Dimensions Of Empowerment Research Articles

Cross-cultural adaptation of the Genetic Counseling Outcome Scale (GCOS-24) for use in Canada: A qualitative study.

The Genetic Counselling Outcome Scale (GCOS)-24 is a patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) developed and validated in the United Kingdom (UK). The aim of this study was to cross-culturally adapt GCOS-24 to Canadian Clinical Genetic Services (CGS). This was achieved through a qualitative study exploring whether the existing GCOS-24 maintains its intended meaning in a Canadian population and assessing whether GCOS-24 items could be better worded to meet the needs of members of families affected by genetic conditions in Canada. Thirteen participants were recruited from Canadian Patient Organizations supporting people and families affected by genetic conditions. Data were collected through semi-structured cognitive interviews, as these allow exploration of participants' comprehension, opinions, thoughts, and feelings regarding GCOS-24's instructions, response options, and the meaning/relevance of each item. Thematic analysis was utilized for data analysis, and an inductive approach to coding was followed to allow for themes to emerge from the data. Themes were organized in respect to their questionnaire item and further classified into their respective Empowerment dimension. The GCOS-24 instructions were found easy to understand by all thirteen participants. Although the response options were also found to be straightforward, the data suggest the questionnaire would benefit from the addition of a "non-applicable" option. Semantic validation of the GCOS-24 showed that items within the Cognitive Control and Emotional Regulation dimensions were found easy to understand by participants. However, items within the Decisional Control, Behavioural Control and Hope dimensions presented semantic difficulties. Participants provided feedback on syntactic changes to support understanding, and this feedback was used to develop a final Canadian-adapted version of GCOS-24, GCOS-Canada. This study provides the first step towards a valid, culturally adapted PROM for use in Canadian CGS service evaluation and research. GCOS-Canada would benefit from psychometric validation to ensure validity, reliability, responsiveness, minimal clinically important difference and internal consistency.

Structural and psychological empowerment and burnout among nurses: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

This study aims to review available evidence about the relationship between structural and psychological empowerment and burnout among nurses. Nurses are key healthcare providers, who experience higher levels of burnout due to uncertainty and role conflicts about nursing roles and responsibilities and poor management. Nurse empowerment is an effective approach to reduce nurse burnout and enhance patient care quality. Positive working conditions along with positive attitudes and perceptions for nurses are crucial in the workplace. Nurse empowerment in the workplace results in quality improvements in work life and the provision of healthcare. We conducted a systematic review in accordance with the recommendations of the Joanna Briggs Institute and the PRISMA guideline. Relevant studies published between 2007 and 2022 were identified via PubMed, CINAHL, Web of Science, Scopus, Cochrane Library, Ovid MEDLINE (R), Science Direct and Turkish scientific literature databases. Studies that reported correlation coefficients were pooled to conduct a meta-analysis. Random-effects meta-analyses showed a negative association between structural and psychological empowerment and emotional exhaustion. The overall findings showed a moderate and negative association between the six dimensions of structural empowerment and depersonalization. There was a positive association between structural empowerment and personal accomplishment. There is a relationship between decreased burnout levels and nurse empowerment. The causal relationship between empowerment and burnout levels needs to be investigated in various healthcare settings in several countries. The relationship between structural and psychological empowerment and burnout levels emphasizes that empowerment can reduce nurse burnout. Nurse empowerment is a critical management strategy for improving the quality of life for nurses, increasing the quality and effectiveness of patient care and achieving positive outcomes. The encouragement and empowerment of nurses for prompt decision-making and effective resource utilization, reducesnurse burnout, enhancing nurses' job commitment, productivity, satisfaction and competence along with increased quality of care. The encouragement of nurses as empowered managers at the macro, meso and institutional levels not only improves the overall quality of health services but also helps to find solutions for the issues concerning healthcare service users and the health system environment.

