Fertility research in sub‐Saharan Africa regularly indicates the need to increase women's reproductive autonomy. However, individual, female‐focused conceptualizations of reproductive autonomy tend to neglect the power dynamics both internal and external to couples and other intimate relationships that shape a woman's reproductive autonomy. Furthermore, they disregard the reproductive autonomy of men and other subpopulations and partners in intimate relationships. To identify gaps and evaluate the applicability of the concept, this scoping review clarifies how reproductive autonomy has been assessed and applied in fertility research in sub‐Saharan Africa. Eligible for inclusion were empirical peer‐reviewed publications, including quantitative, qualitative, and mixed‐methods research, published since 1994. Out of 1568 articles screened, 18 met the inclusion criteria. Most publications were quantitative in nature and focused mainly on the reproductive autonomy of women. Our key finding is that the reproductive autonomy of partners in intimate relationships, and of women in particular, is restricted at the community level in order to preserve the status quo of social power structures in society. In line with a reproductive justice approach, more research should focus on the reproductive autonomy of vulnerable and understudied populations as well as on the interpersonal and contextual dynamics that suppress reproductive autonomy in communal settings.

中文翻译：

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撒哈拉以南非洲生育研究中的生殖自主性：范围界定综述


撒哈拉以南非洲的生育研究经常表明需要提高女性的生育自主权。然而，以女性为中心的个体生殖自主权概念化往往忽视了塑造女性生殖自主权的夫妻和其他亲密关系的内部和外部权力动态。此外，他们无视男性和其他亚群和亲密关系伴侣的生殖自主权。为了确定差距并评估该概念的适用性，本范围界定审查阐明了如何在撒哈拉以南非洲的生育研究中评估和应用生殖自主性。符合 1994 年出版的同行评审实证出版物，包括定量、定性和混合方法研究。在筛选的 1568 篇文章中，有 18 篇符合纳入标准。大多数出版物本质上是定量的，主要关注女性的生殖自主性。我们的主要发现是，为了维持社会权力结构的现状，亲密关系中的伴侣，尤其是女性的生殖自主权，在社区层面受到限制。根据生殖正义方法，更多的研究应该集中在弱势和研究不足人群的生殖自主性，以及在公共环境中抑制生殖自主性的人际关系和背景动态。