Health-Seeking Behavior of Rural Ethnic Women in Bangladesh: A critical analysis through intersectional lens

Abstract

The paper aims to investigate the health seeking behavior of rural ethnic women in Bangladesh through the lens of intersectionality. The paper sheds light on the healthcare seeking behavior of rural ethnic women by exploring the barriers of their healthcare accessibility, role of community organizations and traditional healers in shaping health seeking behavior, analyzing the impact of education, health literacy and healthcare awareness, and evaluating the role of family and community level power imbalance over the health seeking behavior of rural ethnic women. The study is based on both primary and secondary data. The findings of the paper highlight that various social and cultural factors, including gender, ethnicity, and socio-economic status, intersected to influence health seeking behavior among rural ethnic women in Bangladesh. Access to healthcare was found to be limited due to a lack of resources, transportation, and information. The paper argues that Community organizations and traditional healers played a minimal yet important role in shaping health seeking behavior, while the existing power imbalance in the family and community level has been found to be associated with health seeking behavior. The paper concludes the importance of addressing the multiple and intersecting factors that shape health seeking behavior among rural ethnic women in Bangladesh.