Examining the Antecedents and Consequences of Adaptive Selling Capability: Study from Microfinance Institutions in Indonesia

In the heated business competition of today’s financial services sector, small conventional banks such as microfinance institutions (MFIs) must maintain superior salespeople with adaptive selling capabilities to increase sales performance. Therefore, it is critical to investigate the determinant factor and consequences of salespeople’s adaptive selling capability. This study proposed to examine the effect of psychological empowerment dimensions, namely: meaning, competence, self-determination, and impact, on adaptive selling capability. In addition, this research also scrutinises the link between adaptive selling capability and sales performance by examining innovative selling behavior as a mediating variable. A total of 205 salespeople from 34 MFIs in Central Java, Indonesia, participated in the survey. Based on structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) analyses, this study found that psychological empowerment dimensions significantly affect adaptive selling capability. Findings also demonstrate that adaptive selling capability positively influences innovative selling behaviour. Finally, the results revealed that innovative selling behaviour mediates the relationship between adaptive selling capability and sales performance. This research provides insight for MFI managers to improve sales performance by cultivating employee psychological empowerment, which impacts adaptive selling capability and innovative selling behavior.

Stoking the Fires of Pre-service Educators through Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ways of Learning

Great emphasis has been placed on embedding Indigenous knowledges and perspectives in western-based education systems and pedagogical practices. This study discusses the results of a four-month program for pre-service teachers that targeted best-practice Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander pedagogy. The program challenged existing notions of western-based teaching and learning through innovative approaches to the design of learning. Specifically, the program has been underpinned by the 8 Ways Aboriginal Pedagogical Framework which focuses on interconnected learning experiences which have been developed through Aboriginal systems, protocols, values and processes. The program embedded authentic practices aimed at empowering pre-service teachers. The research design explored four dimensions of empowerment relating to embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives: knowledge, understanding, perceptions and attitudes. Quantitative survey data was gathered pre and post program and paired samples t-tests were conducted and found all four dimensions of empowerment improved significantly following the program (p < 0.05). The results of this study demonstrate the effectiveness of teaching, learning and assessing through the lens of the 8 Ways Aboriginal Pedagogical framework to increase teacher agency to become more culturally responsive educators.

Small ruminant value chain and empowerment: a gendered baseline study from Ethiopia

IntroductionDespite growing interest in gender analysis in value chains, comparatively few studies have analyzed gender relations in small ruminant value chains using sex-disaggregated quantitative data in livestock-based systems.MethodsDrawing on baseline data from the Small Ruminant Value Chain Development Program (SRVD) in Ethiopia, this study aims to address two research questions: what is the gender status along small ruminant value chain stages and the related associations among aspects of empowerment and socio-economic variables? We employed empowerment and value chain frameworks to address these research questions.Results and conclusionOur findings reveal that small ruminant market participation, related decisions, and control over income are gender differential. Estimation results identified several variables significantly associated with agency dimensions, achievements, or both, with mixed results. These are age group, context, being married, being men and head of household, participation in breeding stock selection, livestock ownership, contact with extension agents, access to market information, and participation in selling at marketplaces. Participation in a small ruminant value chain may encourage more egalitarian decision-making behaviors but does not guarantee the capacity to make autonomous decision-making, and thus needs to be coupled with interventions on empowerment dimensions. Nevertheless, further investigations are required to establish the mixed results with additional variables on norms.

Government’s Income Support and Women Empowerment: Regional Estimates of a Lower Middle-Income Economy

Investment in women is the smart thing to do. Pakistan has to meet SDGs till 2030, among which the 5th goal is empowering women and gender equality. We have to find the correlates that affects the empowerment of a woman to empower them. For this purpose, the current study was designed. A large sample of 12339 married women aged between 15 to 49 years was taken from PDHS 2017-18. The status of women empowerment was evaluated by formulating an index (ranged from score 0 to 10) by taking the 8 dimensions of women empowerment namely, woman’s decision making autonomy, digital inclusion, educational status, employment status, ownership of house, self-esteem, consent in choosing husband and her inclusion in financial sectors. The extent of women empowerment is observed at urban and rural areas. For analysis, ordered logistic regression technique was applied by using SPSS-23. It was concluded that as compared to women of urban areas, the women belonged to rural areas were less empowered. The disaggregated analyses showed that the determining factors of women empowerment were affecting in similar way in both urban and rural areas, except that of BISP which was increasing women empowerment in rural areas but not in the urban areas.

Predicting nutritional status during pregnancy by women's empowerment in West Shewa Zone, Ethiopia.

