scholarly journals Development of a women’s empowerment index for Tanzania from the demographic and health surveys of 2004–05, 2010, and 2015–16

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Evarist Mganga ◽  
Jenny Renju ◽  
Jim Todd ◽  
Michael Johnson Mahande ◽  
Seema Vyas
Keyword(s):  
Health Surveys ◽  
Mean Squared Error ◽  
Internal Validity ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Domain Model ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Demographic And Health Surveys ◽  
Internal Reliability ◽  
Country Level ◽  
The Individual

Abstract Background Women’s empowerment is a multidimensional construct which varies by context. These variations make it challenging to have a concrete definition that can be measured quantitatively. Having a standard composite measure of empowerment at the individual and country level would help to assess how countries are progressing in efforts to achieve gender equality (SDG 5), enable standardization across and within settings and guide the formulation of policies and interventions. The aim of this study was to develop a women’s empowerment index for Tanzania and to assess its evolution across three demographic and health surveys from 2004 to 2016. Results Women’s empowerment in Tanzania was categorized into six distinct domains namely; attitudes towards violence, decision making, social independence, age at critical life events, access to healthcare, and property ownership. The internal reliability of this six-domain model was shown to be acceptable by a Cronbach’s α value of 0.658. The fit statistics of the root mean squared error of approximation (0.05), the comparative fit index (0.93), and the standardized root mean squared residual (0.04) indicated good internal validity. The structure of women’s empowerment was observed to have remained relatively constant across three Tanzanian demographic and health surveys. Conclusions The use of factor analysis in this research has shown that women’s empowerment in Tanzania is a six-domain construct that has remained relatively constant over the past ten years. This could be a stepping stone to reducing ambiguity in conceptualizing and operationalizing empowerment and expanding its applications in empirical research to study different women related outcomes in Tanzania.

scholarly journals Multilevel analysis of the role of women’s empowerment on use of contraceptive methods among married Cambodian women: evidence from demographic health surveys between 2005 and 2014

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Owen Nkoka ◽  
Daphne Lee ◽  
Kun-Yang Chuang ◽  
Ying-Chih Chuang
Keyword(s):  
Health Surveys ◽  
Contraceptive Use ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Community Level ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Demographic And Health Surveys ◽  
Modern Contraceptive ◽  
Contraceptive Methods ◽  
The Individual

Abstract Background The use of contraceptives is an essential public health concept that improves overall safe motherhood and infant health. Women empowerment has been reported to influence health behaviors in women. With recent efforts to increase access to contraceptive methods, uptake of the same remains a challenge in Cambodia. There are limited studies that have examined the role of women’s empowerment at both individual- and community- level on contraceptive use in Cambodia. This study examined the individual- and community-level factors associated with contraceptive use among Cambodian married women between 2005 and 2014. Methods Data from 2005, 2010, and 2014 Cambodia Demographic and Health Surveys were used to analyze 2211; 10,505; and 10,849 women, respectively. Multilevel binary and multinomial logistic regression models were applied to assess the association between individual- and community- level factors, and the use of contraceptive methods. Results The prevalence of using modern contraceptive methods increased over time (i.e., 29.0, 38.1, and 42.3% in 2005, 2010, and 2014, respectively). At the individual level, women who attained secondary and higher education were more likely to use any contraceptives [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 1.43, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.22–1.68, and aOR = 1.23, 95% CI = 1.05–1.44 in 2010 and 2014, respectively] compared with those with no formal education. Similarly, having a high workforce participation level was significantly associated with increased likelihood of using any contraceptive methods [aOR = 1.12, 95% CI = 1.00–1.26, aOR = 1.44, 95% CI = 1.29–1.60 and in 2010 and 2014, respectively]. Other factors such as age at first marriage, residence, and having a health insurance were associated with contraceptive use. The proportional change in variance showed that about 14.3% of total variations in the odds of contraceptive use across the communities were explained by both individual- and community-level factors. Moreover, the intraclass correlation showed that about 5.2% of the total variation remained unexplained even after adjustments. Conclusion Both individual- and community- level factors influenced contraceptive use in Cambodia. When designing programs to improve contraceptive use, contextual influences should be taken into account for the effectiveness of the programs.

scholarly journals Determinants of Women’s Empowerment in Pakistan: Evidence from Demographic and Health Surveys, 2012–13 and 2017–18

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Safdar Abbas ◽  
Noman Isaac ◽  
Munir Zia ◽  
Rubeena Zakar ◽  
Florian Fischer
Keyword(s):  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Health Surveys ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Reproductive Age ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Demographic And Health Surveys ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Multivariable Regression Analysis ◽  
Multivariable Regression

