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Women's Rights in the World

Selected e-articles

Abstract: We examine the conditions under which women's economic and political status is less vulnerable in the aftermath of natural disasters. We theorize that women in natural disaster-hit countries that receive higher levels of foreign direct investment (FDI) are less susceptible to the gendered impacts of those disasters. Since FDI is vital to post-disaster economic recovery, countries grappling with natural disasters are motivated to uphold women's rights as a strategy to attract FDI. Furthermore, multinational corporations (MNCs)' operation and commitment to gender equality-based values and practices are also an impetus to address the deterioration in respect for women's rights. By conducting a time-series cross-sectional, ordered logistic analysis with random effects and using a comprehensive dataset on natural disasters and women's rights, including 107 developing countries from 1990 to 2011, we find that FDI mitigates natural disasters' adverse effects on.

Abstract:  Throughout Iran and various countries, the recent calls of the “Zan, Zendegi, Azadi” (in Persian), “Jin, Jiyan, Azadi” (in Kurdish), or “Woman, Life, Freedom” (in English) movement call for change to acknowledge the importance of women. While these feminist protests and demonstrations have been met with brutality, systematic oppression, and internet blackouts within Iran, they have captured significant social media attention and coverage outside the country, especially among the Iranian diaspora and various international organizations. This article, grounded in feminist urban theories of the Global South, analyzes the digital feminist placemaking movement in Iran. As the first counter-revolution led by women, the movement utilizes digital art, graffiti, and protest movements to embody women’s solidarity groups and sympathy rallies. Our analysis employs various digital research methods, including social media scrutiny and the study of protest illustrations. Analyzing the digital feminist placemaking in Iran will enable us to compare the commonalities, differences, challenges, and opportunities between the minorities and majorities in the world’s countries. The outcomes of this research can help international organizations such as Amnesty International and the United Nations Agency for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (UN Women), as well as policymakers, institutions, academics, and NGOs, to highlight the various ways in which broader public participation could be encouraged in the process of digital feminist insurgent placemaking.

Abstract:  The largest European victimization survey of violence against women (VAW), has revealed an interesting paradox: countries with the highest gender equality indices had the highest VAW indices, while countries with low gender equality, also had low VAW indices. The country with the lowest VAW rates was Poland. This article attempts to explain this paradox. First, the results of the FRA study regarding Poland and its methodological issues are described. As these explanations may prove insufficient, it is necessary to recourse to sociological theories of VAW, together with analyses of the sociocultural roles of women, and gender relations since the communist period (1945–1989). The key question is whether the Polish variant of the patriarchy is more respectful toward women than Western European gender equality.

Abstract:  With half a female population, empowering women can be a key factor in our country's global advancement. Focusing on household decision-making and attitudes toward wife beating, our study addresses the dearth of research exploring how different socio-economic and demographic factors associated with women's empowerment evolve over the past decade in Bangladesh (from BDHS 2007 to BDHS 2017-18). Data from four waves of Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS, 2007 to BDHS, 2017-18) were used in this study. We put forth two domains-household decision-making and attitudes toward domestic violence-to assess women's empowerment. Principal component analysis (PCA) was employed to create women's empowerment index. To assess the unadjusted association between the selected covariates and women's empowerment, Pearson Chi-square test and ANOVA F test have been used, while adjusted association has been analyzed through proportional odds model (POM). In BDHS 2017-18, women from urban areas experienced 'high' empowerment than women in rural areas (56.08% vs. 45.69%). A notable change has been observed in the distribution of women's empowerment index by education over the survey years. Findings also showed that in all the survey years, division, place of residence, education level, number of living children, media exposure, wealth index, working status, and relationship with household head have been found to have significant association with women's empowerment index. For instance, women who completed secondary education in 2007, 2011, 2014, and 2017-18, respectively have 14.4%, 31.8%, 24.6%, and 39.6% higher odds of having empowerment compared to those who were uneducated. Further, age at first marriage, spousal age gap, NGO membership etc. emerged as a contributing factor in specific survey years. Our study affirmed that, over a ten-year period, women were more likely to protest against physical violence and to participate in various decision-making regarding their personal and social life. Empowerment is notably higher among women in urban residents, those with secondary education, 1-2 children, media exposure, and employment. Policy recommendations should emphasize targeted measures to raise awareness and empower uneducated, unemployed, economically disadvantaged, and physically oppressed women.

