Women's NGOs Research Articles

Women’s Role in Local Development: Enhancing Gender Equality in Wan Yai District, Mukdahan Province, Thailand

Purpose: This research was conducted using a qualitative method. The objectives were: 1) to study women’s roles in local development; 2) to analyze the supporting and hindrance factors that affect the roles of women in the local area; and 3) to suggest pathways for the roles of women in local development to reduce gender inequality in Thai society. Method: The collective data came from in-depth interviews with provincial and district developers. Women's empowerment working groups conducted focus groups in four districts: Wan-Yai, Cha-Note, Bang-Sai Noi, and Pong-Kam Dong-Moo. Furthermore, the researcher focused on the women villagers to analyze the factors that influence women's empowerment in the local area and make recommendations to the local administration's women's development strategic plan. Results: Women's role in the Wan Yai district is significant. Women also participate in many aspects of the local community. Regarding politics, some women are interested in applying for local elections, and others work as public health volunteers. In economic terms, many women are essential to generating income and development in the area. Most women in the district are members of the Women's Empowerment Fund, a low-interest source promoting job creation and building careers. Research Implication: Regarding culture, women's groups participated in local traditions, such as the Twelve Annual Festivals of Isan People and the Christmas Celebration. Strong women's organizations and women's participation at all levels supported women's empowerment. However, the obstructing factors to women's development were competition from locals with similar careers and the emigration of the working-age population and younger generations. Originality/Value: In summary, the recommendations for the relevant organizations are the network and women's empowerment organizations, NGOs, and educational institutions to integrate abstractly, investigate, and evaluate continually towards the provincial strategic plan.

Resisting change: Explaining education policy reforms in Ghana

AbstractThis article examines the complexities surrounding the implementation of comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) within Ghana's basic education system, exploring the intersection of religious, cultural, and political factors. Introducing CSE has sparked significant public discourse and resistance in Ghana, where religious and cultural beliefs are deeply ingrained and often institutionalized in politics. The study utilizes punctuated equilibrium theory to understand the sustained opposition to CSE policy changes. It examines the historical progression of Ghana's educational reforms, highlighting the struggle to maintain cultural and religious values while promoting human rights and gender equality. The contribution of this study is its exploration of the political institutionalization of religion in Ghana, investigating the combined impact of religious bodies, political entities, and civil organizations in shaping public opinion on education policy reform. It further underscores the intricate task of navigating socio‐cultural beliefs and human rights in policy‐making processes.Related ArticlesBingham, Natasha. 2016. “Fighting for Our Cause: The Impact of Women's NGOs on Gender Policy Adoption in Four Former Soviet Republics.” Politics & Policy 44(2): 294–318. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12155.Holst, Cathrine, and Mari Teigen. 2024. “The ‘Boy Problem’ in Public Policy.” Politics & Policy 52(1): 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12570.Nchofoung, Tii, Simplice Asongu, Vanessa Tchamyou, and Ofeh Edoh. 2022. “Gender, Political Inclusion, and Democracy in Africa: Some Empirical Evidence.” Politics & Policy 51(1): 137–55. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12505.

The effects of gender political inclusion and democracy on environmental performance: Evidence from the method of moments by quantile regression

AbstractMotivated by the difficulty of ensuring gender equality and the chaotic state of democracy, we analyze the effects of gender political inclusion and democracy on environmental policy performance. The study uses a panel of 45 African countries over the period 2012–2018 and employs the method of moments by quantile regression. The results show that gender political inclusion and democracy positively affect environmental performance in all quantiles. These positive effects tend to be stronger at higher quantiles. The magnitude is larger for gender political inclusion. When performance is decomposed into the sub‐indices of environmental health and ecosystem vitality, positive effects of gender political inclusion and democracy are observed in all quantiles. The effects are larger for the gender dimension than for the democracy dimension, regardless of the sub‐index used.Related ArticlesBingham, Natasha. 2016. “Fighting for Our Cause: The Impact of Women's NGOs on Gender Policy Adoption in Four Former Soviet Republics.” Politics & Policy 44(2): 294–318. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12155.Hankivsky, Olena. 2013. “Gender Mainstreaming: A Five‐Country Examination.” Politics & Policy 41(5): 629–55. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12037.Nchofoung, Tii, Simplice Asongu, Vanessa Tchamyou, and Ofeh Edoh. 2022. “Gender, Political Inclusion, and Democracy in Africa: Some Empirical Evidence.” Politics & Policy 51(1): 137–155. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12505.

