Men's violence against women in rural Bangladesh: Undermined or exacerbated by microcredit programmes?

Socioeconomic Factors and Processes Associated With Domestic Violence in Rural Bangladesh

“…Participation in such programs can, on the one hand, reduce a woman's risk of domestic violence by making her life more visible and by increasing her perceived value in the family; on the other hand, if the woman's economic empowerment results in her acting more assertively, her husband may respond with violence. 21 We report results from in-depth interviews, small group discussions and survey data collected in 2001-2002 in six villages in Bangladesh to document the types and severity of violence against women in marriage, and to explore the potential social determinants of domestic violence and the pathways through which social and economic factors might influence women's vulnerability in marriage. Key assumptions guiding this work are that marriage is an important site for the negotiation and expression of gender roles and relations, and that the prevailing marriage systems and practices in Bangladesh need to be understood in the context of strategies developed by individuals and families for economic survival.…”

Spousal Violence in Bangladesh: A Call for a Public-health Response

“…The level of spousal violence decreased as the length of association with a microcredit programme increased (6,10). Furthermore, the percentage of women in a community who belonged to savings and credit groups had a significantly negative association with the risk of spousal violence, with the risk of violence diminishing as a higher proportion of women in the community participated in such groups (5,6).…”

“…Several studies have shown a negative relationship between spousal violence and membership in microcredit groups, whereas others showed a positive relationship, and still others showed no significant relationship (6,9-11). The same range of relationships exist between spousal violence and other income-generating activities of women (6,(9)(10)(11). This inconsistency may be explained by differences in the local acceptability of women's engagement with microcredit groups.…”

“…A recent study from the USA reported that nearly half (44%) of more than 3,400 female members of a Seattle-based health cooperative reported having experienced spousal violence during their adult lifetime (2). (9,10). While these two studies look at violence in the same populations, respondents defined violence in the first study, but in the second study, the investigators used the WHO definition of violence against women and used a series of behaviourally-explicit questions.…”

“…This inconsistency may be explained by differences in the local acceptability of women's engagement with microcredit groups. The leading explanatory hypothesis is that the stresses associated with changing gender roles put women at an increased risk for spousal violence (10).…”