Employment, empowerment, and spousal violence on women in developing countries

Abstract

Although female labor force participation is expected to empower women and enhance their well-being, it could generate unintended consequences, especially where the prevailing culture considers female employment a challenge to male dominance. The existing empirical studies in developing countries suggest that female employment tends to increase the risk of spousal violence against them, rather than improving their bargaining power. However, the existing studies are limited in that their conclusions are often based on correlational, not causal, inference. More studies are needed that exploit exogenous variations in female work status to identify a clear-cut causal relationship between their employment and spousal violence. At the same time, policies that promote female empowerment through employment should take a sophisticated approach that can minimize cultural resistance.