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. 2014;9(5):481-94.
doi: 10.1080/17441692.2014.904919. Epub 2014 Apr 25.

Women's empowerment and its differential impact on health in low-income communities in Mumbai, India

Lwendo Moonzwe Davis  1 , Stephen L Schensul, Jean J Schensul, Ravi K Verma, Bonnie K Nastasi, Rajendra Singh
Affiliations

Women's empowerment and its differential impact on health in low-income communities in Mumbai, India

Lwendo Moonzwe Davis et al. Glob Public Health. 2014.

Abstract

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.

Keywords: India; empowerment; health; pregnancy; women.

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