Evidence of women’s empowerment in India: a study of socio-spatial disparities |
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Authors: | Kamla Gupta P Princy Yesudian |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Migration and Urban Studies and National Family Health Survey, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Deonar, Mumbai, 400 088, Maharashtra, India;(2) National Family Health Survey (NFHS-2), International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Deonar, Mumbai, 400 088, Maharashtra, India |
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Abstract: | Various national and international communities have addressed women’s issues and taken various efforts to empower them so
as to enhance their social and health status and involve them in developmental activities. The Indian DHS survey (National
Family Health Survey, 1998–1999) provides an opportunity to study women’s empowerment in India. The survey collected information
on several dimensions of women’s empowerment from 90,303 ever-married women (ages 15–49), from all the states of India. Utilizing
these data sets, four indices – household autonomy index, mobility index, attitude towards gender index and attitude towards
domestic violence index – are constructed to measure the different dimensions of empowerment. Using these indices, the spatial
and socio-economic and cultural disparities that exist within India are analyzed. Finally, an attempt is made to identify
some important determinants for women’s empowerment using multiple logistic regression analysis. The results show that at
the national level, 43% of the women have high household autonomy; 23% of the women have high freedom to move outside their
home; 40% of the women have no gender preference attitude; and only 43% of the women defy domestic violence. But there are
significant divergences in these indices of women’s empowerment across the different states and socio-economic and cultural
settings within India. Women’s educational levels emerged as an important predictor for all the four dimensions of women’s
empowerment. Additionally, media exposure and age have emerged as the important predictors for some dimensions of woman’s
empowerment.
This paper was presented by Prof. Kamla Gupta at the International Geographical Union Conference (IGU), held in Canada, 2002. |
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Keywords: | woman status empowerment autonomy ideology and mobility |
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