Women's Policy Research Articles

Liberal or Conservative? Analysing the Legacy of Abe's Women's Advancement Policy

Prime Minister Abe’s bold policy proposals focused on women attracted significant attention and various responses. However, going back to the fundamentals, LDP is a conservative political party, and Abe himself identifies as a conservative. During the backlash era, he attacked gender equality and emphasised traditional family values and patriotism. This paper reexamines the implications of the women's policies implemented under his leadership from a gender perspective. It sheds light on the deeply entrenched and complex gender inequality regimes that prevail in Japanese society. It becomes evident that Abe's administration carefully avoided any explicit reference to gender equality, skilfully incorporating recommendations such as promoting three-generation households, while consistently depicting women as operating under the guidance of men, signifying that the government's underlying “traditional” values had not changed. Women's Advancement policy, in essence, implies the deep entrenchment of a Japanese-style patriarchal, vertical society made up of political parties, administration, corporations, and society at large, where women are granted opportunities to succeed through assimilation into a gendered world involving subordination to men.

The Effect of Woman Leadership in Improving Academic Performance: Implications of Quality Assurance and Green Human Resource Management in Private Universities

Women's leadership in private universities has great potential in improving academic performance through quality assurance and environmentally friendly human resource management (GHRM). However, how women's policies influence the implementation of these two strategies is still not fully understood. This research aims to explore the role of women's leadership in improving academic performance through quality assurance and GHRM at private universities. The method used is a qualitative literature study with content analysis from various academic sources. The research results show that women's leadership significantly contributes to the effectiveness of quality assurance and GHRM implementation, which in turn improves academic performance. In conclusion, strengthening women's leadership roles and integrating mutual assurance and GHRM are important strategies for private universities to improve academic performance. The practical implications of this research include recommendations for private universities to strengthen the leadership role of women and adopt quality assurance and GHRM strategies to achieve better academic performance.

Women's contributions versus Men's patriarchal status among Afar pastoralists in the Lower Awash Valley

This study examined women's unrecognized roles in facilitating socio-economic interactions and clan networks in a patriarchal society. A qualitative research methodology was chosen. Situational observations, key interviews, and group discussions were applied as data-gathering tools. A thematic descriptive analysis method was used to examine the data that had been gathered. Accordingly, the study found that women are not participating in leading customary institutions and publicly due to the traditional patriarchal domination. However, the customary law shields women from various presumptions. It has been noted women's participation in maintaining social order, economic reciprocity, and resource sharing. Most importantly, women's continual control of household responsibilities and income-generating activities is essential to Afar society's survival. The study recommends that multifaceted interventions should be made to maintain women's role in supporting their traditional methods of engaging in maintaining clan networks. An intervention should mostly be better focused on women's activities as it will help to explore additional mechanisms that uplift either women by themselves or by the initial intervention system. Therefore, the study recommends incorporating pastoral women's roles into more extensive women's enclave empowerment policies and removing the existing sociocultural limitations to allow them to contribute more to pastoral livelihoods.

Gender disparities in universal primary education: An analysis of women's education and policy implications in Pakistan (1947–2017)

AbstractThis article analysed gender disparities in Pakistan focusing on access to primary education and women's education in light of National Education policies from 1947 to 2017 to achieve universal primary education. This study aimed to trace the evolution of National Education policies (1947–2017) in the attainment of universal primary education and gender disparities in Primary education in Pakistan. A qualitative document analysis technique was employed to extract relevant data related to policy objectives, strategies, and targets of primary education, gender disparities, and women's education. The quantitative data was extracted from the Pakistan Economic Survey 2022–2023, Pakistan Education Statistics 2020–2021, and all National Census 1951, 1961, 1972, 1981, 1998, and 2017. The study found that education policies highlighted the importance of primary education but did not dedicate larger sections to women's education in the first 40 years. The recent education policies addressed the importance of women's education for achieving gender parity. These findings, which stem from a review of national education policies' documents, are in line with the findings drawn from the quantitative data extracted from authoritative reports which stated that significant gender disparities existed in the numbers of primary schools, access to primary education, and students' enrolments throughout the history of Pakistan. The study also found significant gender disparities in the number of primary schools per 100,000 children, with male students comparatively attending schools more than female students. The study found consistent gender disparities in primary education enrolment in Pakistan with notable progress in recent years but have not been able to eliminate these disparities. Gender disparity is evident in literacy rate, gross enrolment rate (GER), and net enrolment rate (NER). The study recommended that the revision of existing policies and formulation of new education policies should be based on comprehensive documentation on women's education and its impact on the economy, literacy rate, and universal primary education.