“Dia Dikader”: Women’s NGOs roles, networks, and the agency of women’s legislative candidates in West Sumatra

ABSTRACT Previous research, on the representation of women in the Indonesian parliament in the 2019 General Election, identifies two common strategies used by women legislative candidates to win. One is to draw on women's networks to mobilize support and the other is to rely on the dynastic power. This paper contributes to existing studies by exploring the vital role of women NGOs in supplying and preparing women's legislative candidates through a case study of the West Sumatra Provincial Parliament in the 2019 General Election. Qualitative research methods were used for this research, drawing on in-depth interviews with women legislative candidates of West Sumatra Provincial Parliament and women activists. This paper reveals that the rise of women candidates in West Sumatra was “prepared” (dikader) by women's NGOs, namely Koalisi Perempuan Indonesia of West Sumatra and Wanita Islam of West Sumatra. These women NGOs have played an important role in getting women elected by providing political training, consultation, moral support, and access to women's networks. Women NGOs' support for these women candidates arose from their long-term socio-political relationship. This research has also revealed that the women candidates exercised a great deal of agency in reaching the voters through these women's NGOs and networks.

The Intermediary Role of Women Workers for the Inclusion of Women Migrants SOGIESC: Between Recognition and Reflexivity

AbstractThe intermediary role of women workers in NGOs is very important when lesbian, bisexual and queer migrant women apply for international protection in immigration countries. They are more exposed to multiple forms of discrimination when experiencing the intersection of multiple elements of vulnerability (gender, sexual orientation, ethnic origin, social class, etc.). Applying the technique of narrative interviewing to women NGO workers in Italy, on the one hand, we will try to understand the role of intermediaries that these women assume in taking care of migrant women who are distinguished by Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and Sex Characteristics (SOGIESC) and, on the other, to understand whether these women’s activities constitute an opportunity to construct new gendered and sexual imaginaries to the extent that they themselves live a web of experiences that are in some ways similar to those of migrant women. Intermediation enables women workers to acquire a critical capacity with respect to their personal investment in the cause of SOGIESC persons and with respect to the procedure itself for obtaining international protection. Achieving this awareness allows women workers to suggest actions that, inspired by an intersectional perspective, are more appropriate in responding to the multiple vulnerabilities experienced by SOGIESC migrant women in the immigration society.

Türkiye’de Kadın Hareketleri Çerçevesinde STK’larda Kadın Liderlerinin Özellikleri

Türkiye’de kadın sivil toplum kuruluşları yöneticilerinin liderlik özellikleri ile sosyal yetkinlikleri arasındaki ilişkilerin araştırılmasıdır. Bu kapsamda araştırmanın sorunsalı, kadın sivil toplum kuruluşları yöneticilerinin liderlik özellikleri ile sosyal yetkinlikleri arasındaki ilişki var mı? Kadın STK liderlerinin yetkinliklerini etkileyen faktörler nelerdir? Kadın STK liderlerinin aldıkları inisiyatifler ve yaratıcılıkları topluma katılımcılık anlamında önemli bir alan açmakta mıdır? STK’ların özgür bir ortamda, kendi inisiyatiflerini geliştirmeleri ile STK liderlerinin toplumsal bilinç anlamında yetkinlikleri arasında bir ilişki var mıdır, varsa nasıl bir ilişkidir şeklinde sırlanabilir.
 Kadın liderlik kavramı, literatürde çok yer alan ve güncelliğini koruyan bir kavramdır. STK’ların amaçlarına ulaşabilmesi için ortak mücadeleler içerisinde ortaya çıkan, üyelerin oluşturduğu sinerjiyi en etkili şekilde yönlendirebilen ve ortak amaçların gerçekleştirilmesinde aktif rol alabilen liderlere ihtiyacı vardır. 
 Kadın STK liderlerinin sosyal yetkinliği, fiziki olmayan, sosyal ilişkilere ve bunların verimli kullanımına dayalı faaliyetlerde ortaya çıkan özelliklerden birisi olarak tanımlanabilir (Kızılöz, Günay ve Durgut, 2021: 62). Öz yetkinlik ise belirli bir davranış ve göreve yönelik hedeflerin, öğrenmenin, performansın, motivasyonun gerçekleştirilmesine olan yeterliliği kapsamaktadır (Ateş, 2016: 185-186).

