Married women’s access to resources and decision making power in Nekemte Town, West Ethiopia

Abstract

IntroductionGender equality and non-discrimination on the basis of sex are fundamental human rights. However, the national and customary laws or societal structures result in differential treatment of women and men including boys and girls [1,2]. Large gender disparities in basic human rights, in resources and economic opportunity, and in political voice are pervasive in many countries in spite of recent gains in gender equity and equality [3][4][5]. Gender discrimination in access to and control over resources and assets has a number of negative implications for both women and girls as well as for their households and families. Moreover, when women own and control resources and family assets, they will have increased decision-making power in the household and are more likely to allocate resources to support the welfare of all family members reducing poverty and hunger [6][7][8].Indeed, we live in a male dominated world where gender power relations are clearly in favor of men. Of 1.3 billion people who live under absolute poverty around the globe, 70 percent are women. For these women, poverty doesn't just mean scarcity and want. It means denial of rights, opportunities curtailed and voices silenced. Currently, in an institutionalized patriarchal world women are systematically excluded from every sphere of public life, including areas of leadership and decision making. At least 50% of the world populations are women. Women form the core of the family and household, work longer hours than men in nearly every country, do more of the total work than men and contribute more to the development of their societies [9,10]. Despite women's contribution to the development of society and country at large, they do not enjoy the fruits of development equally as their male counterparts due the multifaceted problem that they 1 Department of Public Health, Ambo University, Ethiopia. 2 Adama Hospital Medical Colleges, Ethiopia. Correspondence: Sileshi Garoma Email: garomaabe@yahoo.com face based on their gender [9]. Women's low status in Ethiopia, as anywhere else, is expressed in different forms including their lack of assets to ownership, leadership and decision making opportunities and their multiple role that make them lag behind in every endeavor [11]. Studies on women's empowerment are scarce particularly studies based on direct indicators of empowerment such as access to and control over resources, decision making power on household matters, autonomy in seeking health care, attitude towards resisting wife beating and attitude towards right to refuse sex with husband for any reasons. As a result, there is lack of comprehensive knowledge regarding different dimensions of women's empowerment and the factors associated. This study, therefore, was conducted to examine women's empowerment situation, access to and control over resources and decision making power in Ethiopia. Methods and Materials Study area and periodThe study was conducted among married women in Nekemte town, East Wollega Zone, Oromiya Regional state, West Ethi...

<p>Married Women’s Decision-Making Power in Family Planning Use and its Determinants in Basoliben, Northwest Ethiopia</p>

“…Empowering women increase family planning utilization 27 which reduces maternal and neonatal mortality. 28,29 However, in developing countries, women are the neglected population in decision-making. 20,27 They are usually dependent on their partners' decision on family planning usage and reproductive issues.…”

Married women’s decision making power on family planning use and associated factors in Mizan-Aman, South Ethiopia: a cross sectional study

“…Consequently, women are either under collective decision-making with their partners and/or entirely rely on the male partner’s decision on issues that affect their contraception usage and reproductive life. In addition to family planning use, empowering women has an important role in the reduction of maternal and new born mortality by preventing unintended pregnancy and unsafe abortion [ 5 , 15 , 16 ]. In this study, the magnitude of women’s decision making power on family planning was 67.2 % (95 % CI: 63–71 %) which is consistent with a study done in Dawro Zone 64 %[ 7 ], but higher than the national report of Ethiopia (25 %) [ 5 , 17 ].…”

“…If a woman gets older and approaches menopause age, she may feel more confident to decide on family planning use individually and by discussing with her partner [ 16 , 26 , 27 ]. The findings of this study also suggest that there is a positive relationship between women’s age and their decision-making power on family planning use, which is in line with previous studies in Ethiopia [ 22 , 23 , 28 ].…”

Factors influencing decision-making power regarding reproductive health and rights among married women in Mettu rural district, south-west, Ethiopia

“…A total 32 questions were asked to assess knowledge on RHR. Those mothers who scored above 70% (≥23) were categorized as knowledgeable, while those scoring less were categorized as less knowledgeable [14].…”