scholarly journals Understanding the Influence of Women’s Education on Their Autonomy: Evidence From a Less Developed Area in Pakistan

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-116
Author(s):  
Nadia Agha ◽  
Maliha Gull Tarar

Women’s autonomy or ability to make decisions is determined by several factors, education is one of them. In this paper, we have checked the association of women’s education with their autonomy. We have considered how women’s education influences the decisions regarding their marriage, participation in family’s decisions, access to healthcare facilities and management of finances in the family. From a randomly selected cluster of neighbourhoods/muhallas in Jacobabad city, we purposively selected 391 married women from different households for testing four hypotheses. Results reveal that education played a positive role in the women’s lives by enhancing their participation in the family’s power distribution. Women with graduate level education performed better in the family’s power distribution than women with primary or secondary level education. The women with graduate level education were asked their consent for marriage, had more frequent participation in family’s decisions and visited healthcare facilities more often. However, these women also had limited control over the family’s finances, which shows that educated women too do not have complete autonomy in managing and controlling household finances, which can empower them and enhance their status in the family.

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Mugia Bayu Raharja ◽  
Robani Catursaptani ◽  
Rahmadewi Rahmadewi

The number and sex composition of children are important for some married couples in Indonesia. Having sons in the family is considered as a must since they are argued to be the successor of the family lineage. The presence of daughters is expected to help with household chores and care for their elderly parents. The sex preference for children by the married couples can affect their number of children. This study aims to assess the relationship between the number and sex composition of children, contraceptive use, and the desire to have more children among women in Indonesia. The study employed the data from the 2017 Indonesian Demography and Health Survey (IDHS), with the unit of analysis of currently married women aged 15-49 who have at least one living children. The results show that women with two or more children of the same sex had a higher tendency to have additional children and no use of contraceptives. The Family Planning program's campaign of similar values shared between son and daughter is still hardly accepted, hence, sex preference still exists. It is necessary to reformulate an effective concept for proper socialization of these values as an effort to control the fertility rate in Indonesia.


2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Alexander Izuchukwu Abasili

As studies have shown, marital sexual infidelity is attested in every society of the world.1 In African societies, adultery is not only strictly prohibited on social, moral and religious grounds but is also regarded, in some African cultures, as an abomination. This is rooted, among others, in the sacredness of marriage in Africa and the inseparable link between the use of human sexuality in marriage and the generation of new life for the perpetuation of the family-lineage and the community. In theory, the ban on adultery applies equally to all married men and women but in praxis, there are some hints of gender injustice against women in observing the ban on adultery. The patriarchal context in some African cultures provides the background for such gender inequality and sexual injustice against women. By using bosadi biblical hermeneutics to interpret the Sotah ritual (Num 5:11-31) - a ritual that is gender-specific, meant only for women accused of adultery - this article condemns the sexual injustice endured by married women in some (African) patriarchal societies and advocates the reading of Num 5:11-31 and other biblical texts containing 'oppressive elements' in a way that is liberating and empowering to the oppressed and marginalised.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 182-189
Author(s):  
Alagbu C. E. ◽  
Iloghalu, A. N. ◽  
Nnaemezie, N. O

Introduction: Family planning is a world-wide issue in reproductive health which tends to affect individuals of every tribe or race, irrespective of age, religion or educational level. This study investigated the family planning methods and practices adopted by married women in Anambra State. Methods: Three research questions were formulated to guide the study and two null hypotheses tested at 0.05 level of significance. The design for the study was descriptive survey. The study has a population of 133, 736 married women in Onitsha, Nnewi and Awka who were registered under the population commission of Anambra State as at August, 2019. A sample of 420 married women was involved in the study. The instrument titled “Questionnaire Family planning methods and practices adopted by married women in Anambra State was used for collection of data. The data collected was analyzed using Frequency and Percentage and Chi Square. Results: The findings indicated that greater percentage of married women in Anambra State is aware of family planning but practicing it was the major problem. There were no significant difference in the family planning methods adopted by married women in Anambra State based on their ages and parity level. Conclusion: Based on the findings and their implications, it was recommended among others, that there is need for there is need to create more awareness or sensitization on other methods of family planning which the women might not know. Key words: Family planning, reproductive health, married women, Anambra


