Pathways to Women's Empowerment in Contemporary Bangladesh: Fertility, Resources, and Intimate Partner Violence Open Access
Head, Sara Kathleen (2012)
Published
Abstract
Abstract
Pathways to Women's Empowerment in Contemporary
Bangladesh:
Fertility, Resources, and Intimate Partner Violence
Empirical evidence suggests women's empowerment, defined variously,
and fertility mutually
influence one another. Research on this relationship is most
abundant in classic patriarchies;
historically in these settings proof of fertility and the birth of
sons have been critical for a woman's
social standing and economic security according to women's
financial dependence on male relatives,
constrained sexuality, and confinement to the domestic sphere.
Social and economic changes are
transforming classic patriarchal systems and have various potential
impacts on women's societal role
and pathways to empowerment. This dissertation conducted three
studies in one classic patriarchal
setting, Bangladesh, to examine the direct and indirect effects of
fertility and other resources on a
fundamental dimension of women's empowerment, household decision
making. Study 1 examined
effects of women's cumulative fertility and conformity to community
based fertility norms on
empowerment. Findings indicated women's empowerment remains low,
and aspects of increased
fertility were negatively associated with empowerment. Study 2
reviewed three mediation models
examining the net effect of fertility on empowerment as mediated by
intimate partner violence (IPV).
Results indicated cumulative fertility has only modest influence on
empowerment; having at least one
child, though not necessarily a son, remain important for women's
empowerment. Study 3 examined
customary and contemporary resources for empowerment. Contemporary
resources, specifically,
women's recent employment, non-governmental organization
membership, and absence of the
husband had the strongest and most consistent associations with
women's empowerment. This
dissertation contributes to our overall understanding of the
complex interplay between the demands
of patriarchal structures and women's empowerment, measured via
household decision making. In
Bangladesh's rapidly changing environment, fertility remains
influential, but contemporary resources
for empowerment such as women's economic participation and
household structure are more
strongly associated with empowerment. Efforts to enhance women's
empowerment should consider
this changing economic landscape accordingly. Findings may serve to
support empowerment efforts
engaged in fertility control and its impact on gender systems.
Further research is recommended to
examine fertility and IPV's association with additional dimensions
of empowerment and within
societies undergoing demographic transition. Research should also
investigate changes in household
power dynamics associated with the presence or absence of the
husband.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Introductory Literature Review
.........................................................................................................................
1
Literature Review, Figure 1, Conceptual Framework of the Effects of
a Woman's Fertility on
her Empowerment.
...............................................................................................................................
3
Study 1: The Effects of Women's Fertility on their Empowerment in
Bangladesh ............................... 46
Study 1, Table 1: Sample Characteristics
...................................................................................................
62
Study 1, Table 2: Effects of Fertility on Household Decision
Making, Generalized Ordered
Logistic Regression (constrained)
.....................................................................................................
63
Study 1, Figure 1: Predicted Probabilities of Women's Involvement
in Household Decision
Making for Individual and Relative Fertility
...................................................................................
64
Study 2: Effects of Women's Fertility on Empowerment and Intimate
Partner Violence: A Mediation
Analysis
..........................................................................................................................................................
71
Study 2, Figure 1: Conceptual Fertility-IPV-Empowerment Model
.................................................... 86
Study 2, Table 1: Sample Characteristics
..................................................................................................
87
Study 2, Table 2: Fertility-IPV-Empowerment Mediation Models
....................................................... 88
Study 3: Resources for Women's Empowerment via Household Decision
Making in Bangladesh ... 95
Study 3, Table 1: Household Decision Making, Individual Indicators
............................................... 112
Study 3, Table 2: Sample Characteristics
.................................................................................................
113
Study 3, Table 3: Resources for Women's Empowerment via Household
Decision Making in
Bangladesh
.........................................................................................................................................
114
Conclusion
........................................................................................................................................................
123
About this Dissertation
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