Economic Status Of Women Research Articles

Women’s Status in Refusing Marital Rape and Its Associated Factors in Ethiopia

Human right instruments underscore that wives have the right to refuse marital rape. This stu dy was aimed to assess women’s status in refusing marital rape and its associated factors. The study used data from the 2016 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) of Ethiopia. The sample (n=8,695) was limited to married women. To examine associated factors, socio-demographic variables were computed using logistic regression. The finding revealed that the majority (53.73%) of married women did not refuse marital rape. Education and economic status of women were positively associated with women’s status in refusing marital rape. Women whose age 35-49 years old (AOR=.277;95%CI=.088,.876), being a housewife (AOR=.839;95%CI=.757,.929), and women who got their marriage by others decision (AOR=.761;95%CI=.682,.849) were less likely refuse marital rape. Women who drink alcohol (AOR=1.232;95%CI=1.053,1.442) were more likely to refuse marital rape. In conclusion, women’s status in refusing marital rape is low. Accordingly, addressing its associated hindering factors is necessary.

Exclusive breastfeeding in a context of intimate partner violence in Brazil

The study aim was to identify the experience of exclusive breastfeeding and its relationship with the situation of intimate partner violence from a qualitative approach. The study was carried out in a maternity hospital located in Brazil. The participants were 21 puerperal women, who were in a situation of intimate partner violence in the puerperium and who had at least 180 days postpartum. The quantitative data (the women's sociodemographic, economic, family, and obstetric status) were used for describing the participants. Whereas, the qualitative data were collected through an open interview and recorded in a single moment, they reflected on the experience of breastfeeding in situations of violence by their intimate partners. The qualitative data was treated using the Method of Sense Interpretation; and Male Domination and Symbolic Power, by Pierre Bourdieu, were the theoretical frameworks chosen to discuss the concept of gender in social relationships. Most of the participants were young, black/brown-skinned, had a mean of 10 years of study, all suffered some type of violence by their partners during postpartum, and only one woman followed exclusive breastfeeding until six months. The central category, entitled: “Intimate partner violence and its repercussions on the experience of exclusive breastfeeding”, identified that intimate partner violence impacted in maintaining exclusive breastfeeding, interruption of latching, in addition to affecting the relationship between mother and child. The originality of the theme must be discussed in the academic, practical, governmental, and research spheres in order to strengthen the notification and confrontation of violence and to advocate for exclusive breastfeeding even in adverse contexts.

Gender Equality in the Political Landscape of Southern African Countries: Progress and Problems of Evolvement

Since the early 2000s, the expansion of womens representation at all levels of government in South Africa and several Southern African states has become one of the main features of the formation of political leadership. There are both legal and institutional preconditions for this, such as the creation of quota systems for womens representation in elective positions. The author notes the breakdown in the stereotype that women can be engaged exclusively in the social sphere (education, health care, problems of youth and children). African women successfully occupy the posts of ministers for foreign affairs, defense, security and finance. They make a significant contribution to the development of foreign and domestic policy, as well as to the solution of socio-economic problems. Based on the analysis made through functional, comparative and psycho-biographical methodological approaches, the author describes the main reasons for the insufficient level of political participation of women in some countries: the ongoing conflict between the principle of gender equality and the traditional order; the system of informal relations in politics; the low level of political literacy and the financial and economic status of women; as well as violence. Another important factor is the insufficient level of intra-party democracy. The author concludes that the representation of women in politics is only one (though very important) part of resolving the gender equality issue. The author argues that the further expansion of gender equality in Southern African politics will be facilitated by creating equal conditions for men and women to stand for election, implying real democratic principles within political parties, as well as developing a political culture that excludes the creation of preconditions for discrimination by gender.

Placing abortion in historical, legal, and clinical context in American medical school classrooms

AbstractAbortion is one of the most commonly performed medical procedures in the United States. In 2018, physicians in the United States performed 189 abortions for every 1000 births. Abortion is also common in other countries; across the globe, tens of millions of women seek abortions annually. In the countries that have legalized abortion, ready access to the procedure, along with access to reliable contraception, have improved women's economic status, their health, their longevity, and their ability to care for their children. Yet, despite its prevalence and benefits, abortion has also been a magnet for political controversy in the United States and elsewhere. In the United States, where the controversy has not ebbed for 50 years, abortion laws in some states have become increasingly restrictive, particularly in the last decade. This commentary describes an innovative way to teach medical students about abortion and argues that teaching abortion to medical students in the United States and throughout the world has become more, rather than less, important. This article also argues that, given the importance of access to safe abortions for women's health and well‐being, medical schools are obligated to provide medical students with the comprehensive medical knowledge that will allow them, after becoming physicians, to accurately advise, and sensitively counsel, women seeking abortions. Medical schools are also obligated to arm medical students with the relevant historical and legal knowledge that will allow them to advocate for the comprehensive reproductive services that all women need—services that include safe, legal abortion.

