Women’s Empowerment for Decision-Making Duties in Public Administration

This study examines the associations between women’s empowerment and family planning use in Jimma Zone, Western Ethiopia. A total of 746 randomly selected married women of reproductive age were interviewed. The data were employed by structural equation modelling (SEM) to investigate the complex and multidimensional pathways to show women’s empowerment domains in family planning utilisation. Results of the study revealed that 72% of married women had used family planning. Younger women, having access to information, having access to health facilities and being aware about family planning methods, living in a rural area, having an older partner and increased household decision-making power were associated with using family planning methods. Women’s empowerment is an important determinant of contraceptive use. Women’s empowerment dimensions included increased household decision-making power, socio-demographic variables and having access to information about family planning and accessible health facilities. These were found to be important determinants of contraceptive use. Future interventions should focus on integrating women’s empowerment into family planning programming, particularly in enhancing women’s autonomy in decision making. Further research is warranted on the socio-cultural context of women that influences women’s empowerment and family planning use to establish an in-depth understanding and equity of women in society.

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Women’s empowerment for abortion and family planning decision making among marginalized women in Nepal: a mixed method study

Reproductive Health ◽

10.1186/s12978-021-01087-x ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Heera KC ◽

Mangala Shrestha ◽

Nirmala Pokharel ◽

Surya Raj Niraula ◽

Prajjwal Pyakurel ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Family Planning ◽

Mixed Method ◽

Women's Empowerment ◽

Women’S Empowerment ◽

Key Informants ◽

Marginalized Communities ◽

Modern Contraceptives ◽

Marginalized Women ◽

Planning Decision

Abstract Background Women’s empowerment is multidimensional. Women’s education, employment, income, reproductive healthcare decision making, household level decision making and social status are vital for women’s empowerment. Nepal is committed to achieving women empowerment and gender equality, which directly affects the reproductive health issues. This can be achieved by addressing the issues of the poor and marginalized communities. In this context, we aimed to find the association of women’s empowerment with abortion and family planning decision making among marginalized women in Nepal. Methods A cross sectional study was conducted at selected municipalities of Morang district of Nepal from February 2017 to March 2018. A mixed method approach was used, where 316 married marginalized women of reproductive age (15–49 years) and 15 key informant interviews from representative healthcare providers and local leaders were taken. From key informants, data were analysed using the thematic framework method. Findings obtained from two separate analyses were drawn together and meta inferences were made. Results Women’s empowerment was above average, at 50.6%. Current use of modern contraceptives were more among below average empowerment groups (p 0.041, OR 0.593 C.I. 0.36–0.98). We could not find any statistically significant differences among levels of women’s empowerment, including those women with abortion knowledge (p 0.549); family planning knowledge (p 0.495) and women’s decision for future use of modern contraceptives (p 0.977). Most key informants reported that unsafe abortion was practiced. Conclusions Women’s empowerment has no direct role for family planning and abortion decision making at marginalized communities of Morang district of Nepal. However, different governmental and non-governmental organizations influence woman for seeking health care services and family planning in rural community of Nepal irrespective of empowerment status.

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Women’s empowerment and female genital mutilation intention for daughters in Sierra Leone: a multilevel analysis

BMC Women s Health ◽

10.1186/s12905-021-01340-2 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Edward Kwabena Ameyaw ◽

Seun Anjorin ◽

Bright Opoku Ahinkorah ◽

Abdul-Aziz Seidu ◽

Olalekan A. Uthman ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Sierra Leone ◽

Psychological Health ◽

Female Genital Mutilation ◽

Labour Force ◽

Women's Empowerment ◽

Wife Beating ◽

Women’S Empowerment ◽

Genital Mutilation ◽

Female Genital

Abstract Background Female genital mutilation is common in Sierra Leone. Evidence indicates that empowering women provides protective benefits against female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C). Yet, the relationship between women’s empowerment and their intention to cut their daughters has not been explored in Sierra Leone. The aim of this study was to assess the association between women’s empowerment and their intention to have their daughters undergo FGM/C in the country. Methods Data for this study are from the 2013 Sierra Leone Demographic and Health Survey. A total of 7,706 women between the ages of 15 and 49 were included in the analysis. Analysis entailed generation of descriptive statistics (frequencies and percentages), and estimation of multi-level logistic regression models to examine the association between women’s empowerment, contextual factors and their intentions to cut their daughters. Results A significantly higher proportion of women who participated in labour force reported that they intended to cut their daughters compared to those who did not (91.2%, CI = 90.4–91.9 and 86.0%, CI = 84.1–87.8, respectively). Similarly, the proportion intending to cut their daughters was significantly higher among women who accepted wife beating than among those who rejected the practice (94.9%, CI = 93.8–95.8 and 86.4% CI = 84.9–87.8, respectively). A significantly higher proportion of women with low decision-making power intended to cut their daughters compared to those with high decision-making power (91.0%, CI = 89.0–92.8 and 85.0% CI = 82.2–87.4, respectively). Results from multivariate regression analysis showed that the odds of intending to cut daughters were significantly higher among women who participated in labour force (aOR = 2.5, CI = 1.3–4.7) and those who accepted wife beating than among those who did not (aOR = 2.7, CI = 1.7–4.5). In contrast, the likelihood of intending to cut daughters was significantly lower among women with high than low knowledge (aOR = 0.4, CI = 0.3–0.7), and among those aged 45–49 than among those aged 15–19 (aOR = 0.2, CI = 0.0–0.6). Conclusion The findings underscore the need to align anti-FGM/C policies and programmes to women who have undergone FGM/C, those with low knowledge, women who support wife beating and young women. Such interventions could highlight the adverse implications of the practice by stressing the psychological, health and social implications of FGM/C on its survivors.