Considerable proportions of pregnant women are affected by poor nutrition outcomes in Ethiopia. Women's empowerment, on the other hand, is highly recognized as a means to achieve better maternal nutrition outcomes. However, the role of pregnant women's empowerment in nutritional status during pregnancy has not been empirically examined in Ethiopia. This study aimed to address this gap. To assess the association of individual and composite women's empowerment dimensions with pregnant women's nutrition outcomes in West Shewa Zone, Ethiopia. A health facility-based cross-sectional study was performed on 1,453 pregnant women living in West Shewa Zone, Ethiopia, in 2021. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted on half of the samples to identify and validate dimensions of pregnant women's empowerment. The associations between pregnant women's empowerment dimensions and anemia status and mid upper arm circumference levels were examined by logistic regressions. Composite pregnant women's empowerment was positively associated with both anemia status and mid-upper-arm circumference level. The odds of not being anemic were higher among pregnant women empowered in economic [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.7, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.26, 2.22] and assertiveness (AOR = 1.9, 95% CI: 1.46, 2.38) dimensions than those not empowered in these dimensions. Empowered pregnant women in household decision-making (AOR = 1.6, 95% CI: 1.19, 2.22) and psychological (AOR = 1.4, 95% CI: 1.04, 1.85) dimensions had higher odds of having normal mid-upper-arm circumference measures than those not empowered in the respective dimensions. Communication and time dimensions were not significantly associated with any of the nutrition outcomes. This study suggests that empowered pregnant women are nutritionally better off than their less empowered counterparts. This is also important in child health outcomes. Policies and programs that aim to improve maternal and child health in the study area need to consider interventions that promote the decision-making power, economic, psychological, and assertiveness dimensions of pregnant women.

Can Employment Empower Women in Rural India*

The literature on women empowerment highlights a positive correlation between work and decision‐making power of women within families. On the contrary, the role of work opportunities in letting women achieve greater control over their lives, making them more independent is also well‐established. In this background, we explore the effect of women employment on different dimensions of women empowerment by using a nationally representative household survey data, the Indian Human Development Survey (IHDS‐II, 2011–12). As “empowerment” is unobservable, multi‐faceted and difficult to quantify, we model it by an index which aggregates the qualitative answers provided by a respondent. Due to the presence of an endogenous relation, we exploit sources of exogenous variations in employment through an instrumental variable (IV) setup. Following the literature, we identify IV as the level of transport infrastructure in the region where a woman resides. We find that the estimated coefficients are positive and statistically significant, remaining robust to changes in empowerment calculation. In the context of public initiatives aimed at improving female labour force participation and empowering women in India, our results show how policymakers can look beyond standard policies and take the help of transport‐related initiatives to improve employment and empowerment.

Does Women’s Empowerment Influence Multidimensional Poverty? Empirical Insight from Rural Odisha of India

The prominent role played by women’s empowerment and multidimensional poverty reduction in the development process is justified by including Goal-1 and Goal-5 under the 2030 agenda of UNDP’s Sustainable Development Goals. This study examines the nexus between women’s empowerment and multidimensional poverty in rural areas of the Jagatsinghpur district of Odisha. The Alkire-Foster method is used to construct Women Empowerment Index and Multidimensional Poverty Index. Education, health, economic, and standard of living dimensions construct MPI and economic, social, political, and domestic empowerment dimensions for WEI. This study observed that more than two-thirds of women are deprived of asset ownership and employment, and more than half of nutrition, access to improved sanitation, and clean energy for cooking. The results of the OLS model revealed the positive impact of women’s empowerment with occupation, age, and education in reducing multidimensional poverty. Based on the findings, the study envisages appropriate policy intervention in enhancing the educational level and generation of self-employment opportunities in empowering women and reducing multidimensional poverty.

Platform empowerment: Facebook’s role in facilitating female micro-entrepreneurship in tourism

Even though tourism and hospitality employ large numbers of women and female micro-entrepreneurship plays a significant role in sustainable tourism development, the proportion of female micro-entrepreneurs is low. Particularly in developing countries, barriers to female micro- entrepreneurship remain significant. This article explores how social media platforms like Facebook can empower female tourism and hospitality micro-entrepreneurs in developing and highly tourism-dependent economies. Employing a netnographic approach, data were collected in two stages: (1) A total of 3214 posts by female micro-entrepreneurs were gathered from two Facebook groups to identify dimensions of platform empowerment; (2) semi-structured interviews with twelve members of the two groups were conducted to further explore these dimensions. The findings show four ways in which Facebook supports empowerment processes and outcomes at individual and collective levels, namely as a (1) learning resource; (2) informal entrepreneurial ecosystem; (3) self-development tool; and (4) business development exchange. By identifying the role social media platforms play in bridging social policy gaps, this study contributes knowledge that is critical for a more inclusive development of sustainable tourism.

