The power of the collective empowers women: Evidence from self-help groups in India

Kumar, Neha; Raghunathan, Kalyani; Arrieta, Alejandra; Jilani, Amir; Pandey, Shinjini

doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105579

Cited by 84 publications

(46 citation statements)

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“…To study how to overcome gender inequalities or to gain greater reproductive autonomy in restricted environments with high fertility prevalence, some studies have examined programmatic approaches to renegotiate gender relationships with promising evidence in a Mumbai slum ( Cislaghi et al, 2020 ), or the covert use of contraception among women in need of family planning in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where contraceptive use has been positively associated with working outside the home but negatively related to more years of schooling ( Gasca and Becker 2018 ; OlaOlorun, Anglewicz, and Moreau 2020 ). Women’s self-help groups (SHGs) is another mechanism associated with a significant impact on women’s economic, social, and political empowerment in South Asia and other developing countries ( Brody et al, 2017 ), although still with limited or no impact on psychological empowerment or on attitudes towards domestic violence and respect within households in India ( Kumar et al, 2021 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Men’s Attitude Towards Contraception and Sexuality, Women’s Empowerment, and Demand Satisfied for Family Planning in India

Mejía‐Guevara

Cislaghi

2021

Front. Sociol.

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Whilst the prevalence of unmet need and contraceptive use remained unchanged for 10 years (between 2005–2015) in India, gender restrictive norms and power imbalances also have persisted, preventing married women from meeting their family planning desires. Data for this study are from the 2015–6 National Family Household Survey, which contains information on fertility preferences and family planning for women in reproductive age. As a proxy for men’s attitudinal norms, we aggregated men’s perceptions regarding contraception (contraception is women’s business, women who use contraception may become promiscuous) and control over their wife (if his wife refuses to have sex, men have the right to deny financial support, have sex with another woman, or beat wife) at district level. Using a three-level random intercepts model, we assessed individual and contextual-level associations of men’s attitudinal norms and met need for contraception among sexually active women (aged 15–49) with any demand for family planning, while adjusting for women’s empowerment indicators [education, job status, and adult marriage] and individual demographic factors. Our results indicate that men’s attitudinal norms are negatively associated with women’s contraceptive use; for instance, a 1 standard deviation increase in the proportion of men who believe that contraception is women’s business was associated with a 12% reduced likelihood of contraceptive use (OR = 0.88, 95% CI 0.82–0.95). Similar associations remained or were stronger after considering only modern methods, or when excluding female sterilization. Furthermore, our contextual effects analysis revealed that women’s higher education or wealth did not improve contraceptive uptake in communities with strong attitudinal norms, but working women or women married as children were more likely to use contraception in those communities. Our results suggest that men’s attitudinal norms may be dominating over women’s empowerment regarding family planning choices among reproductive age women. However, employment appeared to play a strong protective role associated with women’s contraceptive use. It is important for programs seeking to transform gender equality and empower women in making contraceptive choices to consider women’s employment opportunities and to also address male attitudinal norms in the context of the ecosystem in which men and women coexist and interact.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Men’s Attitude Towards Contraception and Sexuality, Women’s Empowerment, and Demand Satisfied for Family Planning in India

Mejía‐Guevara

Cislaghi

2021

Front. Sociol.

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“…Women's group membership does not appear to affect all areas of empowerment. Kumar et al ( 23 ) found in their study in India that SHG membership was only weakly associated with women's ownership of assets. In Uganda, a study reported that women's membership in agriculture cooperatives did not change the domestic and farm-related division of labor for the household ( 44 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…However, women's FBO membership was not associated with overall male empowerment. Similarly, in India, women's SHG membership was associated with lower household inequality, with a 34% reduction in the difference between women's and men's empowerment scores ( 23 ). However, in contrast to our results, women's SHG participation was associated with men's empowerment in the domains of decisions on financial services and control over income.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Association of Women's Participation in Farmer-Based Organizations with Female and Male Empowerment and its Implication for Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture Interventions in Rural Ghana

