Journal of Advanced Research in Women’s Studies
Journal of Advanced Research in Women’s Studies is a global forum for interdisciplinary research contributions in the area of feminism and women’s studies. JARWS welcomes submission of high-quality articles in all areas of women, culture and society, women and health, feminist methodologies, gender and public policy, transnational feminisms, women and migration, women’s leadership and social change, race and women. Submissions to JARWS cannot have been published previously in any other journal or is under consideration elsewhere. The Journal will consider submissions of the following article types: research articles, communication articles, review articles, perspective articles and others.
Mokslines Leidybos Deimantas (Diamond Scientific Publication)
The Collapse of Women’s Protection Centres/Shelters and Its Psychological Impact on Gender-Based Violence Survivors in Afghanistan
This study critically examines the psychological impact of the closures of Women’s Protection Centres (WPCs) in Afghanistan following the 2021 Taliban takeover. These shelters had long served as critical safe spaces for survivors of gender-based violence (GBV), providing emotional support, legal aid, and a path to recovery. However, the dismantling of WPCs under the Taliban regime has intensified survivors’ psychological distress, leaving many without access to essential services or protection. Using a feminist theoretical framework and intersectionality as a lens, this study investigates how survivors’ mental health has been affected by the loss of these vital resources. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 participants, including former WPC survivors, shelter staff, and donors, to explore the emotional toll of the closures. Thematic analysis of the data reveals widespread trauma, including anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and a profound sense of hopelessness among survivors. The findings also highlight the intersection of systemic neglect, patriarchal structures, and societal stigma in exacerbating survivors’ mental health challenges.This study emphasizes the urgent need for trauma-informed, survivor-centred care and the rebuilding of safe spaces to address the enduring mental health crisis among Afghan women. By amplifying the voices of survivors, this research calls for international and local stakeholders to take coordinated action to restore essential psychosocial services and uphold the rights of women in Afghanistan.
Copyright (c) 2025 Mitra Tanomand https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Unveiling the Sociolinguistic Significance of Feminine Personal Names in Ukrainian Culture: Exploring Grammatical, Historical, and Cultural Perspectives
This study explores the grammatical, historical, cultural, semantic, and social dimensions of feminine personal names in Ukrainian, employing term theory. The analysis reveals that merely adding feminatives as direct counterparts to “masculine” nouns can result in inconsistencies, leading to violations of grammatical and phonological norms and potentially diminishing the language’s expressive potential. Furthermore, this binary opposition offers little improvement in the visibility of women while failing to accommodate the identification of non-binary individuals or the representation of personified objects. As a potential resolution, we propose adopting a generalized gender, conceptualized as a logical “OR” combining the simple genders. This category, supported by linguistic practice analysis, would involve replacing masculine nouns in their generalizing function with corresponding inclusive lexical units.
Copyright (c) 2025 Maksym Vakulenko https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Communicating Diagnostic Preferences for a Chronic Urinary Tract Infection Among the Adult Female Population
Background: Patient stories regarding their experiences of a urinary tract infection, and the language used in dialogue, details the severity and long-lasting consequences of their infection. The aim of this study was to understand the language and dialogue that patients use when discussing diagnosis and management processes that should be embedded as standard practice for their diagnostic bladder journey among the adult female population. Methods: This study adopted a descriptive-interpretive qualitative research approach. Thirty semi-structured interviews were conducted as part of a wider study which focused on diagnosis and management of a urinary tract infection. Data were analyzed using NVivoTM software to identify thematic insight. Results: The main concept that emerged from language expressed through dialogue, was that the patients used collective words and phrases that demonstrated their need for effective diagnosis and management of their urinary tract infection. Diagnostic screening processes that would be straightforward and accurate was their main priority, and having a true record of infection from the urine specimen they produced was frequently articulated in the language they used. Conclusion: Understanding language expressed through dialogue when discussing diagnosis and management of a urinary tract infection are important aspects that should be embedded as standard practice among the adult female population diagnosed with a urinary tract infection.
Chronic, Dialogue, Infection, Language, Urinary
Copyright (c) 2025 Linda Collins, Mwanaisha Yawawa, Chrysi Leliopoulou, Theodora Stroumpouki https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Electra in the 1990s: The Electra Complex in 1990s Cinema
This article considers existing scholarship that applies Jung’s Electra complex within 1990s’ American cinema. The Electra complex was coined by Jung in 1913 as the female equivalent of Freud’s Oedipus complex (1899). The primary focus will be a cycle of 1990s Hollywood films that represents a teenage girl (teen fatale) and her relationship with an older man, either her own father or a father figure. The central argument of this article is that most male filmmakers unconsciously employ Oedipal anxieties within Electran narratives and use techniques such as a male gaze to sexualise the teen fatale. The research methodology used for this article include, contextual analysis, dialogue analysis and psychoanalysis to examine the subjectivity of the characters from a sociocultural and theoretical position. Ancillary methods have been used to examine the filmmaker’s conscious/unconscious motivations by reviewing interviews given at the time of release and on the film’s anniversaries.