The relationship between women’s breastfeeding empowerment and conformity to feminine norms

BackgroundWomen empowerment is effective in successful breastfeeding. Hence,identifying the relationship between psychosocial factors, such as acceptance of feminine norms, and empowerment can be beneficial in designing interventions.. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the relationship between breastfeeding empowerment and conformity to feminine norms.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted on 288 primiparous mothers in the postpartum period using validated questionnaires of conformity to gender norms and breastfeeding empowerment in the following domains: “sufficient knowledge and skills for breastfeeding,” “a sense of breastfeeding competence,” “conscious belief in the value of breastfeeding,” “overcoming breastfeeding problems,” “negotiation and obtaining family support” and “self-efficacy in breastfeeding” which were completed through the self-report method. Data were analyzed using the multivariate linear regression test.ResultsThe mean score of ‘conformity to feminine norms’ and ‘breastfeeding empowerment’ were 142.39 and 144.14, respectively. The score of breastfeeding empowerment was positively related to conformity to feminine norms (p = 0.003). Among the dimensions of breastfeeding empowerment, ‘mothers’ adequate knowledge and skills for breastfeeding’ (p = 0.001), ‘belief in the value of breastfeeding’ (p = 0.008), and ‘negotiation and obtaining family support’ (p = 0.01) were positively related to conformity to feminine norms.ConclusionsThe results indicate a positive relationship between the level of conformity to feminine norms and breastfeeding empowerment. Accordingly, it is recommended that supporting breastfeeding as a valuable role of women be considered in programs designed to improve breastfeeding empowerment.

Women's empowerment, children's nutritional status, and the mediating role of household headship structure: Evidence from sub-Saharan Africa.

We aimed to examine the association between women's empowerment and childhood nutritional status while accounting for the mediating role of household headship structure. Cross-country, cross-sectional quantitative data from the most recent Demographic and Health Surveys (2015-2018) were used. Women's empowerment was measured as a composite index of participation in household decision-making, attitude towards domestic violence, and asset ownership. Childhood nutrition status was measure as anaemia (haemoglobin concentration < 110g/L), stunting (height-for-age z-scorescore <-2) and the co-occurrence of anaemia and stunting. Applying the Lewbel two-stage least squares, women's migration status was used as an instrumental variable. We used data on 25,665 woman-child dyads from eight sub-Saharan African countries: Burundi (2016), Ethiopia (2016), Guinea (2018), Malawi (2016), Mali (2018), Zimbabwe (2015), Uganda (2016), and Tanzania (2015). The women were in their reproductive ages (15-49 years) and children were under 5 years old. The findings showed that an increase in women's empowerment index reduces children's likelihood of being anaemic and having a co-occurrence of anaemia and stunting [coeff (SE), -0.114 (0.025) and -0.072 (0.032), respectively]. Specifically, an increase in asset ownership or decision-making dimensions of empowerment significantly reduces the likelihood of anaemia and the co-occurrence of anaemia and stunting among children. Children of empowered women from male-headed households were more likely to be anaemic and be concurrently anaemic and stunted compared to their counterparts whose mothers were from female-headed households. Interventions designed to improve childhood nutrition through women's empowerment approaches need to consider asset ownership and instrumental agency of women while acknowledging the mediating effect of household headship typology.

Cultural Analysis of Liberal Feminism in American English Language Teaching Resources

One of the ways to spread the approach of liberal feminism in the world is to use English language education, through which English culture is spread among language learners. With the aim of discovering the signs of promoting liberal feminism in language teaching resources, this research, with a cultural approach, first determined the dimensions and components of liberal feminism. After that, three sources were selected from the most widely used sources of English language education in Iran, and the parts where the signs of promoting liberal feminism were evident were analyzed for content. The analyzes were done based on the components of liberal feminism and common Iranian Islamic culture. These analyzes were given to 20 experts for verification, and conclusions were drawn after corrections. The results indicated that the two dimensions of equality (35.5%) and empowerment (30.5%) were the most frequent in these sources. The dimensions of freedom (17.5%) and legal protection (13.5%) were in third and fourth place. The statistics of other components were less than 5% and negligible.