The Role of NGO Rifka Annisa in Violence Against Women During The COVID-19 Pandemic

: The purpose of this research is to determine the role of Rifka Annisa, a women's NGO, in responding to cases of violence against women in the city of Yogyakarta during the COVID-19 pandemic. Yogyakarta was chosen due to an increase in cases of violence against women. This is a qualitative study with a descriptive approach. The data used in this study is secondary data obtained from online media, websites, and related scientific articles that was then processed using NVivo 12 Plus software. The finding showed Rifka Annisa's role in cases of violence against women, with a focus or orientation on victims in three ways. The first is empowerment; the second is legal assistance; and the third is stigma reduction. According to the findings of the research, Rifka Annisa functions as an NGO, particularly in the non-political field, with a focus on empowering victims of violence.

Recent Development in Sexual Harassment Law in Malaysia: Whither the Victim's Protection?

Before 2012, there was no law on sexual harassment in Malaysia. However, when the Employment Act 1955 was amended in 2012, employers must inquire into sexual harassment complaints, failing which a criminal penalty will be imposed. Unfortunately, the new law did not allow a complainant to claim damages from the harasser or the employer. After more than two decades of campaigns by women's rights groups and NGOs, the Anti-Sexual Harassment Bill 2021 (hereinafter 'the ASHB 2021') was finally enacted and passed in July this year. Given the novelty and absence of any academic research, this paper seeks to examine the provisions of the Bill critically to understand its scope, coverage and broader implications for sexual harassment victims. The paper employs a qualitative research methodology, adopting a doctrinal approach and content analysis of the primary source, the ASHB 2021, that would provide a deeper understanding of the legislation. The authors contend that despite being regarded as a victim-centric law, the Bill is half-baked and inadequate to protect sexual harassment victims due to its failure to include significant provisions on the sexual harassment definition, the protection against victimisation and employers' obligations to prevent and address such conduct.

Gender, political inclusion, and democracy in Africa: Some empirical evidence

AbstractThe objective of this study is to examine the effect of political inclusion on democracy in Africa. The results of the analyses through ordinary least squares, system generalized method of moments, IV Tobit and instrumental variables two stage least squares show that gender political inclusion enhances democracy in Africa. This result is robust across alternative specifications of political inclusion and democracy. The results equally stood when controlled for colonization and internal conflicts. In terms of policy implications, policy makers in Africa should enhance their fight for political inclusion as one of the gateways to promoting democracy. In this respect, national laws could be put in place which impose gender quotas in political positions in every country. Equally, the African Union could sign a convention on these quotas for respective countries to ratify.Related ArticlesBingham, Natasha. 2016. “Fighting for Our Cause: The Impact of Women's NGOs on Gender Policy Adoption in Four Former Soviet Republics.” Politics & Policy 44(2): 294–318. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12155.Hankivsky, Olena. 2013. “Gender Mainstreaming: A Five‐Country Examination.” Politics & Policy 41(5): 629–55. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12037.Herrick, Rebekah. 2008. “Gender Gap in Early Congressional Retirement.” Politics & Policy 32(3): 294–318. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747‐1346.2004.tb00189.x.

Consumption practices of women in the JN Surabaya taklim council

Currently, in Indonesia, many religious institutions serve as a forum for women's empowerment, service, and advancement, in the form of educational institutions, Islamic boarding schools, Taklim Council, socio-religious organisations, and women's NGOs. All of them have a concern for improving women's standard of living. Therefore, the recitation is a religious institution deeply rooted in Islamic society, one of which is the JN Surabaya Taklim Council. This study aims to determine women's consumption practices in the JN Surabaya Taklim Council. The type of research chosen in this study is qualitative research with a form of qualitative descriptive research. In this study, the JN Surabaya recitation council members were research informants. The conclusion of this study shows that women's consumption practices in the Salafi Taklim Council are studied as objects or behaviours that appear, as values, and meanings, until they are continued as 'signs'. Consuming signs as a hyperreality and hyperreality occurs through a process preceded by simulacra, which becomes the simulation process's vehicle.