Women Empowerment in India

Women empowerment is a debatable subject. At earlier time they were getting equal status with men. But they had faced some difficulties during post vedic and epic ages. many a time they were treated as slave. From early twenty century, their statues have been changed slowly and gradually. Women’s empowerment has been an issue of immense discussions and contemplation over the last few decades world wide. This agenda has been on top of the lists of most government plans and programs as well. Efforts have been made on a regular basis across nations to address this issue and enhance the socio-economic status of women. However, it has been observed that most of the policies and programs view empowerment in the economic sense only working in the belief that economic self reliance empowers women ignoring other variables like health, education, literacy etc. Introduction in the history of human development, woman has been as important as a man. In fact, the status, employment and work performed by women in society is the indicator of a nations overall progress. Without the participation of women in national activities, the social, economic or political progress of country will be stagnated. Women constitute half of the humanity, even contributing two-thirds of world’s work hours. She earns only one-third of the total income and owns less than one-tenth of the world’s resources. This shows that the economic status of women is in pathetic condition and this is more so in a country like India. Women constitute nearly 50% of population, perform two-thirds of the work and produce 50% of food commodities consumed by the country. They earn one third of remuneration and own 10% of the property or wealth of the country.

Social Inequalities and Health among Older Immigrant Women in the Nordic Countries: An Integrative Review.

IntroductionThe Nordic countries have a surprisingly strong relative socioeconomic health inequality. Immigrants seem to be disproportionately affected due to their social economic position in the host countries. Healthcare professionals, including nurses, have a professional obligation to adhere to fairness and social equity in healthcare. The aim of this review was to identify and synthesize research on health status and the impact of social inequalities in older immigrant women in the Nordic countries.MethodsWe conducted an integrative review guided by the Whittemore and Knafl integrative review method. We searched multiple research databases using the keywords immigrant, older, women, socioeconomic inequality, health inequality, and Nordic countries. The results were limited to research published between 1990 and 2021. The retrieved articles were screened and assessed by two independent reviewers.ResultsBased on the few studies on older immigrant women in the Nordic countries, the review findings indicate that they fare worse in many health indicators compared to immigrant men and the majority population. These differences are related to various health issues, such as anxiety, depression, diabetes, multimorbidity, sedentary lifestyle, and quality of life. Lower participation in cancer screening programs is also a distinctive feature among immigrant women, which could be related to the immigrant women's help-seeking behavior. Transnational family obligations and responsibilities locally leave little room for prioritizing self-care, but differing views of health conditions might also contribute to avoidance of healthcare services.ConclusionThis integrative review shows that there is a paucity of studies on the impact of social inequalities on the health status of older immigrant women in the Nordic countries. There is a need for not only research focused on the experiences of health status and inequality but also larger studies mapping the connection between older immigrant women's economic and health status and access to healthcare services.

Rural Economic Development Through Women Entrepreneurship

Majority of the rural women of SHGs are Micro - Entrepreneurs very few are associated with Small Scale Enterprises. Those women are not only developing with sustainable economy but also able to develop other women economically sustainable by providing job opportunities. The rural women entrepreneurs with the sustainable economic development are able to contribute to the family’s, community’s and the nation’s development. Rural women frequently have primary responsibility for agricultural production, in addition to domestic responsibilities and childcare. In developing country like India where economic status of women is very pathetic especially in rural areas and opportunities of earning are very less in this scenario the Self Help Groups (SHGs) have paved the way for economic independence of rural women. This paper reviews concisely the literature in this field and addresses in particular opportunities and challenges faced by women entrepreneurs in rural areas. It examined the impact on women empowerment through micro entrepreneurship development and SHGs. The increasing presence of women in the business field as entrepreneurs has changed the demographic characteristics of business and economic growth of the country. Women-owned businesses enterprises are playing a more active role in society and the economy, inspiring academics to focus on this interesting phenomenon. This paper focuses on the problems, issues, challenges faced by women entrepreneurs, how to overcome them and to analyze policies of India government for and problems faced by them while pursuing their business.