직장-가정 간 전이와 일상생활 스트레스 및 주관적 행복감의 구조적 관계

Objectives This study aims to find out the structural relationship between work-family transition, daily life stress, and subjective happiness perceived by middle-aged married working women.
 Methods For this purpose, using the 8th data from the Women and Family Panel provided by the Korea Women's Policy Institute, 3,756 married middle-aged working women aged between 40 and 60 were surveyed on work-family conflict, family-work promotion, family-work conflict, and family. -Workplace facilitation was se-lected as an exogenous variable, and daily stress and subjective happiness were selected as endogenous variables. The collected data were subjected to structural equation testing using PLS-SEM using various statistical techniques (e.g. exploratory factor analysis, reliability analysis, convergent validity, and discriminant validity, etc.).
 Results The results are as follows. First, as middle-aged married working women's perception of work→family promotion increased, daily life stress decreased, and the higher the level of recognition for work→family conflict, family→workplace promotion, and family→workplace conflict, the higher daily life stress. Second, the higher the level of work→family facilitation perceived by middle-aged married working women, the higher the subjective happiness. Third, the higher the daily life stress perceived by middle-aged married working women, the lower the subjective happiness. Fourth, it was confirmed that daily life stress significantly mediates the relationship be-tween all sub-factors of work-family transition and subjective happiness.
 Conclusions Through the analysis of the results, the most important factor contributing to the improvement of daily life stress and subjective happiness of middle-aged married working women is work → family promotion. To improve their subjective happiness, it could be achieved through work-to-family transition strategy which con-tributes to the reduction of daily life stress; of which the most important goal strategy in promoting work→family needs to be established.

Association of precarious employment with depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation among female workers: Findings from a nationwide longitudinal study in Korea

BackgroundIn this study, we examined the relationship of precarious employment (PE) with depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation among Korean women. MethodsWe included a nationwide sample of 4162 women drawn from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Women and Families, comprising 7566 observations. PE was assessed using three dimensions: employment insecurity, income inadequacy, and lack of rights and protection. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the 10-item version of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. Generalized estimating equations were used to estimate the association between each element of PE and the depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation over a two-year follow-up period, represented as odds ratios (ORs) and confidence intervals (CIs). ResultsThe overall prevalence rates of depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation were 11.8 % and 1.9 %, respectively. Compared with permanent employment, fixed-term employment (OR [95 % CI]:1.29 [1.00–1.67]) or daily employment (OR [95 % CI]:1.53 [1.26–1.99]) was associated with the depressive symptoms at the follow-up. Additionally, lack of social benefits (OR [95 % CI]:1.40 [1.09–1.79]) and high perceived vulnerability (OR [95 % CI]:1.27 [1.08–1.49]) were associated with the depressive symptoms at the follow-up. Additionally, daily employment was associated with the suicidal ideation at the follow-up (OR [95 % CI]:1.94 [1.02–3.68]) and high perceived vulnerability was marginally associated with an increased suicidal ideation risk (OR [95 % CI]:1.49 [0.98–2.29]). LimitationCausal effect of PE could not be asserted due to the observational nature of this study. ConclusionsPE is a social determinant of women's mental health and policy interventions are required to improve their employment conditions.