From 24/7 To 9-5: The Co-Optation And Indigenization1 Of Feminism By Women Rights NGOS In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

The study explores the nature and form of the contemporary women's rights movement utilizing a contextual understanding of feminist activities accentuated by selected women NGOs. The thematic working areas of these organizations were aimed to gauge the status of women in the region to see how coherent and impactful the women’s movement is to achieve its goals in the presence and pressure of government and donor policies. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 27 participants working in Peshawar-based women/feminist NGOs using the purposive sampling technique. Herbert Blummer's theoretical model of stages of social movements was used to validate the findings. The study findings revealed that the contemporary women's rights movement in the region of Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) is diverse, fragmented and its existence is dependent on the efforts made by individuals and organizations. Furthermore, the women's rights struggle has been NGOized because NGOs are donors dependent for their activities, and volunteerism became a rare virtue as feminism is commercialized and carried out mostly for social media stories and for attacking more funding for the NGOs. Street activism which used to be the backbone of the Pakistani women’s movement has now changed into paid activism. In short, the definition of the contemporary women's rights movement is different from the water-tight definition discussed in the textbooks. It is rudimentary that may potentially be evolved into a vibrant and organized movement subject to favorable circumstances.

Democratic Backsliding and the Instrumentalization of Women's Rights in Turkey

AbstractThis article examines the instrumentalization of women's rights and the transformation of the gender rights regime in the context of democratic backsliding in Turkey. I show how the Islamically rooted Justice and Development Party governments and their allies used women's rights in constructing authoritarian rule and promoting a conservative gender agenda. The governing elites had different needs at different political stages and instrumentalized women's rights to meet those needs. First, they needed to legitimize their rule in a secular context, so they expanded liberal laws on women's rights. Second, in the process of backsliding, they sought to construct and legitimize their conservative ideology, so they reinterpreted existing laws to promote conservative goals. Finally, they wanted to mobilize conservative women in support of the newly authoritarian regime, so they built new institutions and marginalized existing women's NGOs. The article contributes to the literature on regime types and gender rights by shifting the focus from regime type to regime change.

The Effects of Violence Against Women

This paper is addressing a theoretical review of the violence against women, as reported and described by world health and human rights organizations, but also by women's advocacy and NGOs for women's rights. There were sketched the main definitions and framing of the acts of violence against girls and women, as well as the effects of violence against women, individually – on the physical, emotional, and mental health of the victim - and socially, in terms of long-term costs in providing support and specialized treatment to victims and their caregivers.

Criminological Study of Domestic Violence in Iran

Violence against women is a common and unfortunate phenomenon whose widespread dimensions cause a lot of personal and social harm to them, family and society. This study was conducted by library method. The study was performed aimed at investigating the violence against women in Iranian society with a criminological approach. Many women have traditionally accepted some violence or are unaware that it is violent because the law does not criminalize it and has the support of custom and religion to legitimize it. In this study, the types of domestic violence and its examples that occur against women and most of them may not even be considered violent were first mentioned. Moreover, legal and criminal laws effective in creating or exacerbating violence against women and the role of common traditions in Iranian culture as well as harmful customs and habits were examined. Women's rights organizations argue that legal weaknesses need to be addressed and eliminated, and that governments should to be encouraged to comply with the law and change inappropriate laws. At lower levels, violence against women must be curbed socially by helping to grow women's NGOs, and thus raising women's awareness of their rights to violence. However, the presence and role of men in eliminating violence against women is essential, and violence cannot be eradicated without the cooperation of men. Men must also be forced to break their silence and enter this arena.Keywords: domestic violence, criminology, domestic violence.

Evaluating the Representation and Responsiveness of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) to Diverse Women Populations Worldwide.

