when a girl is married she is less likely to go to or complete school or travel freely outside of her home alone more likely to be subjected to genderbased violence and less likely to know about her body and rights her limited mobility schooling and knowledge in turn reinforce and perpetuate gender inequality this trend towards fewer children has had a number of benefits for women in particular including better health for both themselves and their children greater educational attainment increased participation in paid employment and improvements in how women and girls themselves are viewed and valued by society and within their households stoebenau and others in many settings this has formed part of a virtuous circle of empowerment where greater access to reliable ways of controlling fertility has enabled an expansion of rights in other areas which in turn has further contributed to their ability to fully exercise their reproductive rights such gender norms shape and reinforce social legal and economic systems these genderunequal norms and attitudes are often used to rationalize control over womens sexuality and reproduction