KEBIJAKAN PEMBERDAYAAN PEREMPUAN DI NEGERI SULI: TINJAUAN TERHADAP PERAN PEREMPUAN DALAM PEMBANGUNAN LOKAL

Empowerment of women has become a significant topic on both the global and national development agendas, acknowledging the crucial contributions women can make to the development process. This article aims to examine and evaluate the women's empowerment policies implemented in Negeri Suli, a region in Central Maluku, Indonesia. This study employs a qualitative approach involving interviews with policy stakeholders, community leaders, and women participating in empowerment programs. We also analyze policy documents and relevant data to comprehend the policy's implementation and impact. The research findings reveal that Negeri Suli has adopted several women's empowerment policies, including skills training programs, education initiatives, and improved access to economic resources for women. The study highlights that women's empowerment has yielded positive outcomes for local economic development and an enhancement of women's social status in the region. Women in Negeri Suli are increasingly active in social, economic, and political spheres. Nevertheless, challenges remain, including gender disparities in resource access and opportunities. Furthermore, the sustainability of women's empowerment programs needs to be ensured through long-term commitment from both the government and the local community. This study contributes to understanding the implementation of women's empowerment policies in a local context, with the hope that its findings can serve as valuable considerations for policy improvements in Negeri Suli and similar regions in Indonesia. The conclusions drawn from this research underscore the importance of continually advocating for women as agents of change in the local development process, providing a foundation for further policy discussions on women's empowerment in this area.

Upaya United Nations Women Terhadap Kekerasan Perempuan pada Pandemi Covid-19 (Shadow Pandemic) di Indonesia

This research is motivated by the rampant sexual violence that occurs against women in Indonesia during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The existence of the COVID-19 Pandemic has created a shadow Pandemic, namely the increasing number of sexual violence against women. This then attracted the attention of an international organization, namely UN Women. UN Women called this phenomenon “The Shadow Pandemic” and implemented policies to save women from this crisis. This research is based on the theory of international organizations and women's empowerment which is the main focus of UN Women. The purpose of this research is to analyze the application of UN Women's policies on sexual violence against women in Indonesia. In this study the authors used qualitative observation research methods. Qualitative observations will result from data interpretation by providing analysis and description. The results of this study indicate that in the midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic, it has caused many problems for human life throughout the world, especially for the people of Indonesia. These problems include psychological, economic, social suffering, and have even led to "The Shadow Pandemic". An example of a case from The Shadow Pandemic is violence against women that occurred at the same time as the excitement of the Covid-19 Pandemic. The state cannot handle this case alone, the state needs external assistance to help resolve this problem such as assistance from relevant international organizations, one of which is UN Women. Therefore, this study shows the implementation of UN Women's policies in dealing with sexual violence against women in Indonesia.

Enhancing Democratic Representation: A Comprehensive Analysis of Women's Reservation Policies

This research paper delves into the multifaceted landscape of women's reservation policies, examining their impact on democratic representation and gender equality. Drawing upon a comparative analysis of global practices, with a focus on the study navigates through historical developments, legislative frameworks, and societal responses to women's reservation in political spheres. The research critically evaluates the effectiveness of such policies, considering their influence on governance, policy priorities, and societal attitudes. The paper not only investigates success stories and positive outcomes resulting from increased female representation but also scrutinizes the challenges and criticisms faced in the implementation of women's reservation policies. Special attention is given to the intersectionality of these policies, acknowledging the diverse experiences of women from different backgrounds.

Determinants of anemia level among reproductive-age women in 29 Sub-Saharan African countries: A multilevel mixed-effects modelling with ordered logistic regression analysis.

Despite the implementation of different nutritional and non-nutritional interventions, 43% of reproductive-age women in Africa suffer from anemia. Recent evidence also shows that none of the Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries are on the track to achieve the nutrition target of 50% anemia reduction by 2030. To date, information on the level of anemia and its determinants among reproductive-age women at the SSA level is limited. Thus, this study aimed to estimate the pooled prevalence of anemia level and its determinants in SSA countries. We used a pooled data of 205,627 reproductive-age women from the recent demographic and health surveys of 29 SSA countries that were conducted between 2010-2021. A multilevel mixed-effects analysis with an ordered logistic regression model was fitted to identify determinants of anemia level and the deviance value was used to select the best-fitted model. First, bivariable ordinal logistic regression analysis was done and the proportional odds assumption was checked for each explanatory variable using a Brant test. Finally, in a multivariable multilevel ordinal logistic regression model, a p-value<0.05 and AOR with the corresponding 95% CI were used to identify determinants of anemia level. All analyses were done using Stata version 17 software. The pooled prevalence of anemia among women of reproductive age in SSA was 40.5% [95% CI = 40.2%-40.7%], where 24.8% [95% CI: 24.6%-25.0%], 11.1% [95% CI = 10.9%-11.2%], and 0.8% [95% CI = 0.7%-0.8%] had mild, moderate, and severe anemia, respectively. The prevalence significantly varied from the lowest of 13% in Rwanda to the highest of 62% in Mali, and anemia was found as a severe public health problem (prevalence of ≥ 40%) in 18 countries. The regression result revealed that polygamous marriage, women and husband illiteracy, poor household wealth, shorter birth interval, non-attendance of antenatal care, underweight, unimproved toilet and water facilities, and low community-level women literacy were positively linked with high anemia level. Additionally, the likelihood of anemia was lower in women who were overweight and used modern contraception. Overall results showed that anemia among women of reproductive age is a severe public health problem in SSA countries, affecting more than four in ten women. Thus, enhancing access to maternal health services (antenatal care and contraception) and improved sanitation facilities would supplement the existing interventions targeted to reduce anemia. Moreover, strengthening women's education and policies regulating the prohibition of polygamous marriage are important to address the operational constraints.

