Does Intimate Partner Violence Decline as Women’s Empowerment Becomes Normative? Perspectives of Bangladeshi Women

Abstract

Studies addressing the relationship between women's empowerment and intimate partner violence (IPV) have yielded conflicting findings. Some suggest that women's economic and social empowerment is associated with an increased risk of intimate partner violence (IPV), arguably because men use often IPV to enforce their dominance and reassert inegalitarian gender norms when patriarchal norms are challenged; other studies suggest the converse. It is important to understand why these findings are contradictory to create a more sound basis for designing both women's empowerment interventions and anti-violence interventions. The aim of this study is to clarify the relationship between women's empowerment and IPV in a setting where gender roles are rapidly changing and IPV rates are high. We examine some of the ways in which the nature of women's empowerment evolved in six villages in rural Bangladesh during a 12-year period in which surveys have documented a decline of 11 points in the percentage of married women experiencing IPV in the prior year. The paper is based on data from 74 life history narratives elicited from 2011 to 2013 with recently married Bangladeshi women from the six villages, whom other community residents identified as empowered. Our findings suggest that women's empowerment has evolved in several ways that may be contributing to reductions in IPV: in its magnitude (for example, many women are earning more income than they previously did), in women's perceived exit options from abusive marriages, in the propensity of community members to intervene when IPV occurs, and in the normative status of empowerment (it is less likely to be seen as transgressive of gender norms). The finding that community-level perceptions of empowered women can evolve over time may go a long way in explaining the discrepant results in the literature.

Women’s economic empowerment and health related decision-making in rural Sierra Leone

“…This corresponds to assertions from feminist theory that enhanced female autonomy and power improves women's bargaining power due to its association with women's greater confidence, financial independence, and a lower likelihood of tolerating male domination and control (Buller et al 2018). However, the evidence regarding this is still limited and these relationships are complex, as described in several studies (Mishra 2014;Schuler and Nazneen 2018). In addition, several of the women and men mentioned cooperation and stronger social relationships, both within the household and with other community members, as a way of feeling powerful.…”

Currently married women’s present experiences of male intimate partner physical violence in Bangladesh: An intercategorical intersectional approach

“…Further, given the current school curricula neither challenge the patriarchal norms nor are linked to skills training and earning opportunities, they do not help girls effectively challenge gender norms. They do not give girls the perceived opportunity to exit marriage by gaining normative empowerment (Schuler & Nazneen, 2018). Thus, the content and implicit biases in the education system needs to change for inequalities to change.…”

“…Now, our study points to the importance of making additional primary prevention investments such as opportunities for CMW to receive higher education, skills development and employment programmes towards achieving normative empowerment. When women's empowerment is viewed as normal, they remain surrounded by other women, men and community members who do not tolerate MIPPV and they instantly come to help survivors when such violence occurs (Schuler & Nazneen, 2018). Thus, building intersectional solidarity with women at different intersectional locations and different actors may take shape by making structural changes not only to the economic, legal and political systems, but also to the wider society to ultimately achieve gender equality and stop MIPPV against women.…”

Intersectional community correlates of married women’s experiences of male intimate partner physical violence in Bangladesh: a cross-sectional study

“…Not finding any standalone effect of women’s community-level younger age, lower level education, income earning and poverty on women’s MIPPV suggests that the relationship between these structural community-level factors and MIPPV is more complex. It is possible that they might be mediated by other pathways such as community-level social norm of women’s normative empowerment 38 39. Normative empowerment occurs when women’s empowerment is viewed as normal in the community, women have employment and ability to exit marriage and bystanders intervene when women experience violence 39.…”