(University of Oregon, 2014-06-17) Lipton, Miriam; Hessler, Julie
In Russia today women use traditional forms of birth control at unusually high rates, whereas, conversely their use of modern contraceptives is unusually low. During the Soviet period, women's access to modern contraceptive methods may have been limited. However, one would postulate that after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the nature of the new reforms that developed would have lent itself to an increase in modern contraception usage on par with other countries. In Russia today there is not a lack of availability of modern contraceptives. Yet, women are still not using modern contraception at a rate that is congruent with an increase in availability. What then is influencing Russian women's decisions? The contraceptive acceptance of Russian women today is shaped by cultural legacies of the Soviet Union surrounding both contraceptives themselves and sex and sex education.