Abstract:  This paper focuses on the discourse on Muslim women’s rights in India, aiming to trace how policies concerning Muslim women affect their constitutional rights to equality and non-discrimination. In doing so, this paper explores a colonial continuity of policies in the post-independence era and the subsequent governments. The purpose of this paper is to provide an extensive and nuanced discussion on Muslim women’s rights in light of their historical evolution, the existence of personal laws, and the ongoing debates on a Uniform Civil Code. This article concludes that Muslim women continue to struggle for their rights to equal citizenship at the intersection of gender, religion, colonialism, and secularism.

Abstract: In Peru, 68% of women have reported being the victim of partner violence, at some point in their lives. However, very little is known about the economic determinants of domestic violence. The present study is intended to analyze the relationship between the gender wage gap and domestic violence in Peru. We understand that the gap is a characteristic of the market that places women at a disadvantage compared to men. Data from the National Household Survey enables the calculation of this wage gap. This information, combined with the violence report from the Demographic and Health Survey, is used in the regression analyses. We find that wide wage gaps are associated with higher incidences of physical and emotional violence. This result also extends to women who are not gainfully employed. These women benefit from greater equality in the labor market that provides them with better potential income, which would increase their bargaining power within the home.

Abstract: This article explores the intricate landscape of women’s rights in Saudi Arabia, an authoritarian state within the Gulf Cooperation Council countries (GCC), where the pursuit of modernization strategically utilizes women’s issues as symbols of national identity and markers of progress. The article focuses on the transformative potential of academic activism, exemplified by the work of Hatoon Ajwad al-Fassi, in countering oppression against women. It demonstrates how women navigate the realms of academia and activism to reshape gender dynamics and shape their nation’s modernization trajectory. By emphasizing the critical intersection between academic inquiry and activism, this article dispels the misconception that academia and activism are mutually exclusive. In contexts such as Saudi Arabia, where women’s rights face suppression, this intersection emerges as imperative for informed research and frontline advocacy, effectively addressing state-sponsored violence. Furthermore, this article critically evaluates the persistent challenge of feminist neo-Orientalist scholarship, which often distorts the depiction of Saudi women’s experiences. It offers a contribution to a nuanced understanding of women’s theorization that includes the ethico-political context within which women operate.

Abstract: In this paper, I will examine the legal standards of gender persecution and the evolving descriptor gender apartheid as a way to describe the status of women in Afghanistan. The paper also examines other complementary forms of legal accountability procedures to vindicate Afghan women’s rights and hold perpetrators accountable under crimes against humanity. Although the current locus of the paper is focused on Afghan women, it has larger implications for all other crimes of gender persecution.

Abstract: Women in Mozambique are often disempowered when it comes to making decisions concerning their lives, including their bodies and reproductive options. This study aimed to explore the views of women in Mozambique about key elements of empowerment for reproductive decisions and the meanings they attach to these elements. Qualitative in-depth interviews were undertaken with 64 women of reproductive age (18-49 years) in two provinces in Mozambique. Participants were recruited through convenience sampling. Data collection took place between February and March 2020 in Maputo city and Province, and during August 2020 in Nampula Province. A thematic analysis was performed. Women described crucial elements of how power is exerted for reproductive choices. These choices include the ability to plan the number and timing of pregnancies and the ability either to negotiate with sexual partners by voicing choice and influencing decisions, or to exercise their right to make decisions independently. They considered that women with empowerment had characteristics such as independence, active participation and being free. These characteristics are recognized key enablers for the process of women's empowerment. This study's findings contribute to an expanded conceptualization and operationalization of women's sexual and reproductive empowerment by unveiling key elements that need to be considered in future research and approaches to women's empowerment. Furthermore, it gave women the central role and voice in the research of empowerment's conceptualization and measurement where women's views and meanings are seldom considered.

