Abstract
Theoretical and empirical research provide conflicting views on whether women who do paid work are less at risk from violence by an intimate partner in low- and middle-income countries. Economic household-bargaining models propose increased access to monetary resources will enhance women's “agency” and hence their bargaining power within the household, which reduces their vulnerability to intimate-partner violence. Feminist theorists also argue, however, that culture, context, and social norms can impede women's ability to access and benefit from employment. This study uses semi-structured interviews conducted in 2009 to explore the implications of paid work among women market traders in Dar es Salaam and Mbeya, Tanzania. While in this sample, informal-sector work did not result in women being able to fully exercise agency, their access to money did have a positive effect on their lives and reduced one major source of conflict and trigger for violence: that of negotiating money from men.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 35-58 |
Number of pages | 24 |
Journal | Feminist Economics |
Volume | 21 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 2 2015 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Bargaining power
- Tanzania
- employment
- gender relations
- violence against women
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Gender Studies
- General Business, Management and Accounting
- Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
- Economics and Econometrics