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WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT, HOUSEHOLD STATUS AND CONTRACEPTION USE IN GHANA

Journal of Biosocial Science ◽

10.1017/s0021932016000377 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 49 (4) ◽

pp. 423-434 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Sarah R. Blackstone

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Contraceptive Use ◽

Household Head ◽

Unmet Need ◽

Women's Empowerment ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Wife Beating ◽

Women’S Empowerment ◽

Contraception Use ◽

Unmet Need For Contraception

SummaryGender inequality is often cited as a barrier to improving women’s sexual and reproductive health outcomes, including contraceptive use, in low- and middle-income countries such as those in sub-Saharan Africa. To date there is limited, recent, evidence available regarding women’s empowerment, household status and contraceptive use in Ghana. The objective of this study was to investigate whether women’s empowerment and status in the household were associated with contraceptive use and unmet need for contraception using the 2014 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey. The study sample consisted of 1828 women aged 15–49. Women’s empowerment was measured based on two composite indexes created by the DHS: attitudes towards intimate partner violence and decision-making. Women’s status in the home was measured using indicators of work status, relationship to household head, control over monetary earnings and land ownership. Decision-making was found to be positively associated with contraceptive use and not having unmet need for contraception. Women who justified wife beating in one or more instances were less likely to use contraception, and more likely to have unmet need for contraception. Current or past employment and higher levels of male partner education were associated with contraceptive use. This study indicates that women’s empowerment and household status are influential for contraceptive indicators. Future interventions aimed at improving contraceptive uptake and use should promote women’s empowerment, i.e. decision-making, self-worth and education.

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Women’s empowerment is associated with maternal nutrition and low birth weight: Evidence from Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey

10.21203/rs.2.14277/v3 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Alamgir Kabir ◽

Md Mahbubur Rashid ◽

Kamal Hossain ◽

Md Arifuzzaman Khan ◽

Shegufta Shefa Sikder ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Birth Weight ◽

Low Birth Weight ◽

Health Survey ◽

Maternal Nutrition ◽

Women's Empowerment ◽

Wealth Quintile ◽

Women’S Empowerment ◽

Demographic Health Survey ◽

Maternal Undernutrition

Abstract Background The burden of maternal undernutrition and low birth weight (LBW) incurs enormous economic costs due to their adverse consequences. Women’s empowerment is believed to be one of the key factors for attaining maternal and child health and nutritional goals. Our objective was to investigate the association of women’s empowerment with maternal undernutrition and LBW. Methods We used nationally representative data from the Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey for 2011 and 2014. We analysed 27,357 women and 9,234 mother-child pairs. A women’s empowerment index (WEI) was constructed using principal component analysis with five groups of indicators: a) education, b) access to socio-familial decision making, c) economic contribution and access to economic decision making, d) attitudes towards domestic violence and e) mobility. We estimated odds ratios as the measure of association between the WEI and the outcome measures using generalized estimating equations to account for the cluster level correlation. Results The overall prevalence of maternal undernutrition was 20% and LBW was 18%. The WEI was significantly associated with both maternal undernutrition and LBW with a dose-response relationship. The adjusted odds of having a LBW baby was 32% [AOR (95% CI):0.68 (0.57, 0.82)] lower in the highest quartile of the WEI relative to the lowest quartile. Household wealth significantly modified the effect of the WEI on maternal nutrition.; in the highest wealth quintile, the odds of maternal undernutrition was 54% [AOR (95% CI): 0.46 (0.33, 0.64)] lower while in the lowest wealth quintile the odds of undernutrition was only 18% [AOR (95% CI): 0.82 (0.67, 1.00)] lower comparing the highest WEI quartile with the lowest WEI quartile. However, the absolute differences in prevalence of undernutrition between the highest and lowest WEI quartiles were similar across wealth quintiles (6-8%). Conclusions This study used a comprehensive measure of women’s empowerment and provides strong evidence that low levels of women’s empowerment is associated with maternal undernutrition as well as with delivering LBW babies in Bangladesh. Therefore, policies to increase empowerment of women would contribute to improved public health.