Abstract: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is high among women of reproductive age in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, empowering women enables them to confront and mitigate IPV. In this study, we examined the association between the survey-based women's empowerment index (SWPER) and IPV in SSA. We used data from the Demographic and Health Surveys of 19 countries conducted from 2015 to 2021. Our study was restricted to a weighted sample of 82,203 women of reproductive age who were married or cohabiting. We used spatial maps to show the proportions of women who experienced past-year IPV. A five-modelled multilevel binary logistic regression analysis was adopted to examine the association between SWPER and IPV. The results were presented using the adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with their respective 95% confidence interval (CI). Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. With physical and emotional violence, the country with the highest prevalence was Sierra Leone, with a prevalence of 39.00% and 38.97% respectively. Rwanda (10.34%), Zambia (11.09%), Malawi (15.00%), Uganda (16.88%), and Burundi (20.32%) were the hotspot countries for sexual violence. Angola (34.54%), Uganda (41.55%), Liberia (47.94%), and Sierra Leone (59.98%) were the hotspot countries for IPV. A high SWPER score in attitudes to violence significantly decreased the odds of IPV [AOR = 0.70; 95% CI = 0.66, 0.75]. Also, women with medium score in decision-making were less likely to experience IPV compared to those with lower scores [AOR = 0.89; 95% CI = 0.83, 0.95]. However, higher odds of experiencing IPV was found among women with medium score in autonomy compared to those with low scores [AOR = 1.07; 95% CI = 1.01, 1.14]. Our study has shown that the three dimensions of SWPER significantly predict IPV among women. Consequently, it is crucial that sub-Saharan African countries implement various initiatives, such as IPV advocacy programs and economic livelihood empowerment initiatives. These initiatives should not only aim to improve women's attitudes to domestic violence but also to enhance their social independence, autonomy, and decision-making capacity.

Abstract: Recent empirical literature has focused on the social aspect of gender-based violence regarding domestic violence and physical abuse while the implications of economic empowerment in an attempt to reduce gender-based violence remain under-researched. This study investigated the connection between female economic empowerment and factors that could reduce gender-based violence in sub-Saharan African countries. We used the panel fully modified least squares estimation method to investigate the long-run implications. The gender inequality index, the female genital mutilation prevalence, and the number of female children out of school were used as proxies for gender-based violence. Likewise, economic empowerment was a proxy for female economic participation; it was replaced by female employment for the robustness test. Evidence from the panel fully modified least squares estimation showed that female economic empowerment had a negative relationship with the gender inequality index, the number of female children out of primary school, and female genital mutilation. We concluded that an increase in the economic power of females through increased economic participation could reduce gender-based violence in the long run. Based on these findings, this study recommends policies to improve the situation. This study shifts attention to the macro-connection between factors that can reduce GBV and increase female economic empowerment in selected areas of sub-Saharan Africa.

Abstract: The UN’s Sustainable Development Goal #5 (Gender Equity) includes violence against women and girls (VAWG), considering it as a violation of the rights of women and girls. The variety of risk factors for VAWG in Arab countries suggests the need to identify effective interventions to guide practitioners and policy makers. A systematic review of preventive interventions across the Arab League examined the outcomes of VAWG. Authors registered the study on the prospective register of systematic reviews database. Authors conducted the search for evidence up to 2023. Database searching identified 1,502 studies and after application of the eligibility criteria, 17 studies remained for inclusion. Quality appraisal used the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. Evidence emerged from eight Arab countries. Interventions occurred at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of prevention. However, only two studies employed interventions using more than one level of prevention, which considered systems strengthening and the development of community solidarity networks. The evidence revealed a lack of clear evaluation and evidence for the effectiveness of interventions and prevention alongside reactive approaches, with no evidence as to how systems may reduce or prevent VAWG. One main issue is patriarchal dominance in Arab countries creating the lack of a collective female voice in any of the evidence. However, Arab countries can change with support. Achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal #5 by 2030 means interventions and programs need to include more than one prevention level, consider systems and include the collective female voice.

