Quest Journals Journal of Medical and Dental Science Research Volume 4~ Issue 7 (2016) pp: 42-50 ISSN(Online) : 2394-076X ISSN (Print):2394-0751 www.questjournals.org *Corresponding Author: HUSSAYN U. IDRIS 42 | Page Research Paper The Role of Authority and Power Relations in the home and its implication for the contribution of Women to Reproductive health decision making and vulnerability to HIV &AIDS in Nigeria By HUSSAYN U. IDRIS yesminama@yahoo.co.uk +2348060037498 SAFYA W AHMADU safyaahmadu@yahoo.com +2348023113000 Received 14 August, 2016; Accepted 10 September, 2016 © The author(s) 2014. Published with open access at www.questjournals.org ABSTRACT :- The importance of acknowledging the place of economic empowerment and independence and that lacking these increases women’s susceptibility to a wide range of unpleasant situations, amongst which are poverty, lack of power and the risk of STIs & HIV & AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and other diseases that poverty aggravates was stressed at so many international fora such as the Beijing conference on Women, the 1994 Cairo conference on population and development, the MDGs which later became the SDGs and a host other international and regional conferences all over the world.. In patriarchal societies gender norms related to masculinity can enable men have multiple sexual partners, putting them and their spouses at high risk of infection. Constructs of masculinity can also encourage sexual relations within spousal age differences between men and women, these relationships can be disadvantageous to younger women as the men have experience and economic power which gives them more bargaining power over their partners. This contributes to higher infection rates among young women (15 -24 years) than among young men in a continent where culture is a significant factor in female access to reproductive health. The study is designed to identify and explain the sources of power and authority in matrimonial homes and its effect on reproductive health decision-making amongst women and it employs empirical procedures in the data collection and analyses, the objectives of the study includes identifying the sources of power in matrimonial relationships and how spouses employ access to power and authority in reproductive health decision making. I. INTRODUCTION The tendency to perceive reproductive health to mean women’s health has led to a myopic , clinically focused and limited attention to the delivery and access to health. It is a known fact that social relationships entered into before sexual activity goes a long way to affect people’s ability to manage, organize their sexual and reproductive lives, with consequences for their health, and a host of other choices in life (NACA 2012). That men play a central role in reproductive health cannot be overemphasized and the need for male involvement is important if the enshrined rights for women within and beyond the health sector are to be achieved. The possibility of meeting the woman-centered MDG goals 3 (promoting gender equality and empowering women) and 4, and 5 (improved child and maternal health) can be impacted either negatively or positively by the role men are assigned in reproductive health problems as these goals are not only mutually reinforcing they cannot be achieved independently. This much was attested to by a report of the Millennium Project which pointed out that the third development goal of promoting equal gender relations and empowering women “cannot be achieved without the guarantee of sexual and reproductive health and rights for girls and women” (NACA, 2012).