The United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is “the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women.” The continued success of the CSW's mission is critical. Under the guise of needing competent male leaders to protect them, women and girls in many countries nonetheless suffer dire consequences from international conflict and war. While females may send mostly male loved ones into armed conflict, women and girls themselves face economic sanctions, poverty, displacement, and heightened risk of sexual violence, in an environment that already fails to respect their equal human rights with men. It is no accident that in most countries, females are de facto excluded from positions of power where they could try to prevent such conflict (Enloe, 2014), and the CSW is actively working to overcome this reality. In this article, we use a mixed-method approach to evaluate the level of United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) representation and responsiveness to diverse women populations as reflected in (a) state delegations' participation in formal session, (b) NGO participation, and (c) NGO priorities. We find that the CSW displays a high level of representation and responsiveness to diverse state delegations across UN regions in terms of their speaking time in formal session. The CSW is at best moderately representative of women's NGOs through regional advance consultations, and the level of responsiveness to women's NGOs is low. This is due to: costly barriers to entry to gain ECOSOC status, large underrepresentation of some UN Regions, and the fact that during formal session, women's NGOs participate primarily at parallel off-site events. Although the CSW passed important resolutions, its representation and responsiveness to women's NGO priorities is lower than it should be. We base our evaluation by comparing our surveys of attending and non-attending women's NGOs that showed top priorities that the 2010 CSW did not discuss or pass resolutions on such as: land rights, sex trafficking, internet access for women, and the effects of climate change on women. We contend that during 1970–1994, when World Conferences on Women occurred, parallel transnational advance consultations among women's NGOs in tandem with CSW regional consultations created a broadening of the CSW's agenda. The CSW rationally anticipated different kinds of feminism beyond liberal feminism and a broader set of priority issues for diverse women populations. We therefore argue for a Fifth World Conference on Women to increase the representativeness and responsiveness of the CSW.

CLASH OF NORMS: THE LIMITS OF EU’S NORMATIVE POWER IN GENDER EQUALITY

The European Union’s (EU) gender equality norms are an important part of the EU’s identity, as enshrined in many formal documents. The scope of the EU’s gender equality approach has been broadened by agents, including feminists, transnational advocacy groups, national women NGOs, feminists in the European Parliament, and the European women’s lobby. Despite these European-based feminist agents’ ideational contributions that challenge socially constructed gender inequalities, EU policies and acquis privilege women’s empowerment in the labor market, instead of combatting gender-based discrimination in every sphere of life. This market-based equality paradigm can also be seen in the enlargement documents of Turkey-EU relations, in which both the progress reports and the financial assistance programmes-such as IPA- prioritize women’s economic independence as a solution for altering socially-constructed gender roles in Turkey. Even though-in feminist understanding-women’s empowerment within the context of labor market approachlacks a conceptualization of gender equality as ahuman right, this paper aims to analyze the degree of EU’s norm promoter role through transference diffusion in the female labor market participation. It is argued that due to the public institutions’ entrenched resistance and the lack of consent at the local level for ideational change; the EU-driven norm clashes with the local realities of Turkey and this challenges the EU’s potential normative power in terms of human rights norm promotion

Udayana University: Proposal for The Establishment of a ‘Political Parties and Local Governments Studies Center’


 
 
 In Bali, where political life is largely determined by tradition and the role of Sukarno, the main challenge is to create a cadre system unrelated to mass organizations (gangs), to oligarchy links and to traditional networks (puri/local rulers and Sukarno affiliations). To coin Riswandha Imawan?s words, there is “cadre confusion” in that the existing cadres tend not to hee d the goals of the 1998 Movement: they neglect their working duties, fail to pay taxes and do not care about political education -all things mandatory in a democracy. Aware of these failings, Academics from FISIP Udayana University, later supported by colleagues from Warmadewa University and the University of National Education, and by AIPI Bali and several women NGOs, proposed to set up a center for political parties and local Government, which would work with Udayana University’s revitalized Tax Center (different from the website Imissu at Udayana University information technology service). In the hope of getting support from the political parties cadres, the FISIP Udayana undertook a series of Focus Group Discussions of cadres followed by a survey. But the cadres refused the ?political clinic? proposed by FISIP as part of the project implementation. A new solution is now put forward by the research team: through the IbIKK (Ipteks bagi Inovatif Kreativitas Kampus), the FISIP Udayana simply proposes to revitalize the Tax Center and to Establish a Political Parties and Local Government Studies Center annexed to the Institute for Peace and Democracy/IPD at Udayana University in Denpasar.
 