STRENGTHENING THE WOMEN'S BUSINESS ECOSYSTEM: THE ROLE OF REGIONAL GOVERNMENT BODIES IN KAZAKHSTAN

Purpose of the research: The primary objective of this research is to study the role of local goverment in developing countries, especially in Kazakhstan, in the promotion, support and sustainable development of women's entrepreneurship.Methodology: This study includes an analysis of the existing relevant literature in the main body in order to examine the role of local governments in promoting and supporting women entrepreneurship. The research methodology includes general official statistical data, as well as interviews with stakeholders related to women's entrepreneurship policy, interview analysis, identification and coding of important themes.Originality of the research: The research aims to provide valuable perspectives and feasible plans for stakeholders by putting forward recommendations for policymakers. The study seeks to consolidate insights on the importance of women's involvement in entrepreneurship for driving economic growth and advancing gender equality.Findings: The study revealed important findings regarding the role of local governments in supporting and empowering women entrepreneurs. These results contribute to a better understanding of the problems faced by women in the field of entrepreneurship and provide recommendations for solving them.

한국 여성 직업훈련정책의 변천과정 연구

Objectives The purpose of this study is to examine the process of change in women's vocational training policies in South Korea from the liberation to the present, and analyze the characteristics of women's vocational training policy.&#x0D; Methods To this end, comprehensive policy documents regarding women’s vocational training policies, such as the 6th - 7th Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development, the 1st-4th Basic Plan for Women's Policy, the 1st-3rd Basic Plan for Gender Equality Policy, the 1st-3rd Basic Plan for vocational Competency Development, are analyzed.&#x0D; Results South Korea's women's vocational training policy progress can be divided into five stages: preparatory stage, nascent stage, settlement stage, development stage, and transition stage. During the preparatory period, from the liberation to the early 1980s, no women's vocational training policy was established, and the focus of women's vocational training was on liberal arts education for vulnerable women. Since the mid-1980s, laws and policies on women's vocational training have been introduced in the nascent stage. From the 1990s, during the settlement period, women’s vocational training policies were actively pursued to expand vocational training opportunities for women. Since the enactment of the Framework Act on Women's Development (1995), a systematic policy for women’s vocational training has been established, leading to the development stage. Lastly, since 2015, during the transition period, policies such as gender mainstreaming of vocational training and expansion of women's vocational training opportunities for high-skilled occupations are promoted.&#x0D; Conclusions Women's vocational training policies in South Korea have progressed along with the development of women's policy. Its policy direction has changed from low-skilled women to high-skilled women training. In addition, the policy target of women’s vocational training was gradually diversified and specified. The results of this study help to understand in depth the characteristics of Korean women's vocational training policies, and furthermore, provide implications for women's vocational training policy in developing countries.

