Men’s perspectives on women’s empowerment and intimate partner violence in rural Bangladesh

Schuler, Sidney Ruth; Lenzi, Rachel; Badal, Shamsul Huda; Nazneen, Sohela

doi:10.1080/13691058.2017.1332391

Cited by 36 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 26 publications

(31 reference statements)

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“…This appeared to be the case both in 2002 and 2014 (Field and Schuler, Unpublished data). Additionally, qualitative findings from interviews with men between 2011 and 2014 pointed to several emergent aspects of women’s empowerment that men perceived as provocative and transgressive: their presence in the public sphere (particularly in markets, previously off-limits), and controlling, disrespecting, defying or arguing with husbands (Schuler et al, 2017).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Schuler¹,

Nazneen

2018

World Development

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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.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Schuler¹,

Nazneen

2018

World Development

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“…It could be this was because there little variation in the sample, or that these measures of economic wellbeing fail to capture how poverty manifests itself in Afghanistan. However, the lack of association does question whether intervention working to strengthen women’s economic position on their own, can reduce IPV [ 40 , 42 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors associated with recent intimate partner violence experience amongst currently married women in Afghanistan and health impacts of IPV: a cross sectional study

Gibbs

Corboz²,

Jewkes

2018

BMC Public Health

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BackgroundIntimate partner violence (IPV) is exceedingly common in conflict and post-conflict settings. We first seek to describe factors associated with past 12 month IPV amongst currently married women in Afghanistan, focused on the factors typically assumed to drive IPV. Second, to describe whether IPV is independently associated with a range of health outcomes.MethodsCross-sectional analysis of currently married Afghan women, comprising the baseline study of a trial to prevent IPV. We use multinomial regression, reporting adjusted relative-risk ratios to model factors associated with the different forms of IPV, comparing no IPV, emotional IPV only, and physical IPV and emotional IPV. Second we assessed whether experience of emotional IPV, and physical IPV, were independently associated with health outcomes, reporting adjusted ß coefficients and adjusted odds ratios as appropriate.ResultsNine hundred thirty five currently married women were recruited, 11.8% experienced only emotional IPV and 23.1% experienced physical and emotional IPV. Emotional IPV only was associated with attending a women’s group, greater food insecurity, her husband having more than one wife, experiencing other forms of family violence, and more inequitable community gender norms. Experiencing both physical IPV and emotional IPV was associated with attending a women’s group, more childhood trauma, husband cruelty, her husband having more than one wife, experiencing other forms of family violence, more inequitable community gender norms, and greater reported disability. Emotional IPV and physical IPV were independently associated with worse health outcomes.ConclusionIPV remains common in Afghanistan. Economic interventions for women alone are unlikely to prevent IPV and potentially may increase IPV. Economic interventions need to also work with husbands and families, and work to transform community level gender norms.Trial registrationNCT03236948. Registered 28 July 2017, retrospectively registered.

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“…However, within the context of our study, despite occupying precarious economic positions, men were involved as providers of economic resources to both wives and sex workers. In particular, relationships with sex workers initially began as exchanges of cash for sex but developed into intimate partnerships especially when there were higher expectations of material and emotional support from both partners (Bhana & Pattman, 2011;Schuler, Lenzi, Badal, & Nazneen, 2017;Stoebenau, Heise, Wamoyi, & Bobrova, 2016). Given the unique location of intimate partners, the study highlights the complex interplay of societal norms and structural conditions that frame the gender relations and practices of intimate partners.…”

Section: Locating Intimate Partnersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intervening in masculinity: work, relationships and violence among the intimate partners of female sex workers in South India

Huynh

Khan

Nair

et al. 2018

Critical Public Health

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Although health researchers have begun to examine the forms of violence and power dynamics that play out in the intimate relationships of female sex workers (FSWs) in India, this knowledge has tended to focus on the perspectives of women, leaving men's motivations and attitudes relatively unexamined. This paper examines the contours of masculinity and gender norms from the perspective of the intimate partners of FSWs. Based on six months of ethnographic research in Northern Karnataka, the study employed two focus group discussions (FGDs) with Devadasi FSWs (N = 17), as well as four FGDs (N = 34) and 30 in-depth interviews with their intimate partners. Given the precarious labour conditions in this region, tensions developed in the participants' relationships with FSWs, as these men were unable to meet local ideals of manhood. Violence became a way that men attempted to re-secure a sense of control in their relationships with women, and to fulfil fantasies of male power. We recommend that programs engaging men not only address intimate partner violence but also attend to the social and structural realities surrounding these men's daily lived experiences.

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Men’s perspectives on women’s empowerment and intimate partner violence in rural Bangladesh

Cited by 36 publications

References 26 publications

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

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

Factors associated with recent intimate partner violence experience amongst currently married women in Afghanistan and health impacts of IPV: a cross sectional study

Intervening in masculinity: work, relationships and violence among the intimate partners of female sex workers in South India

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