 

THE ROLE OF NGOS IN SOME FIELDS OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN FAYOUM GOVERNORATE

The importance of NGOs is demonstrated by providing basic ruralservices, improving the conditions of the Egyptian village and thedisadvantaged village in general, providing soft loans for small projects,supporting basic services for health and education to improve the rural level ofEgypt and reducing the rural-urban gap in Fayoum governorate.The aim of this research is to identify the most important servicesprovided by the studied NGOs in the various human development fields, theavailability of the necessary elements for the NGOs to achieve humandevelopment, the nature of the relationship between the degree of performanceof NGOs in human development, Role.The most important results obtained from the fields of service providedto the beneficiaries were the response of the beneficiaries to improve thestandard of living. The mean was 19.3, which reflects a large degree ofresponse according to the Likert scale. Between 19.3 - 19.3). In terms ofilliteracy eradication, the results showed the availability of all elements andfoundations to enable the success of illiteracy eradication programs. He stressedthe responses of the beneficiaries of these programs, where the value of themathematical mean (19.1). The results also confirmed a high degree ofhomogeneity in the responses of beneficiaries of programs Literacy waseliminated as the difference coefficients ranged from (..9.32 to 159.02).Regarding the field of training, the results indicated the availability ofthe basic means for the success of the training programs provided by the NGOsin the various fields. The response of the beneficiaries of these courses has beengreatly emphasized.The results showed that the health services provided are of high qualityand the society has clear mechanisms for monitoring and evaluating their healthprograms. The response of some beneficiaries to the lack of approval of healthservices, where the mean of the responses (.9..) and the coefficient of difference (..9..2), and with regard to the field of empowerment of women,the results show that there is benefit from services provided to women NGOs ingeneral, (1935) and the difference between (3.9012 and .79.42).The results indicate that the values of the calculated correlationcoefficients are greater than the values of the correlation coefficients at 02 and32. Therefore, we reject the theory of null hypothesis which states that there isno correlation between the axes of the study (the dependent variable) and thedifferent dimensions of the independent variable. On the existence of acorrelation between dependent factors and independent factors in most casesunder study.From the above, we can emphasize that all the factors under study forNGOs have a great impact on human development.

A Study the Relationship between the Roles of Women NGOs and Organizational Autonomy

A Study the Relationship between the Roles of Women NGOs and Organizational Autonomy

The relationship between individual empowerment and health-promoting lifestyle among women NGOs in northern Iran.

IntroductionAccording to the health-promoting approach, people should be empowered such that they take responsibility for their health and follow a healthy lifestyle. Empowerment is a process in which people confront problems and tasks in their lives in order to better control them. This study was conducted to specify the relationship between individual empowerment and health-promoting lifestyle among women NGOs of northern Iran.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, 290 women NGOs of Guilan Province were selected randomly using multistage cluster sampling, and were examined using the questionnaire of health-promoting lifestyle profile II and individual empowerment inventory scale. Data were analyzed using STATA 11 software via one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficient and multivariate linear regression.ResultsBoth variables of individual empowerment and health-promoting lifestyle were of favorable status among the population under study. The highest score in individual empowerment belonged to the domain of social support and the highest score in lifestyle belonged to spiritual growth. A significant relationship was found between individual empowerment and health-promoting lifestyle (p<0.001). The highest correlation between individual empowerment and dimensions of health-promoting lifestyle was related to interpersonal relationships. In addition, it was specified that 21% of lifestyle variance could be explained by individual empowerment.ConclusionThere is a relation between individual empowerment and health-promoting lifestyle. Individual empowerment is a predictive variable to have a health-promoting lifestyle. Therefore, by increasing individuals’ empowerment, their healthy lifestyle can be promoted.