The theory of integrated empowerment in the transition to adulthood: concepts and measures.

Developmental challenges in the transition to adulthood require a process of empowerment that enables young people to guide themselves and build capacities for adult commitments and roles. To examine this systemic process, we conducted an interdisciplinary investigation of constructs from prior literatures that relate to empowerment. Two foundational dimensions of empowerment emerged in relation to individual functioning and relational environments. The two dimensions are self-direction and meaningful roles in society. A creative process of theory construction informed by related literatures identified four component catalysts that drive these dimensions of empowerment among early adults: personal agency, sense of purpose, mentoring experience, and engagement in community. As developed in this article, the Integrated Empowerment Theory explains the relationships among these catalysts within the ongoing, multilayered process of empowerment in the transition to adulthood. A graphic representation in the article specifies the relationships among these theoretical concepts. To advance future research based on these theoretical concepts, we constructed multi-item measures of the four catalysts drawn from indicators in the empirical literature. The resulting scales were presented to participants in an empirical test of their technical adequacies. Participants were 255 early adult college students from eight colleges at a public land-grant research university in the United States. The 18-item scale includes four subscales: agency, purpose, mentoring, and community. The study findings evidenced robust internal consistency estimates across the scales (0.79-0.96). The Integrated Empowerment Theory and the corresponding scales provide tools for research to understand and promote positive developmental outcomes for youth as they navigate experimentation, life choices, and identity construction. The scales also imply a logical sequence for application and intervention. The sequence corresponds to four key catalysts: Community, Agency, Mentors, and Purpose, or CAMP. Although the conceptualization and the scales draw from a college population, the constructs have potential applicability, and await future research with additional age groups. For early adults, empowerment has particularly important implications for societal contributions. Creating contexts where youth can play meaningful roles in their emerging social world holds positive potential for society.

Does Microfinance Singlehandedly Empower Women? A Case Study of Bangladesh

The role played by microfinancing in the empowerment of women has been a subject of debate in recent literature. By employing the case study method, this paper explores the influencing determinants. Data was obtained from a field interview comprised of 20 female microfinance borrowers and their male family members, as well as focus group discussions and participant observation. The economic, social, and political empowerment of the interviewed women were assessed using Kabeer’s empowerment framework, and the results reveal that microfinancing does not influence the economic and political dimensions of female empowerment; instead, microfinancing was observed to empower women socially, particularly with respect to their participation in major decision-making. The results further indicate that the age, family type, educational level, financial literacy, and training of female microfinance clients play important roles in their empowerment.

Role of education in women empowerment.

Empowerment is considered to be a means for creating social environment in which vital decisions may be taken and choice could be taken to bring social transformation. It strengthens the innate ability through acquiring knowledge, power and experience. The empowerment of women has become one of important issues of current period. It is considered that women should stand equal to men in terms of education, livelihood, health and all other parameters. The education of women plays an important role in the advancement of society. In the words of Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, “If you educate a man you educate an individual, however, if you educate a woman you educate a whole family. Women empowered means mother India empowered” (Bhat, 2015; Tamilselvi, 2018). Education is a milestone of women empowerment because it enables them to respond to the challenges, to confront their traditional role and change their life. It assists in bringing equality and works as a means to improve their status within family, society and politico-economic system. This Paper seeks to highlight various dimensions of empowerment of women through education.

Family Planning Decision in the Context of Women Empowerment: Case of a Middle-income Economy

Family planning is essential for sustainable development, particularly for a lower middle income country like Pakistan, the fifth most densely inhabited country in the world. Women's empowerment leads to a dynamic role in family planning decisions. Based on the data of PDHS 2017-18 and by taking a sample of 12339 married women, this study aims to explore the connection between women empowerment and family planning decisions in Pakistan. A summative women empowerment index was calculated for the five dimensions (economic empowerment, financial inclusion, participation in decision making, self-esteem, and awareness status). Findings of binary logistics showed that women's empowerment (as an index) has a positive effect on the use of contraceptives. Every dimension of women's empowerment except her financial inclusion positively affects family planning decisions. Household wealth status increases the probability of using contraceptives. Due to regional disparities, contraceptive usage is shallow in Sindh, Balochistan, AJK, and FATA.

