Women from across the globe encounter a multitude of barriers in autonomously defining and achieving their reproductive intentions. The lack of reproductive autonomy and agency is predominantly determined by gendered roles and relationships and then subsequently by other intersecting factors that directly and indirectly impact women's health, well-being, and quality of life. Such a compromised sense of reproductive autonomy in women also serves as a significant impediment in achieving larger development goals such as fertility reduction, gender equality, and comprehensive social inclusion. Despite the presence of a relevant body of literature that looks into these issues and the functioning of the reproductive rights of women across different regions of South Asia and in various other international settings, there remains a limited and selective sense of understanding on how precisely women's RA can be an extremely crucial factor in determining their control and freedom to exercise choices in intimate partner relationships. Therefore, this study understands and recognizes the lack of reproductive autonomy and integrity historically associated with female bodies and contextualizes it further against the current patriarchal setting of Indian Society. High levels of reproductive autonomy, according to this study, enable a woman to choose contraception, pregnancy, abortion, and childbirth without any external pressure from spouses, health care providers, the government, or any other religious doctrines and will also allow for active spousal communication in topics related to reproductive and sexual health. The study's findings reveal a nuanced picture of women's reproductive autonomy in exercising control over their sexual and reproductive health in intimate partner relationships. It had captured the extensive presence of reproductive coercion in married and unmarried women belonging to the reproductive cohort and how it violates women's autonomy and reduces them to mere objects of patriarchal power.

Sai Devi, Examining the reproductive autonomy of women in exercising control over their sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and rights in intimate partner relationships: a study conducted in the Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala. A dissertation submitted- Centre for Health and Mental Health School of Social Work Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, 2020.