Author(s):  
Akbar Zare Shahabadi ◽  
Marzieh Montazeri

Background: The foundation of a healthy community is based on the healthy communication between family members. In this regard, marital satisfaction is one of the important factors in strengthening the family relationships, which can be affected by the type of marriage as well as the family demographic and cultural components. Methods: This study was conducted on 120 married women in Taft. Participants were selected by systematic sampling method using Cochran formula. The research tools were Enrique Marital Satisfaction Questionnaire (1998) and a researcher-made questionnaire. Validity of the latter questionnaire was assessed using face validity and its reliability was confirmed by Cronbach’s alpha. Results: According to the results, the marital satisfaction of married women was in moderate level. Moreover, marital satisfaction was higher among the villagers (P-value = 0.006), non-familial marriages (P-value = 0.006), and housewives (P-value = 0.042) than other groups. Considering the type of marriage, forced marriage (P-value ≤ 0.50) showed a significant relationship with lack of life satisfaction; in other words, a higher degree of satisfaction was observed in unforced marriages. According to the regression analysis, four variables of couple’s age differences, education level differences, duration of marriage, and type of marriage (forced and unforced) explained about 43.5 percent of the dependent variable variations. Conclusion: Eventually, increase in the education level of couples decreased their life satisfaction; whereas, marital satisfaction increased by increase of age, duration of marriage, number of children. Moreover, marital satisfaction was lower in forded marriages.


2018 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 353-373 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saseendran Pallikadavath ◽  
Tamsin Bradley

SummaryDowry practice, women’s autonomy to use dowry (‘dowry autonomy’) and the association of these with domestic violence were examined among young married women in India. Data were taken from the ‘Youth in India: Situation and Needs Study’ carried out in six Indian states during 2006–07. A total of 13,912 women aged 15–24 years were included in the study. About three-quarters of the women reported receiving a dowry at their marriage, and about 66% reported having the ability to exercise autonomy over the use of it – ‘dowry autonomy’. Dowry given without ‘dowry autonomy’ was found to have had no protective value against young women experiencing physical domestic violence in India. While women’s participation in paid employment increased the odds of them experiencing physical domestic violence, women’s education and marrying after the age of 18 years reduced the likelihood of experiencing physical domestic violence.


2021 ◽  
pp. 208-251
Author(s):  
Lindsey Taylor-Guthartz

This chapter explores unofficial domestic customs. The least visible aspect of Jewish women's lives is the individual customs or practices they perform in a domestic or everyday context, many learnt from female relatives, and the part these play in their religious lives. Individual practices are often so automatic that women do not reflect on them. In some cases, they receive so little attention from rabbis or in popular Jewish literature that women themselves discount or denigrate them as 'superstitions', even as they practise them. There has been a decline in older practices, which are more likely to be identified as magical or superstitious by women operating partly within a Western worldview, whereas more pietistic practices have increased in number among young women with higher levels of formal Jewish education. Other factors that facilitate and shape change in women's religious lives include developing technology in the Western world, such as the replacement of domestic manufacture by industrial production, leading to the demise of customs associated with these technologies, and the growing possibilities offered by the Internet in spreading knowledge of recently invented or expanded customs. Traditionalist women, though principally Western in their education and thinking, are still inextricably linked to their Jewish identity, which often includes customs and practices for which they might struggle to find a rationale, but which they are committed to observing. These customs provide a fertile field for women to adapt and reinterpret existing practices, and to invent new ones that express their most urgent concerns and aims.


2016 ◽  
Vol 157 (20) ◽  
pp. 789-795
Author(s):  
Andrea Andrek ◽  
Éva Hadházi ◽  
Zoltán Kekecs

Introduction: Research measuring the effectiveness of communication during ultrasound examinations draw attention to its use in strengthening the bond between mother and fetus. Aim: Hungarian adaptation of the Maternal–Fetal Attachment Scale, which is the most commonly used tool for measuring intrauterine attachment. Method: 114 pregnant women in the second or third trimester filled out the Hungarian version of the Maternal–Fetal Attachment Scale and an application form. Results: The questionnaire showed excellent internal consistency, with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.87 for the total score. Married women scored significantly higher and scores increased as pregnancy progressed. Uncertainty surrounding the fetus’s gender influenced attachment in the negative direction. There was no significant relationship between attachment total scores and a number of psycho-social factors. Conclusions: In the family-centered prenatal care the Maternal–Fetal Attachment Scale is a suitable tool to analyze ultrasound screening situations that strengthen the bond between mother and fetus. Orv. Hetil., 2016, 157(20), 789–795.


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