the reproductive health status of wives left-behind by migrant men. Data was collected from wives left-behind by migrant men as well as wives of non-migrant men (164) (control group) on self-reported symptoms of reproductive morbidity. The prevalence of reproductive morbidity was high among rural women but situation worsens if the husband migrated. The likelihood of reporting of any symptom increases among left-behind wives who have higher standard of living, whose husbands migrated after five year of marriage, whose husband migrated to western states and follow life style like gambling, substance abuse, etc. Such sections should be focused by health planners to prevent the spread of STDs from migrants to their wives.