Violence and Its Related Factors in Infertile Women Attending Infertility Centers: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background & aim: Infertility, as a crisis in marital life, has multiple psychological and social consequences for couples, especially women. Infertile women are more vulnerable to violence than fertile women. The purpose of this study was to examine violence and its related factors in infertile women referring to infertility centers of Rasht, Iran.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 245 women with primary infertility who referred to infertility canters in Rasht, Iran in 2017, using sequential sampling method. The data collection tool was a self-structured questionnaire to examine the demographic characteristics of the couples and Onat's violence standard questionnaire for assessing the exposure of infertile women to violence. The data were analyzed using Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Friedman, Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests as well as Spearman correlation and logistic regression.Results: The results showed that the mean total score of violence was 50.93 ± 18.76. Also, there were significant relationships between the total score of violence and the variables of the duration of marriage, the duration of awareness and treatment of infertility, the age of married couples, occupation/education of the couples, the family relationship between couples, unwillingly marriage and the number of infertility treatment attempts (P<0.05).Conclusion: Infertility is not merely a biomedical disorder and can lead to violence against women, therefore providing counselling services to infertile couples, making them aware of infertility treatments, improving the socio -economic status of women as well as teaching the way of managing marital, cultural and family issues to couples can be effective in reducing violence against infertile women.

Trend of 4+ Antenatal Care Visits by Rural Women in Bangladesh:

Abstract&#x0D; Antenatal Care (ANC) is one of the four pillars initiatives of the Safe Motherhood. Since MMR is high in rural areas of Bangladesh so to reduce MMR the uptake of ANC visit from trained provider is important. The objective of this study was to see the trends of 4+ ANC visit and identify the factors associated with the number of antenatal visits in rural areas.This study used the data generated from Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) 2004-2014 to observe the trends and factors associated of 4+ ANC visit. The results of bivariate and multivariate analyses confirm that divisions, wealth, education and media exposure had strong influence on rural women’s 4 + ANC visit. Result of logistic regression model shows that poor and less educated women of rural areas were less likely to seek 4+ ANC visit than urban areas. This outcome of the paper suggests that rural women economic status and education has significant effect on 4+ ANC visit. The findings will help to design appropriate strategies, programs and policies for the improvement of rural women’s maternal healthcare seeking behaviour.

Trend of 4+ Antenatal Care Visits by Rural Women in Bangladesh:

Abstract&#x0D; Antenatal Care (ANC) is one of the four pillars initiatives of the Safe Motherhood. Since MMR is high in rural areas of Bangladesh so to reduce MMR the uptake of ANC visit from trained provider is important. The objective of this study was to see the trends of 4+ ANC visit and identify the factors associated with the number of antenatal visits in rural areas.This study used the data generated from Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) 2004-2014 to observe the trends and factors associated of 4+ ANC visit. The results of bivariate and multivariate analyses confirm that divisions, wealth, education and media exposure had strong influence on rural women’s 4 + ANC visit. Result of logistic regression model shows that poor and less educated women of rural areas were less likely to seek 4+ ANC visit than urban areas. This outcome of the paper suggests that rural women economic status and education has significant effect on 4+ ANC visit. The findings will help to design appropriate strategies, programs and policies for the improvement of rural women’s maternal healthcare seeking behaviour.

Attitude towards female circumcision among women in Ethiopia

Female genital mutilation or cutting (FGM/C) is a global phenomenon mostly practiced in Africa, Asia, and the middle east. It involves the removal of the external female genitalia for non-medical reasons. The practice cuts across different ethnic and religious groups in Africa and is associated with several health complications. The following study assessed attitude towards the practice among Ethiopian women aged 15–49. Using the Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey from 2016 as a data source, we analyzed a sample of 6984 women. We used the respectable femininity discourse to inform our variable selection. The main outcome variable assessed whether women supported or rejected the continuation of the practice. In the bivariate analysis, all the sociodemographic variables including women’s circumcision experience were strongly associated with the outcome variable. In the multiple logistic regression, only education, wealth, religion, and circumcision status were independently associated with women’s attitude towards FGM/C. For instance, compared to women with no education, women with at least a secondary education were more than 4 times (AOR 4.2, 95% CI 2.53–7.04, P-Value < 0.001) more likely to agree with the termination of the practice. Our findings suggest that changing attitudes towards FGM/C may require uplifting the social and economic status of women, working with those who have experienced FGM/C and collaborating with religious leaders.