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Women's empowerment and fertility preferences of married women: analysis of demographic and health survey’2016 in Timor-Leste

AIMS Public Health ◽

10.3934/publichealth.2022017 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 237-261

Author(s):

Nandeeta Samad ◽

◽

Pranta Das ◽

Segufta Dilshad ◽

Hasan Al Banna ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Health Survey ◽

Women's Empowerment ◽

Married Women ◽

Fertility Rate ◽

Demographic And Health Survey ◽

Women’S Empowerment ◽

Women Empowerment ◽

Fertility Preferences ◽

Timor Leste

<abstract> <p>A recently independent state, Timor-Leste, is progressing towards socioeconomic development, prioritizing women empowerment while its increased fertility rate (4.1) could hinder the growth due to an uncontrolled population. Currently, limited evidence shows that indicators of women's empowerment are associated with fertility preferences and rates. The objective of this study was to assess the association between women empowerment and fertility preferences of married women aged 15 to 49 years in Timor-Leste using nationally representative survey data. The study was conducted using the data of the latest Timor-Leste Demographic and Health Survey 2016. The study included 4040 rural residents and 1810 urban residents of Timor-Leste. Multinomial logistic regression has been performed to assess the strength of association between the exposures indicating women's empowerment and outcome (fertility preference). After adjusting the selected covariates, the findings showed that exposures that indicate women empowerment in DHS, namely, the employment status of women, house and land ownership, ownership of the mobile phone, and independent bank account status, contraceptive use, and the attitude of women towards negotiating sexual relations are significantly associated with fertility preferences. The study shows higher the level of education, the less likely were the women to want more children, and unemployed women were with a higher number of children. Our study also found that the attitude of violence of spouses significantly influenced women's reproductive choice. However, employment had no significant correlation with decision-making opportunities and contraceptive selection due to a lack of substantial data. Also, no meaningful data was available regarding decision-making and fertility preferences. Our findings suggest that women's empowerment governs decision-making in fertility preferences, causing a decline in the fertility rate.</p> </abstract>

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22A Survey-Based Women's Empowerment Index for Low- and Middle-Income Countries: The SWPER Goes Global

International Journal of Epidemiology ◽

10.1093/ije/dyab168.193 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 50 (Supplement_1) ◽

Author(s):

Fernanda Ewerling ◽

Anita Raj ◽

Cesar G Victora ◽

Franciele Hellwig ◽

Carolina VN Coll ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Women's Empowerment ◽

Women’S Empowerment ◽

African Countries ◽

Middle Income ◽

Household Decision ◽

Middle Income Countries ◽

World Regions ◽

Country Rankings ◽

Low And Middle Income

Abstract Background In 2017, a survey-based women's empowerment index (SWPER) was proposed for African countries, including three domains: social independence, decision making and attitude to violence. We explored the applicability of the SWPER in national health surveys from countries in other world regions. Methods We used data from the latest Demographic and Health Survey for 62 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) since 2000, and adapted the indicator so that it could be used for any LMIC. Adaptations included the exclusion of women's working status and recategorization of the household decision-making related items. We compared the loading patterns obtained from principal components analysis for each country separately with those obtained in a pooled dataset with all countries combined. Country rankings based on the score of each SWPER domain were correlated with their rankings in the Gender Development Index (GDI) and the Gender Inequality Index (GII). Results Most countries presented similar patterns regarding item loadings for the three SWPER empowerment domains. Correlations between the country-specific and global individual-level scores were 0.89 or higher for all countries. Correlations between the country rankings according to SWPER and GDI were, respectively, 0.74, 0.71 and 0.67 for social independence, decision-making, and attitude to violence domains. The correlations were equal to 0.82, 0.67, and 0.44, respectively, with GDI. Conclusions The SWPER global is a suitable common measure of women's empowerment for LMICs, addressing the need for a single consistent survey-based indicator of women's empowerment and allowing wider comparisons across countries and world regions.