A pathway to a sustainable future: Investigating the contribution of technological innovations, clean energy, and Women's empowerment in mitigating global environmental challenges

This study aims to provide insights into the pathway toward a sustainable future by investigating the factors contributing to environmental sustainability. In this pursuit, the current study empirically analyzes the role of economic growth, technological innovation, clean energy consumption, and women empowerment toward global environmental quality from 1991 to 2015. For empirical analysis, autoregressive distributive lag and fourier frequency domain causality models are employed to test the long-medium and short-run association between the selected variables. Fully modified ordinary least squares and canonical cointegration regression estimations are also applied for robustness. The empirics of this study reveal that economic growth deteriorates the environmental quality in the long and short run. However, technological innovation, clean energy consumption, and women's empowerment help improve environmental quality in the long and short run. In addition, the robust analysis also authenticates the long-run outcomes of the study. This study suggests policy recommendations aimed at a sustainable future by establishing strong regulatory policy instruments, enforcing environmental laws, promoting energy-efficient technologies in industries and households, implementing women's employment protection policies, and strong regulatory policy instruments to achieve emission reduction in the global perspective.

Prioritizing women's choices, consent, and bodily autonomy: From a continuum of violence to women-centric reproductive care

Obstetric violence is a product of medical institutions' failure to prioritize women-centric reproductive care. Through interviews with local activists and leaders in Oaxaca, Mexico, as well as analysis of primary and secondary sources, we find that women-centric reproductive care is hindered by three barriers that are a part of a continuum of violence. These barriers include the cultural and religious norms surrounding reproductive care, the medical community and medical profiteers' opposition to combatting obstetric violence, and the state's resistance to women's human rights policy changes. Shifting to a women-centric reproductive care model requires: the life of the woman to be prioritized in reproductive care, the criminalization of obstetric violence, improved training for the medical community, reduced monetary incentives for unnecessary cesarean sections, and the respectful inclusion of indigenous and midwife knowledge and practices. Our study's theoretical and empirical contributions add to the scholarly research regarding the systemic causes of obstetric violence and the care ethic required for transformative change. Our recommendations can be applied across contexts with locally developed and culturally inclusive models of women-centric reproductive care.

Movements' Dynamics and Government Responsiveness to Violence Against Women: A Study Set Against Political and Social Change in Spain and Italy.

Actions to counter violence against women are a fully fledged policy field with significant differences across countries. Through a comparative analysis of Spain and Italy, this article maps the interplay between women's movements and national governments in launching violence against women (VAW) policies. In Spain, policy formation was the outcome of dual feminist-socialist activism, leading to dialogue between movements and the government. In Italy, movements opposed the government from the outside. In both countries, the critical factor inciting responsiveness on VAW was not one single variable but a combination of political opportunity, movement identity, dedicated women's policy agencies, and the soft power of international institutions.

IMPLEMENTATION OF WOMEN EMPOWERMENT POLICIES BY THE GOVERNMENT IN EFFORTS TO HANDLE VICTIMS OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN THE WORK ENVIRONMENT

This study aims to find out how the implementation of women's empowerment policies in efforts to prevent sexual violence in the work environment. This type of research is qualitative research using the SLR (Literature Review System) method. SLR is a literature review method that is carried out by collecting, identifying, concluding, critically evaluating research results on certain topics. The results of the study indicate that there are efforts to empower women through complaints handling, medical, psychological-spiritual services, law enforcement and assistance, as well as return and social reintegration. Thus, it can be interpreted that the policy of protecting women is one of the government's policies to facilitate, assist, and support victims of gender-based violence to obtain justice in demanding their rights. So that with this policy it is hoped that women will be able to develop their potential, so that women can be independent and participate in efforts to prevent sexual violence in the workplace.

