Women's empowerment and its differential impact on health in low-income communities in Mumbai, India.
This paper examines the relationship of empowerment to women's self-reported general health status and women's self-reported health during pregnancy in low-income communities in Mumbai. The data on which this paper is based were collected in three study communities located in a marginalised area of Mumbai. We draw on two data sources: in-depth qualitative interviews conducted with 66 married women and a survey sample of 260 married women. Our analysis shows that empowerment functions differently in relation to women's reproductive status. Non-pregnant women with higher levels of empowerment experience greater general health problems, while pregnant women with higher levels of empowerment are less likely to experience pregnancy-related health problems. We explain this non-intuitive finding and suggest that a globally defined empowerment measure for women may be less useful that one that is contextually and situationally defined.
a ICF International , Rockville , MD , USA.
Lwendo
L
Moonzwe Davis
Stephen L
SL
Schensul
Jean J
JJ
Schensul
Ravi K
RK
Verma
Bonnie K
BK
Nastasi
Rajendra
R
Singh
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008875:Middle Aged; D011204:Poverty Areas; D011209:Power, Psychological; D011247:Pregnancy; D036301:Qualitative Research; D057566:Self Report; D016387:Women's Health
India; empowerment; health; pregnancy; women