Abdu

Marquis

Colecraft

et al. 2022

Current Developments in Nutrition

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Background Few studies have examined the influence of women's participation in farmer groups on female and male empowerment, which is considered essential to improving nutrition. Objectives The study aimed to (1) assess the empowerment of Ghanaian women farmers, one adult male family decision maker, and the household gender equality, and (2) investigate the relationship of empowerment and household gender equality with women's participation in farmer-based organizations (FBO), women's and men's nutritional status, and household food security. Methods A cross-sectional study investigated secondary outcomes using baseline data from a nutrition-sensitive agriculture intervention implemented through FBOs in rural Ghana (ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03869853). Existing FBOs in eight communities were selected based on six criteria (e.g., participation level, readiness to change). Female FBO (n = 166) and non-FBO (n = 164) members together with a male family member (n = 205) provided data on individual and household characteristics; empowerment was measured across 11 indicators with the project-level Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index. Generalized linear mixed models tested the associations between empowerment and household gender equality with FBO membership, nutritional status, and household food security. Results Women's FBO membership was associated with an increased likelihood of women's empowerment (aOR = 3.25; 95% CI [1.97, 5.33]) and household gender parity (aOR = 2.82; 95% CI [1.39, 5.84]) but not men's empowerment. Household food insecurity, but not nutritional status, was positively associated with women's FBO participation and individual empowerment indicators (financial services). Food insecurity was negatively associated with women's empowerment indicator related to attitudes about domestic violence (aβ = −0.78; 95% CI [−1.35, −0.21]) and men's overall empowerment (aβ = −0.79; 95% CI [−1.58, −0.01]). Conclusions Understanding the complexity in which FBO participation, empowerment, nutritional status, and food security are linked is critical in designing interventions that promote gender equality and improved nutrition.

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“…Hentschel et al ( 2019 ) while studying about the multiple dimensions of gender stereotypes among men and women belonging to various racial groups observe that, male raters described women to be lower in most aspects of agency when compared to men; so did female raters who considered men as more competent leaders. The women SHG movement in India, more than three decades old, was originally started as a savings and credit group and later expanded to include addressing gender and caste based discrimination (Kumar et al 2021 ). However rather than transforming power structures they have been reduced to producing responsible financial subjects or dutiful mothers (Batliwala 2007 ; Narayanan and Rao 2019 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dialogue as a tool of nutrition literacy in an agricultural intervention programme in Odisha, India

Narayanan¹,

Panda

Nithya

et al. 2022

CABI Agric Biosci

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Background An ongoing action research nutrition literacy programme based on Freire’s approach of raising critical consciousness through the use of dialogue as a pedagogic tool is being implemented as part of a nutrition sensitive agricultural intervention in tribal Odisha. One hundred and eight adults, referred to as Community Hunger Fighters (CHFs) underwent two modules of a residential training programme of two and a half days each, spread over two months. Through discussion they explored the reasons behind the lack of diversity in their daily diets and identified the social, economic and cultural barriers to food intake in the context of their own poverty. They undertook collective exercises in nutrition sensitive agricultural planning. The transformative behaviour of the CHFs was captured through observation, interviews and focus group discussion with a set of qualitative indicators. Results The methodology of dialogue as a pedagogic tool generated a discussion about food security among the community. CHFs identified key messages and shared them with fellow villagers in imaginative ways. The process of critical reflection and analysis helped understand gender disparities, the bottlenecks in food production, brought in life style changes to improve food intake and created a demand for technical training for improving agricultural productivity. Thirty eight had started a nutri-garden and several took on leadership roles on other issues of importance besides food security. Conclusion Dialogue as a pedagogic tool for nutrition literacy in an agricultural intervention programme has the potential to facilitate a process of critical reflection on the socio cultural and economic barriers to food production and consumption thereby leading to transformative action.

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The power of the collective empowers women: Evidence from self-help groups in India

Cited by 84 publications

References 46 publications

Men’s Attitude Towards Contraception and Sexuality, Women’s Empowerment, and Demand Satisfied for Family Planning in India

Men’s Attitude Towards Contraception and Sexuality, Women’s Empowerment, and Demand Satisfied for Family Planning in India

The Association of Women's Participation in Farmer-Based Organizations with Female and Male Empowerment and its Implication for Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture Interventions in Rural Ghana

Dialogue as a tool of nutrition literacy in an agricultural intervention programme in Odisha, India

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