Abstract:
Background: In a society with male dominance over many decisions, understanding women’s
decision regarding sexual, reproductive health and rights (SRHR), especially in the rural
communities, is important for planning tailored interventions. Data on women’s decision
regarding sexual, reproductive health and right are limited in Ethiopia in general and in eastern
Ethiopia in particular. Objective: The aim of this study was to assess women’s decision-making regarding sexual, reproductive health & rights in Girawa District, eastern Ethiopia. Methods: A community based mixed study was employed among randomly selected married
women in Girawa District. Decision making in SRHR was measured using structured
questionnaire. Collected data was entered into EpiData 3.1 then exported to Stata 15 for
analysis. Decision making on SRHR was rated as good if a respondent was scored above the
mean, otherwise poor decision making . The logistic regression models was employed to
identify factors associated with women’s decision making regarding SRHR. Descriptive
results were summarized as percentage, means and standard deviations. The association of the
independent variable with the outcome variable was identified at p-value <0. 05 along with the
corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) were determined. Results: Among the sampled women, 596 (96.9%) of them participated in the study. Two
third (67.62%) of respondents had good decision-making on SRHR,. Living in the urban
AOR=1.8 : 95% CI(1.26 2.34) ,Secondary school attended women (AOR=3.25, 95%CI :( 1.90, 4.60) and college/university attend (AOR=:3.57 ,95%CI:2.05, 5.08),College
and above attended partner (AOR=2.53 ,95%CI(1.22 3.83), higher monthly income (AOR=
2.3(1.38 3.22) , having better knowledge towards SRHR (AOR =1.8 :95%CI(1.15 2.16)) were
significantly associated with good decision-making power on SRHR. Conclusions: Married women in the study area had relatively high decision making power on
SRHR. Place of residence, women's and her partner educations, having knowledge about
SRHR and monthly income are factors associated with women's decision-making power. Stakeholders and government should work on programs that promote women’s economic
status and knowledge of SRHR to enhance women’s decision making on SRHR
