The varying social representations of, and cultural preferences for, body size and their implications for sexual behaviour and risk are necessarily contextual. However, the representational paucity of this literature across developing countries is unfortunate, considering the graver implications of risky sexual behaviour. Thus, we examined the relationship between body size and risky sexual behaviour among sexually active women in a sub-Saharan African country, Ghana.

The tradeoff that women face between work and family depends largely on a country’s institutional settings. Provisions like stable employment, maternity benefits, and childcare services can affect women’s fertility behaviours. In Ghana, the majority of women work in vulnerable self-employment positions. Among paid female employees, the degree of job security also varies. Largely studied in the developed country context, job insecurity has been found to have important effects on women’s reproductive health outcomes. As yet, there is no consensus on the direction of effects.

Abstract