Social Context of Women’s Health in Rural India

A majority of the women started living with their husbands immediately after marriage in most cases. In the tribal village of Motipur, three women were married to their own blood relatives; two of them were married to their first cousin on their father’s side, and another was married to some other blood relation. In village Santoshpur almost a quarter of the surveyed women were married to their own blood relatives. Women’s health status is very much dependent on the socio-economic condition of the household and accordingly the health status of the women varies considerably. A significant link exists between socio-economic development, particularly women’s development, and health care behaviour and utilisation. Gender bias in education is most pronounced in South Asia and the disparity between the educational levels of men and women is particularly pronounced in the rural areas, where about half of all married women are illiterate compared to their husbands.