Correlates of gender characteristics, health and empowerment of women in Ethiopia

Abstract

BackgroundThe low status of women prevents them from recognizing and voicing their concerns about health needs. This study aimed to examine the relationship between gender characteristics, health and empowerment of women in an attempt to understand between 2005 and 2011.MethodsData from the Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS) 2005 and 2011 were used. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to determine the relative contribution of the predictor variables. The hypotheses tested in this study were that gender (men and women), health and empowerment of women in region are highly significant with women’s education and work status.ResultsStudy findings showed that the low status of women and their disempowerment are highly associated with poor health outcomes. In both 2005 and 2011 men school ages were positively associated with their attainment in primary education, whereas for women it was negatively related with their attainment in some education. In both 2005 and 2011 women in the richest wealth quintile had the highest odds ratio of relating to some education. The results show that the odds ratios of women with some education (within the richest wealth quintile) has improved from 6.39 (in 2005) to 10.90 (in 2011), whereas among men there has been a decrease from 10.33 (in 2005) to 2.13 (in 2011). The results indicated that in 2005 and 2011, when comparing the percentage distribution of both genders on employment status and type of occupation, the percentage of men who were employed was higher than women. The percentage of males who were engaged in the agricultural-type of occupation was higher than that of women. Men and women knowledge about family planning methods have been improved, yet, there are wider gender gaps in family planning users.ConclusionsThe officials such as policy makers, planners, program managers and government and non-government organizations need to addressed. The issue of child marriages in order to minimize the number of girls who never attend school or drop out to become wives Planners should also work on improving family planning to empower women. There was a significant relationship between status of women and quality of healthy life, and this relationship appeared to differ by education and work status.

Factors associated with dietary diversity and length‐for‐age z‐score in rural Ethiopian children aged 6–23 months: A novel approach to the analysis of baseline data from the Sustainable Undernutrition Reduction in Ethiopia evaluation

“…However, strategies to effectively engage men and community influencers are not yet well researched (Lutter et al, ). Education of girls remains essential to sustained improvement in child growth in Ethiopia (Lailulo, Sathiya Susuman, & Blignaut, ).…”

Spatial Distribution and Determinant Factors of Intimate Partner Violence Among Reproductive age Group Women in Ethiopia; Generalized Structural Equation Modeling

“…This makes IPV not only a deep-rooted problem but also somehow acknowledged rather than challenged. In addition, there is an imbalance between men and women in institutionalized gender roles and structural power (15). Different studies were conducted at different part of Ethiopia using a univariate analysis to determine factors associated with IPV (16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21).…”

Effects of family conversation on health care practices in Ethiopia: a propensity score matched analysis

“…The power structures within families has been proposed as one reason why institutional delivery rates and postnatal care coverage are so low [ 11 , 12 ]. In Ethiopia, a relatively traditional society, family power structures can have a negative effect on health outcomes [ 13 ]. It often occurs, for example, that a pregnant woman – who has been trained by health workers and is aware of her need for care – is not the person who decides whether to go to the health facility; her husband, her mother-in-law, her mother and sometimes her neighbors – who might be less informed about the most up-to-date care recommendations and might therefore be inclined to follow more traditional practices [ 14 , 15 ] – take decisions regarding household practices and care seeking on her behalf [ 16 – 18 ].…”