Women economic empowerment via cash transfer and microcredit programs is enough to decrease intimate partner violence? Evidence from a systematic review

Abstract

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a worldwide public health problem. Many proposals aiming to eliminate its occurrence include the empowerment of women through their socio-economic development. In this context, some studies suggested that microcredit programs (MP) and cash transfer programs (CTP) are initiatives that can also reduce the risk of IPV. Others pointed to an opposite effect. The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of women’s economic empowerment in MP and CTP on the risk of physical, psychological and sexual violence through a systematic review. Papers/documents selection was conducted by two researchers according to the following criteria: published in English, Portuguese or Spanish; primary data; assessing the effect of MP or CTP on IPV; in heterosexual couples; on women beneficiaries of the intervention; using a comparator group eligible for an MP or CTP; and focusing on risk IPV as the outcomes. Our results showed that the impact of MP are mixed when it comes to physical and physical/sexual violence. Even so, the review suggests that the effect of MP on sexual violence is trivial or nonexistent. Regarding the impact of CTPs, the present study showed that the effects on physical, physical/sexual, psychological, and sexual violence were also heterogeneous. Women more empowered and with some autonomy could be at risk. Despite that, participation in the empowerment program should be encouraged for poor women and families. However, parallel interventions to lead with IPV should be addressed to the main actions to reduce the risk of increasing IPV prevalence in certain scenarios.

Spatial distribution and determinants of intimate partner violence among reproductive-age women in Ethiopia: Spatial and Multilevel analysis

“…This is consistent with study findings in Bangladesh [53] and Peru [54]. This might be due to the reason that women who are empowered are able to fight for their rights and will not accept men to fully dictate to them which could result in sexual, physical or emotional violence [55]. Besides, in Ethiopia, majority of the cultures considered women to be subordinated or controlled by men and therefore, women in community with high women empowerment are not depend men for their lives and tend to resist some of the decisions of men which may bring about intimate partner violence [56].…”

Improving the mental health of women intimate partner violence survivors: Findings from a realist review of psychosocial interventions

“…Women’s financial independence can be addressed by economic interventions, particularly those that include social components that engage men around gender norms and equity. This can increase women’s social capital and empowerment and lead to a reduction in IPV risk and improved mental and physical health outcomes [ 23 , 32 , 53 – 55 , 58 ]. However, interventions that increase a woman’s economic empowerment or independence, particularly when not combined with social intervention components to address elements such as safety planning, can increase the risk of violence in the home [ 13 , 30 , 32 , 49 , 53 , 58 ].…”

The Role of Income on the Relationship Between the Brazilian Cash Transfer Program (Programa Bolsa Família) and Intimate Partner Violence: Evidence From a Multigroup Path Analysis

“…Still, empirical evidence on CTP and IPV in Latin American countries is controversial. In the most recent systematic review on the subject, T. H. Leite et al (2019) showed that some CTPs reduce and others show no influence on the prevalence of physical and psychological violence against women.…”

“…Still, empirical evidence on CTP and IPV in Latin American countries is controversial. In the most recent systematic review on the subject, T. H. Leite et al (2019) showed that some CTPs reduce and others show no influence on the prevalence of physical and psychological violence against women. However, the authors pointed out that there is considerable heterogeneity in the results according to cultural norms, regarding gender roles, socioeconomic contexts, family dynamics, and individual characteristics (T. H. Leite et al, 2019).…”