경력단절여성의 기업가정신이 창업의도에 미치는 영향

A decrease in the economically active population is expected in South Korea due to the aging population and low birth rate. The importance of women's economic activities should be emphasized because of the positive economic effects the women's workforce can bring to the whole country and society. Hence, more policies that can actively introduce economically inactive women into the labor market should be implemented. Creating new businesses should be considered as an alternative solution for career-interrupted women. The Act on Support for Women's Enterprises was enacted to help women improve their economic activities and status by helping them to create a business and supporting women's enterprises. However, despite the government's various policies, the number of career-interrupted women entrepreneurs is lower than that of other developed countries. Therefore, more active support methods seem to be required. In this study, the subject of the study was specified to be career-interrupted women since the focus of this thesis is to find ways to increase women's economic activities and revitalize women's entrepreneurship. Through this, this thesis aims to find implications for creating an entrepreneurial ecosystem for career-interrupted women. Firstly, the research verifies whether the entrepreneurship of female entrepreneurs affects business intention. Secondly, the research portrays how the relationship between entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial intention is influenced by social support. Thirdly, the research examines if and how the government and local government’s policy to support women’s entrepreneurship influences the relationship between entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial intention. As a result of the research the thesis shows that the innovation initiative factor was significant in the effect of entrepreneurship on entrepreneurial intention. Second, as to whether there was a moderating effect of social support in the relationship between entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial intention, emotional support showed a moderating effect on innovation initiative and evaluation support on risk sensitivity. Third, looking at the moderating effect of government support projects between entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial intention, both funding and physical infrastructure support showed a moderating effect. The implications of the research are to develop educational programs that take into account women's characteristics, effective and diverse government support policies, and continuous research on women's entrepreneurship in order to increase the economic activity of career interrupted women and lay the foundation for finding ways to promote entrepreneurship.

Exploring Women’s Well-being in Haryana: Quantitative and Qualitative Perspectives

The term female well-being was first used by Noble Laureate Amartya Sen in 1992. Women's well-being in Haryana tackles the complexities of social change and illustrate the most critical challenges (gender discrimination, violence, and honor killings) that women are facing in the present scenario despite globalization, modernization, and development in all spheres of life. Women's well-being is studied by analyzing infant mortality rate, maternal mortality rate and life expectancy, literacy and level of education, work status and income level, family structure, and political power. The trends in women's well-being are contextualized in light of the legislative provisions, women's social welfare policies, and movements that enhance, empower, sustain, or detract the women's condition in the state. The present study is an attempt to explore women's well-being based on social institutions, gender concerns, socio-demographic profile, and educational, economic, and political dynamics and interpret significant transformation in women's lives over the years in Haryana. In this descriptive study, quantitative and qualitative techniques were used to explore women's well-being in the state. The present investigation is based on primary and secondary sources as well. However, the present research sketches social institutions, gender concerns, and the status of women in Haryana, but it is mainly concerned with the women's well-being concepts, issues, and future perspectives. The present research has implications for center and state governments, policy-makers and non-governmental organizations, academicians, and social thinkers.

Theorizing illiberal state feminism: Institutional dilemmas and political parallelism in China's gender governance

Institutionally speaking, state feminism is manifested by a strong women's policy agency (WPA) that facilitates bargaining between women's movements and state bureaucracies. It remains underexplored, however, when state feminism thrives or deteriorates under authoritarianism and what institutional factors account for this. Using China's contemporary gender politics as a case study, this article aims to develop a more nuanced understanding of illiberal state feminism theory and its internal workings. It contends that deep-rooted institutional dilemmas lie at the heart of an illiberal state feminism such as China's, which are expressed in four pairs of contradictions: 1) interest consolidation vs misrepresentation, 2) coalition-building vs repression 3) institutionalization vs bureaucratization, and 4) political integration vs parallelism. These internal contradictions lead to the inevitable segregation and marginalization of illiberal state feminism. This article contributes to the current scholarship on state feminism by dissecting the unintended institutional obstacles faced by a single dominant WPA sponsored by an illiberal state.

Accessibility of Women's Empowerment in Tourism Industry from Mandalika Special Economic Zone

This study aims to map the types of work, gender inequality and patterns of empowerment of female workers in the tourism service sector in the Madalika Tourism Industrial Zone, Central Lombok. Researchers used the survey method, interviews, observation, and documentation. The results of this study found that the tourism industry in the Madalika Tourism Industrial Zone has encouraged the growth of new types of jobs, business opportunities, and new entrepreneurs. South Lombok women who originally worked in the domestic sphere (unpaid work) slowly moved into the public-professional sphere. The wrong perceptions of the existence of women workers in the tourism sector have created gender inequality that is detrimental to the existence of women workers in the tourism sector. The empowerment of women's resources in the tourism sector requires a development approach based on culture and local wisdom of the community, namely strengthening the capacity of women workers, which includes strengthening individual capacity and strengthening entity (institutional) capacity. Empowerment includes building women's abilities, cultural changes and structural policies that are pro-women.