Abstract:  The issue of microfinance and women's empowerment has been intensely debated in the last two decades or more. Most of the debates have been about whether microfinance leads to empowerment in the context of specific programmes. Many impact studies focus on specific quantifiable indicators, whether economic or social. This paper moves beyond such debates to understand which strategies work to create empowerment and how. It looks at three institutional models of microfinance across the minimalist and credit plus spaces to identify gender specific and other strategies which enable experiences of empowerment for members of microfinance institutions. Instead of quantitative indicators or specific achievements, the paper explores dimensions and processes of empowerment such as solidarity, leadership and challenge to patriarchal ideology. Although the study is located in a certain district of West Bengal, a state in India, the observations and findings have relevance globally because similar institutional models and strategies are present across the world, especially in the Global South.

Abstract: Women who live with disadvantages such as socioeconomic deprivation, substance misuse, poor mental health, or domestic abuse face inequalities in health before, during, and after pregnancy and for their infants through to childhood. Women do not experience these factors alone; they accumulate and interact. Therefore, there is a need for an overview of interventions that work across health and social care and target women at risk of inequalities in maternal or child health. Systematic review methodology will be used to identify systematic reviews from high-income countries that describe interventions aiming to reduce inequalities for women who experience social disadvantage during pregnancy. We will describe the range of interventions and their effectiveness in reducing inequalities in maternal or child health. Any individual, hospital, or community-level activity specific to women during the pre-conception, antenatal, or postpartum period up to 1 year after birth will be included, regardless of the setting in which they are delivered. We will search eight electronic databases with the pre-determined search strategy and supplement them with extensive grey literature searches. We will present a narrative synthesis, taking into account the quality assessment and coverage of included studies. Inequalities in maternal and child health are a key priority area for national policymakers. Understanding the range and effectiveness of interventions across the perinatal period will inform policy and practice. Identifying gaps in the evidence will inform future research.

Abstract: The representation and success of women in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine (STEMM) have sparked discussions, given their underrepresentation in these traditionally male-dominated fields. While women comprise 40% of STEMM undergraduates, senior-level positions see this figure drop below 20%. Research suggests that gender disparities in STEMM participation result from motivational differences, rather than competence. Exploring the reasons for these disparities are important as they can have significant consequences for the acknowledgement of women in STEMM, the maintenance of their STEMM discipline, and future careers. As such, this study explored how the experiences of 13 female undergraduates in Australian STEMM programs impacted their motivation and persistence in their degree. Through face-to-face semi-structured interviews, analysed via reflexive thematic analysis, five themes were constructed, encapsulating diverse experiences shaping female undergraduates in STEMM, influencing self-efficacy, determination, and well-being. Early exposure and environment were pivotal, acting as motivators or deterrents. Additionally, peer support was suggested as being crucial, fostering belongingness in the male-dominated space. Participants also grappled with recognition challenges, influenced by gender imbalances and a lack of role models. Intimidation was evident, leading to thoughts of dropping out, but passion drove persistence amid these challenges. The research increases awareness and understanding of the challenges faced by female undergraduates in STEMM, offering valuable insights for developing strategies to enhance their university experiences and promote success in future STEMM careers.

Abstract: Comparative welfare research commonly assumes that women’s political demands were not a crucial factor in the early development of welfare legislation, given their limited access to political resources. This article argues that women contributed to enhancing their right to maternity protection once paid maternity leave was adopted. The early development of paid maternity leave was not only an outcome but also a cause of women’s influence in policymaking. Although paid maternity leave was invented by male policymakers in pioneer welfare states, the adoption of paid maternity leave generated political opportunities for women to push for further expansions. Utilizing an original historical dataset of paid maternity leave, I examine the adoption and extension of paid maternity leave in 20 Western countries from 1883 until 1975. I find that women’s political participation shaped the generosity of paid maternity leave but not the timing of its adoption.

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