Equality in the Home and in the Community: a Multilevel Longitudinal Analysis of Intimate Partner Violence on the Ecuadorian-Colombian Border

Intimate partner violence (IPV) effects over a third of Latin American women and results in significant health, economic and social consequences. While theory suggests that increasing the status of women, in their homes and neighborhoods, should prevent IPV, little empirical work has tested this in South America, in particular examining neighborhood-level indicators. We conduct multilevel analysis to identify predictors of recent emotional and physical and/or sexual IPV within a longitudinal sample of 1312 low-income women living in northern Ecuador, near the Colombian border. Status indicators, measured at the household and neighborhood-level, included women’s asset ownership, intra-household decision making, labor force participation, and education, age, and salary relative to male partner. Females’ increasing participation in household decision-making (between time 1 and time 2) was associated with decreased risk of physical and/or sexual (AOR: 0.41, 95% CI: 0.21, 0.78) and emotional IPV (AOR: 0.57, 95% CI: 0.30, 1.06), although the latter was marginally significant. Increases in neighborhood-level decision-making was protective against emotional IPV (AOR: 0.78, 95% CI: 0.61, 0.99). Women with lower education than their partners were significantly more likely to experience IPV than women with the same or more education as their partner. Indicators of economic status of women were not associated with IPV outcomes in the expected directions. Findings support policies and interventions seeking to raise the status of women as a mechanism to reduce IPV. Future research can explore economic empowerment and IPV, as well as the interaction between household and neighborhood-level factors.

Strengthening women's participation in the traditional enterprises of sub‐saharan Africa: The role of corporate social responsibility initiatives in Niger delta, Nigeria

AbstractThe purpose of this paper is to critically examine the multinational oil companies (MOCs) corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in Nigeria. Its special focus is to investigate the impact of the global memorandum of understanding (GMoU) on development of rural women's traditional enterprises in the Niger Delta region. A total of 2,400 women were sampled across the region. Results from the use of a combined propensity score matching and logit model indicate that the GMoU model of the CSR has recorded significant success in supporting farming and fishing transformation generally, but has also undermined those initiatives that focused on empowering rural women in traditional enterprises, due to the cultural and traditional context in the region. This causes both direct harm to women and their children, and wider costs to African economies. It implies that if the GMoU interventions are not targeted to raise women's economic status and to deter aggression, invariably they may contribute towards reducing the participation of women in economic, political and social development and, by extension, dampen efforts in deterring poverty and achieving the sustainable development goals in sub‐Saharan Africa.

A review of laws and regulations related to women’s employment in China

In the 70 years since the founding of People’s Republic of China, there has been steady improvement of the laws and regulations that protect women's employment rights and opportunities, that support women’s career development, that enhance labor protection of women staff and workers, and that ensure women’s access to retirement protections. Under the protection of these laws and policies, women’s employment quality, income and labor protection have been continuously improved over the past 70 years, and the overall economic status of women has improved significantly. At the same time, there are still large gaps in the treatment of men and women in both employment and retirement.

Impact of Micro-Finance on Income Change of Women in Chandragiri Municipality

This study aims to analyze the impact of micro-finance in income change of members of Women Co-operative Society (WCS). The study is based on both primary and secondary data. For this, 112 WCS' women of Thankot Branch were taken as population and among them 56 loan borrower members were randomly selected as sample of the study. The primary data were collected through a setoff questionnaire. Secondary data were collected from the documents of WCS, Central Bureau of Statistics, Finance Ministry, the Government of Nepal. Different research reports, books and journals were also consulted as sources of secondary data. The collected data were analyzed by presenting them on tables and interpreted through percentage. The findings of the study show that the average monthly income of borrowers has increased by 31.14 percent after intervention of micro finance programme. Similarly, the average monthly income of the households has increased by 9.43 percent (21.71 percent difference between borrowers and households). All these show that WCS micro-finance program has contributed to the change in economic status of women by increasing their income.

Revisiting Post-Sterilization Regret in India.