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Feminization of African Agriculture and the Meaning of Decision-Making for Empowerment and Sustainability

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13168993 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (16) ◽

pp. 8993

Author(s):

Ruth Haug ◽

Dismas L. Mwaseba ◽

Donald Njarui ◽

Mokhele Moeletsi ◽

Mufunanji Magalasi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Agricultural Research ◽

Women's Empowerment ◽

Well Being ◽

Development Project ◽

Women Farmers ◽

Women’S Empowerment ◽

Small Scale ◽

African Countries ◽

Feminization Of Agriculture

The purpose of this study was to assess women’s decision-making power in small-scale agriculture in six African countries in view of the feminization of agriculture and to discuss the meaning of decision-making in relation to women’s empowerment and sustainability. The data are drawn from a multisite and mixed-method agricultural research and development project in six sub-Saharan countries including two sites in each country. The five domains of empowerment outlined in the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index are used to structure the analysis. The results indicate that in the selected sites in Malawi, Rwanda and South Africa, women farmers tend to dominate agricultural decision-making, while the result is more mixed in the Kenyan sites, and decision-making tends to be dominated by men in the sites in Tanzania and Ethiopia. Despite women participating in agricultural decision-making, the qualitative results show that women small-scale farmers were not perceived to be empowered in any of the country sites. It appears that the feminization of agriculture leads to women playing a more important role in decision-making but also to more responsibilities and heavier workloads without necessarily resulting in improvements in well-being outcomes that would enhance sustainability.

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Women's empowerment and household food security in Ghana

International Journal of Social Economics ◽

10.1108/ijse-05-2020-0328 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Gloria Essilfie ◽

Joshua Sebu ◽

Samuel Kobina Annim ◽

Emmanuel Ekow Asmah

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Food Security ◽

Women's Empowerment ◽

Three Dimensions ◽

Women’S Empowerment ◽

Living Standard ◽

Household Food Security ◽

Content Type ◽

Household Food ◽

Different Dimensions

PurposeThis study adopts three dimensions of women’s empowerment: (1) relative education empowerment, (2) women's autonomy in decision-making and (3) domestic violence to examine the effect of women’s empowerment on household food security in Ghana.Design/methodology/approachThe study employed the generalised ordered logit model (GOLM) and dominance analysis using a sample of 1,017 households from the seventh round of Ghana Living Standard Survey (GLSS7).FindingsThe findings from the study revealed that women’s empowerment proxied by relative years of schooling and women's decision-making were important indicators for improving household food security. Further, there exist varying dimensions of women’s empowerment in households, and these dimensions have a significant effect on the state of food security of households.Originality/valueThere are a number of studies on the effect of women's empowerment on food security. However, this study contributes to the literature by examining the varying effects of different dimensions of women’s empowerment on food security. This provides policymakers with a guide that looks at different levels of women’s empowerment and the combinations of women's empowerment dimensions that contribute for reducing food insecurity.

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User fee policies and women’s empowerment: a systematic scoping review

BMC Health Services Research ◽

10.1186/s12913-020-05835-w ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Veronique Plouffe ◽

Frank Bicaba ◽

Abel Bicaba ◽

Thomas Druetz

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Women's Empowerment ◽

Women’S Empowerment ◽

Health Coverage ◽

Middle Income ◽

Middle Income Countries ◽

Healthcare Decision Making ◽

User Fee ◽

Free Healthcare ◽

Universal Health

Abstract Background Over the past decade, an increasing number of low- and middle-income countries have reduced or removed user fees for pregnant women and/or children under five as a strategy to achieve universal health coverage. Despite the large number of studies (including meta-analyses and systematic reviews) that have shown this strategy’s positive effects impact on health-related indicators, the repercussions on women’s empowerment or gender equality has been overlooked in the literature. The aim of this study is to systematically review the evidence on the association between user fee policies in low- and middle-income countries and women’s empowerment. Methods A systematic scoping review was conducted. Two reviewers conducted the database search in six health-focused databases (Pubmed, CAB Abstracts, Embase, Medline, Global Health, EBM Reviews) using English key words. The database search was conducted on February 20, 2020, with no publication date limitation. Qualitative analysis of the included articles was conducted using a thematic analysis approach. The material was organized based on the Gender at Work analytical framework. Results Out of the 206 initial records, nine articles were included in the review. The study settings include three low-income countries (Burkina Faso, Mali, Sierra Leone) and two lower-middle countries (Kenya, India). Four of them examine a direct association between user fee policies and women’s empowerment, while the others address this issue indirectly —mostly by examining gender equality or women’s decision-making in the context of free healthcare. The evidence suggests that user fee removal contributes to improving women’s capability to make health decisions through different mechanisms, but that the impact is limited. In the context of free healthcare, women’s healthcare decision-making power remains undermined because of social norms that are prevalent in the household, the community and the healthcare centers. In addition, women continue to endure limited access to and control over resources (mainly education, information and economic resources). Conclusion User fee removal policies alone are not enough to improve women’s healthcare decision-making power. Comprehensive and multi-sectoral approaches are needed to bring sustainable change regarding women’s empowerment. A focus on “gender equitable access to healthcare” is needed to reconcile women’s empowerment and the efforts to achieve universal health coverage.

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