Empowerment of rural women in Bangladesh

Conducting any research on women’s empowerment in order to reduce poverty as well as promote gender equality is of utmost significance in the context of Bangladesh as well as elsewhere. This book contains empirical research findings from a study conducted in Bangladesh to highlight the marginalisation of rural women at household level. It examines the nature and extent of rural women’s empowerment and the basic socio-economic factors influencing it. Six constructs of women’s empowerment in three dimensions were chosen to develop a cumulative empowerment index (CEI). A stepwise multiple regression was also performed to explore the effects of several socio-economic factors on women’s empowerment. The study concludes that education, training, media exposure and spatial mobility of rural women have the potential to empower them. Specific interventions and coordinated efforts by the government, non-government and women’s organisations as well as rural society for the advancement of rural women’s empowerment sum up the strategy proposed in this book.