Pune News | Apathy Persists: Low Participation in Male Vasectomy Despite Calls for Gender Equality

Pune : Pune News | Apathy towards male vasectomy continues to prevail in society, despite the ongoing discourse on gender equality and women’s empowerment. Social workers advocate for equal rights for women, urging them to break free from traditional gender roles. However, the same emphasis is not placed on men undergoing sterilization.

Even women themselves hesitate to ask their husbands to consider sterilization. This reluctance is reflected in the abysmally low response to “free sterilization surgery” camps organized by the Municipal Corporation. In a camp held for 22 days, only 15 individuals opted for the procedure.

India’s overall male vasectomy rate stands at a mere 0.3 percent. The deeply ingrained cultural norms that assign sterilization as solely a woman’s responsibility still persist. Despite efforts to challenge this notion, the mindset remains unyielding. The Municipal Corporation conducted a free vasectomy surgery camp across seven clinics from May 8 to 31, but the turnout was dishearteningly low.

Men often avoid vasectomy and instead push women to undergo the surgery, using false pretexts such as concerns about impotence. While women have been liberated from various constraints and oppressive customs by women’s rights advocates, the burden of family planning still falls primarily on them. After giving birth to two children, women are often pressured and compelled to undergo sterilization.

The government has been striving to raise awareness about male family planning surgeries and even offers subsidies for such procedures. However, men’s misconceptions related to impotence, financial burdens, and weakness continue to deter them from stepping forward, according to Dr. Vaishali Jadhav, Assistant Health Officer of the Pune Municipal Corporation.

Pune ACB News | Municipal Corruption Exposed: Rising Instances of Bribery in Pune Uncovered

Pune News | Flyover Construction to Ease Traffic Congestion at Katraj Junction