Role of media in reproductive health: an empirical study

Women play a very important role in our society. They are one of the significant force behind maintaining the health and well being of their communities. Even women have the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standards of physical and mental health. The enjoyment of this right is vital to their life and well being and their ability to participate in all areas of public and private life. However, health and well being elude the majority of women as they are still facing many reproductive health issues. Women are subject to particular health risk due to inadequate responsiveness and lack of services to meet health needs related to reproduction. The quality of women's health care is often deficient in various ways, depending on local circumstances. Women are often not treated with respect, nor are guaranteed privacy and confidentiality, nor do they always receive full information about the options and services available. The present paper is the outcome of a study that was conducted in Irongmara Village in Cachar district of Assam which analytically explores the media exposure on women reproductive health issues specifically for the women residing in the village. As required by its nature, the main objective of the paper is to assess how effective the modes of media are educating the women of the area on the reproductive health issues. The paperis based on survey method where 105 women from Irongmara village were randomly selected and interviewed in order to gather the data. Hence, an assessment of the interrelation between the socio-economic background and mass media exposure and awareness about reproductive health care of women in Irongmara village of Assam was carried out in the research study.