Abstract Background: Women’s empowerment has always remained a contested issue in the complex socio-demographic and cultural milieu of Pakistani society. Women are ranked lower than men on all vital human development indicators. Therefore, studying various determinants of women’s empowerment is urgently needed in the Pakistani context.Methods: The present study empirically operationalized the concept of women’s empowerment and investigated its determinants through representative secondary data taken from the Pakistan Demographic and Health Surveys, 2012–13 and 2017–18. The study used simple binary logistic and multivariable regression analysis. Results: The results of the binary logistic regression highlighted that almost all of the selected demographic, economic, social, and access to information variables were significantly associated with women’s empowerment (p<0.05) in both PDHS datasets. In the multivariable regression analysis, the adjusted odds ratios highlighted that reproductive-age women in higher age groups, having children, with a higher level of education and wealth index, involved in skilled work, who were the head of household, and had access to information were reported to be more empowered. Conclusions: Women’s empowerment is determined by a number of social, economic, demographic, and other factors. The study proposes some evidence-based policy options to improve the status of women in Pakistan.

scholarly journals Women’s Empowerment as It Relates to Attitudes Towards and Practice of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting of Daughters: An Ecological Analysis of Demographic and Health Surveys From 12 African Countries

2022 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolina V. N. Coll ◽  
Thiago M. Santos ◽  
Andrea Wendt ◽  
Franciele Hellwig ◽  
Fernanda Ewerling ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Female Genital Mutilation ◽  
Health Surveys ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Demographic And Health Surveys ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Double Stratification ◽  
Genital Mutilation ◽  
The Social ◽  
Female Genital

Background: Women’s empowerment may play a role in shaping attitudes towards female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) practices. We aimed to investigate how empowerment may affect women’s intention to perpetuate FGM/C and the practice of FGM/C on their daughters in African countries.Materials and methods: We used data from Demographic and Health Surveys carried out from 2010 to 2018. The countries included in our study were Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Côte d´Ivoire, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, and Togo. This study included 77,191 women aged 15–49 years with at least one daughter between zero and 14 years of age. The proportion of women who reported having at least one daughter who had undergone FGM/C as well as the mother’s opinion towards FGM/C continuation were stratified by empowerment levels in three different domains (decision-making, attitude to violence, and social independence) for each country. We also performed double stratification to investigate how the interaction between both indicators would affect daughter’s FGM/C.Results: The prevalence of women who had at least one daughter who had undergone FGM/C was consistently higher among low empowered women. Tanzania, Benin, and Togo were exceptions for which no differences in having at least one daughter subjected to FGM/C was found for any of the three domains of women’s empowerment. In most countries, the double stratification pointed to a lower proportion of daughters’ FGM/C among women who reported being opposed to the continuation of FGM/C and had a high empowerment level while a higher proportion was observed among women who reported being in favor of the continuation of FGM/C and had a low empowerment level. This pattern was particularly evident for the social independence domain of empowerment. In a few countries, however, a higher empowerment level coupled to a favorable opinion towards FGM/C was related to a higher proportion of daughters’ FGM/C.Conclusion: Women’s empowerment and opinion towards FGM/C seems to be important factors related to the practice of FGM/C in daughters. Strategies to improve women’s empowerment combined with shifts in the wider norms that support FGM/C may be important for achieving significant reductions in the practice.

scholarly journals Determinants of women’s empowerment in Pakistan: evidence from Demographic and Health Surveys, 2012–13 and 2017–18

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Safdar Abbas ◽  
Noman Isaac ◽  
Munir Zia ◽  
Rubeena Zakar ◽  
Florian Fischer
Keyword(s):  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Health Surveys ◽  
Household Head ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Reproductive Age ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Demographic And Health Surveys ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Multivariable Regression Analysis ◽  
Multivariable Regression

Abstract Background Women’s empowerment has always remained a contested issue in the complex socio-demographic and cultural milieu of Pakistani society. Women are ranked lower than men on all vital human development indicators. Therefore, studying various determinants of women’s empowerment is urgently needed in the Pakistani context. Methods The study empirically operationalized the concept of women’s empowerment and investigated its determinants through representative secondary data taken from the Pakistan Demographic and Health Surveys among women at reproductive age (15–49 years) in 2012–13 (n = 13,558) and 2017–18 (n = 15,068). The study used simple binary logistic and multivariable regression analyses. Results The results of the binary logistic regression highlighted that almost all of the selected demographic, economic, social, and access to information variables were significantly associated with women’s empowerment (p < 0.05) in both PDHS datasets. In the multivariable regression analysis, the adjusted odds ratios highlighted that reproductive-age women in higher age groups having children, with a higher level of education and wealth index, involved in skilled work, who were the head of household, and had access to information were reported to be more empowered. Results of the multivariable regression analysis conducted separately for two empowerment indicators (decision-making and ownership) corroborated the findings of the one indicator of women empowerment, except where ownership did not appear to be significantly associated with number of children and sex of household head in both data sets (2012–13 and 2017–18). Conclusions A number of social, economic, demographic, familial, and information-exposure factors determine women’s empowerment. The study proposes some evidence-based policy options to improve the status of women in Pakistan.

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