Relationship between Employees’ Characteristics and Occupational Safety Climate in Phosphoric Acid Industry

Introduction: The Indonesian government has issued, through the Ministry of Manpower, an announcement that occupational health and safety is the creation of a conducive employment climate. This research aims to determine the relationship between characteristics of employees (age, education level, and job title or position) and work safety climate in the Phosphoric Acid Industry. Method: This research is an observational study with quantitative method. The population of this research is the employees of the phosphoric acid plant in the Phosphoric Acid Industry, totaling 44 people and total sampling technique as the sampling method. The researchers used the Pearson Spearman correlation test. Result: All dimensions of occupational safety have a weak correlation with the age of employees. Several dimensions have negative correlations with age like dimension of employees’ occupational safety priority and unacceptable risks, dimension of employees’ occupational safety commitment, dimensions of priority and occupational safety management capability. All dimensions of occupational safety climate have a positive correlation with the level of education. Dimension of trust toward the organization, dimensions of priority, and occupational safety management capability; dimension of occupational safety empowerment have moderate correlations with education level. Most dimensions of occupational safety climate have a negative correlation with the job positions. There is one dimension that is positively correlated with the job position, namely the dimension of trust toward the organization. Conclusion: The results of the study found that there was no strong relationship between employee characteristics (age, education level, position) with the dimensions of work safety climate.

Efficiency of teaching the “social advocacy campaigns” curriculum in strengthening the capacities of civil society institutions A case study for students majoring in social work at the University of Jordan

Objectives: The study aimed to demonstrate the efficiency of the approach based on the idea of advocacy for the purposes of revealing and clarifying that the issue of designing social policies and programs is what distinguishes its tools, mechanisms, projects and development outputs from other projects and approaches, as well as how to present the methodology in which the principles and mechanisms of practical social programs are applied in the advocacy process. With realistic research based on the applications and steps of scientific knowledge of the needs of society, by showing the relationship of the dimensions of community participatory with the education and application of the uses of advocacy methodology in sustainable development.&#x0D; Methodology: The study followed the quantitative approach due to its suitability to the nature of this study and the achievement of its objectives. The researcher prepared a questionnaire consisting of (31) items that were distributed to the study sample, which numbered (130) individuals in the three semesters of the academic year 2019-2020 in the Department of Social Work- University of Jordan.&#x0D; Results: The results of the study showed that there is a link to the subject of managing social advocacy campaigns with its dimensions of empowerment, advocating inclusion versus exclusion, civil society institutions, and the role of the social worker in building the capacities of civil society institutions to achieve sustainable development.&#x0D; Conclusion: The importance of keeping pace with the steps of the process of teaching social work curricula by highly professional practitioners, who have a network of community relations, and who can design social programs and keep pace with them along with the academic development of faculty members who specialize in social work and social service with practical applications through the earning course social support and advocacy

Measuring women's empowerment during the perinatal period in high income countries: A scoping review of instruments used

Empowerment is acknowledged as a process facilitating those who are less powerful to be engaged in their problem identification, decision making and actions to gain control over their life. This is an important goal for women during the perinatal period in their transition to motherhood. A concept analysis of women's empowerment during the perinatal period found that psychological and social dimensions play a role in women's perinatal empowerment and identified several defining attributes.The aim of this study was to identify robust validated instruments that measure all the attributes of women's empowerment during the perinatal period.We did a scoping review of scientific literature following the methodology of the JBI Reviewer's Manual. We searched the database MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES and SocINDEX and selected papers meeting the inclusion criteria. Instruments measuring empowerment or related concepts were identified in the selected papers. Two authors independently cross referenced the items of each instrument against the defining attributes for empowerment.Our search resulted in 9771 unique hits of which 36 papers were finally included. Studies were from various countries with a wide variety of aims, demographics of cohorts and timepoints across the perinatal period. Twenty-one different instruments were used to measure empowerment, of which 11 were validated among women during the perinatal period. However, no identified instrument was developed specifically for women during the perinatal period or included all the dimensions of empowerment and the defining attributes.There is a need for a theoretically sound valid and reliable instrument measuring all the dimensions of empowerment of women during the perinatal period. Once developed this instrument needs testing with a broad range of women. Results from such a study will inform the development of appropriate interventions that have a coherent theoretical basis and are empirically informed to enhance women's empowerment during the perinatal period.