A Review on Various Aspects of Male Involvement in Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health

Background and Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) is not merely limited to women's reproductive age, but it covers women's life from birth to death. The success of sexual and reproductive health programs could depend on the attitude and behavior of their male partners. Therefore, the aim of this study was to review male involvement in women's sexual and reproductive health.
In this review, search was conducted in electronic databases such as Google scholar, Science direct, Pubmed, Scopus, Magiran, SID, and Cochrane for studies published between 1990 and 2016. The search keywords included Men's participation, Sexual health, Reproductive health, and Women. One hundred twenty articles were found of which 65 were included in this study.
Male involvement was classified according to nine themes: 1) family planning, 2) pregnancy care, 3) infant care and breastfeeding, 4) girl's puberty, 5) violence against women, 6) decision for abortion and after-care 7) protecting women against HIV, 8) supports during menopause and middle-age, and 9) diseases like gynecological cancer.
Positive impact of men's involvement on women's SRH was reported in almost all studies. Improving women's health is a universal goal which can be achieved by increasing men's awareness about their responsibilities.