This study analyses the socio-demographic characteristics associated with post-sterilization regret. The study uses cross-sectional data from the fourth round of National Family Health Surveys (2015-2016). Simple bivariate and binary logistic regressions analyses were used. Research shows that 7% of women aged 15-49 reported sterilization regret, which increased by 2% from 2005 to 2016. It was found that factors significantly associated with sterilization regret were years since sterilization, child loss experience, regions of residence, and quality of services. Women who got sterilized at the age of 30 or more were more likely to express regret, than women who were sterilised before 25 years of age, when adjusted for confounding variables (aO.R= 1.006). Women having sons were less likely to report sterilization regret than women who had only daughters (aO.R.=1.3 for each) but on the contrary women having both son and daughter are significantly less likely to express regret in comparison with women having only sons (aO.R. = 0.8 for each. Women who had experienced child loss had higher odds of reporting sterilization regret in rural (aO.R =1.2) as well as in urban (aO.R = 1.3) areas respectively, compared to those who did not experience any child loss. Women need to be counselled about the permanent nature of sterilization in order to avoid future regret as sterilization is largely dominated by socio-economic conditions. Thus, couples' decision-making towards using the contraceptive from the basket of choice would help in uplifting the social and cultural status of women in conservative societies and will have a positive effect on contraceptive use. In addition, efforts should be made to educate both the partners equally about contraceptive methods that have higher efficiency. Further, there is also a need to improve the quality of services, both in terms of counselling and service provision. Lastly, health-related policies should tackle disparities in the empowerment, and economic status of women that would result in decreased post-sterilization regret, and will improve sexual relationships following sterilization.

Does the Liberalization of Trade Advance Gender Equality in Schooling and Health?

This paper assesses the empirical relationship between the liberalization of international trade and the economic status of women. Although historically globalization is not generally linked to the advancement of women, several recent country studies find export led growth in middle and low income countries is associated with improvements in women’s employment opportunities. Does intercountry empirical evidence confirm this association across a wider range of countries, and suggest the mechanisms by which it operates? Measures of wages for men and women are an unreliable basis for study of gender inequality in many low income countries, and thus schooling and health are analyzed here as indicators of productivity and welfare and gender gaps. For a sample of 70 countries observed at five year intervals from 1965 to 1980, tariff, quota, and foreign exchange restrictions are found to be inversely associated with trade, and with the levels of education and health, especially for women. Natural resource exports, although providing foreign exchange for imports, appear to reduce investments in schooling and health, and delay the equalization of these human capital investments between men and women. Liberalization of trade policy is consequently linked in the cross section to increased trade, to greater accumulation of human capital, and to increased gender equality.

Spatial Analysis of the Gender Wage Gap in Architecture, Civil Engineering, and Construction Occupations in the United States

AbstractOver the last recent decades, the economic status of women has been changed significantly. Gender segregation levels have decreased, and women have started participating in male-dominated o...

Role Of Women Entrepreneurs In Our Indian Economy: Issues And Challenges - An Overview

The emergence of women entrepreneurs and their contribution to our economy is very significant in India. There is a constant rise in the number of women entrepreneurs since 1990’s.The current generation of women –owned enterprises are actively seeking capital for developing their business and is also using modern technology to create a mark in the domestic and international markets. It is important to note the participation of women in economic activities as self employed individuals. The new generation women entrepreneurs are not only generating employment for themselves in the organised and unorganised sector but they are also providing employment opportunities to others .A very important point to be noted is to give due recognition to women for the contribution they have made in the various social ,economic ,political as well as cultural activities. In the past few years women entrepreneurs have contributed significantly in the development and progress of our country due to urbanization along with education and awareness. However women face many constraints in their lives as they do not get full support from their family and are not treated as equals which in turn restricts her freedom to prove her potential . They have to go a long way to achieve equal rights as our Indian society is male dominated and these traditions are deep rooted .To break this tradition ,women have to be assertive and will have to take bold decisions and also should be willing to take risk to succeed in this world of cut throat competition. It is to be noted that the economic status of women is now accepted as an indicator which shows that the society has developed.

Educational, Social and Economic Status of Women in Textile Industry in India

Retailing is one of the important industry in India recorded for almost 10 percent of nation’s GDP. The lesser wage earning workers are vulnerable to aggravation and other discrimination at work place. In the informal textile retail shops, women have to pass through numerous problems as they have to manage with both sides of life, say work and family. Predominantly, such women are semi-literates, educated unemployed and financially deprived. It is revealed from the data that there are 58 percent of the women workers are between ages of 30 to 40 and there is no women worker above 45 years. It is clearly shows that the shop owners are not interested to recruit or retain the women workers above 45 years. The educational status of workers constitutes an average of secondary level schooling and they could able to read, write in the local language and understand English slightly. Almost 60 percent of the women workers are belonging to marginalized section of the society. In the present study, social and economic status of sample respondents are analyzed and found that they are poorly paid in terms of wages, and work under deprived and vulnerable working condition. It is revealed from the primary data that women workers are affected by many occupational health issues only after engaging in this work. Moreover, the women workers are sexually exploited and physically harassed.