Copyright (c) 2025 Emma S Paulley https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Fostering Youth Leadership to Address Gender-Based Violence in Papua New Guinea: Insights from Emerging Champions for Change
Gender-based violence is a critical public health issue impacting individuals, families, and communities across the world. This paper shares insights gathered from action research aimed at harnessing the aspirations of young people in Papua New Guinea (PNG) to initiate community-based actions against gender-based violence (GBV). The intervention model, co-designed and implemented with 25 university students who were engaged in a series of leadership sessions, was evaluated over six months in 2023. These ‘champions for change’ cultivated the confidence to leverage their influence for social transformation and to empower others in their communities. The findings highlight the significance of education and awareness initiatives and reveal gaps in resourcing and support to enable access to information, services, and opportunities among young people across the country. Achieving sustainable development and enhanced gender equality necessitates concerted efforts to upgrade educational infrastructure, augment teacher training, and advocate for inclusive curricula that respect the diverse cultural and linguistic contexts of PNG. This should be complemented by broader structural reforms, legal enforcement, and policy interventions in order to address chronic systemic inequalities.
Copyright (c) 2025 Sabira Kaphle, Rhonda Wohemani https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Stemming the Weaponry of Poverty and Patriarchy, and Dis-affirming Feminist Standpoints in Select Literary Texts
The weaponization of poverty and patriarchal over-lord-ship have combined to constitute factors of domination and marginalization of the female gender. Even the United Nations Organization Sustainable Development Goals, SDGS 1, 8 and 10, have identified these two issues as endemic factors of oppression against the girl-child and women. In addition, culture and social construct significantly uphold subjugation over women and affirming male supremacy. On the other hand, feminist critics and activists are constantly canvassing a shift from these patronizing perspectives. Literary texts such as Kaine Agary’s Yellow Yellow, (2006), Chika Unigwe’s On the Black Sister’s Street,(2010), and Abdulrazak Gurna’s Gravel Heart (2017), document poverty in financial standing; increasing inequalities, lack of decent work and material resources among women as factors predisposing them to intimidating transactional male-female sexual relationships, identifying incidences from different parts of Africa. Cursory reading of these texts portray varied forms of female abuse, whereas critical studies on the texts reveal gender violence, female objectification, patriarchal domination, bad leadership, This paper makes a qualitative analysis of the effect of poverty and intimidation on the selected female characters, using a social theoretical framework of Feminist Standpoint which is examined as a feminist epistemology that describes the master-slave dialectic of the genders. Specifically, the paper dismantles certain feminist agitations that throw up women as the vulnerable gender, and argues for the eradication of poverty and provision of decent work and economic growth to guarantee stronger self-affirmation on the side of the women.
Copyright (c) 2025 Ngozi Ulogu https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Analyzing Pain Modulation Through Analgesics and Devices in the United States: How Studies Historically Exacerbated the Gender Pain Gap
Pain medicine has a long history, with the Egyptians and Babylonians using bleeding and trepanning to modulate pain (Doleys). With the birth of pain medicine came the birth of inequities. In fact, in the United States, drugs may not be as effective for half of the population. This paper compiles studies conducted over 2 decades by pain medicine specialists on women's pain treatment, studying factors involved in women being treated differently for chronic/episodic pain. These studies tested different drug dosages and medical devices to highlight the lack of female data in analgesic studies, showing the impact of historic bias on female health. Findings indicate women have not been prioritized in pain studies, affecting their healthcare quality and drug efficacy in these populations. The importance of women-centric studies, clinical trials with more female data, and women in analgesic R&D is emphasized.
Copyright (c) 2024 Ahana Raghavan https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Muscle Memory: Exploring the Sociocultural Factors of Sexual Pain in People Assigned Female at Birth
According to the American Congress of Obstetrics and Gynecology, “nearly 3 out of 4 women have pain during intercourse at some time during their lives,” which is an under-researched issue, especially when it comes to factors outside of biology (2017). This research paper focuses on examining the most common sociocultural aspects that affect sexual pain in people assigned female at birth (AFAB) between the ages of 18 and 30. A survey was completed by 144 participants, 6 of whom participated in structured interviews. My analysis shows a strong impact of sociocultural factors on experiences of pain during sex in participants. 90.28% of participants had experienced pain during sex at least once in their lives. Seven themes were identified from the data: (1) situations that cause pain, (2) pain during first intercourse, (3) normalization of pain, (4) pain is not “a big deal,” (5) shame, (6) pressure, and (7) expectation of pain during sex.
Copyright (c) 2024 Grace Beilman https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Feminist Multimodal Analysis of the Dancing Scenes of Barbie 2023: Recontextualization as the 1960s and Female Self-Directed Individualism
This paper conducts a feminist multimodal analysis of the dancing scene of Barbie, a movie released in 2023, within the framework of Critical Discourse Analysis, to explore effective feminist discourses recontextualized as in the 1960s with Barbie introduced to the world alongside second-wave feminism (SWF) as a critical context contributing to feminist discourses. This paper examines the audio aspect, the song Dance the Night, and the visuals i.e., relations between characters and viewers, and interaction among characters in dancing. With van Leeuwen’s Visual Representation of Social Actors, this paper leverages grounded theory to initiate inductive content coding for the multimodality. The findings are multifold. Visually, viewing Barbies with more close shots from the frontal angles at the eye level from signifies equality, focus and empowerment in self-directedness. Interaction among characters incorporates inclusiveness by Barbies’ diversity in races, body figures and conditions, etc., and their internal exclusive dancing with their own autonomous agency exercised. Kens mostly function as facilitators of Barbies’ centralization and uniqueness symbolizing SWF’s universal womanhood. The 1960s witnessed females’ anxiety against traditional norms. In the audio aspect, therefore, the lyrical discourse reinforces female independence by emphasizing “dancing the anxiety away” and “taking risks to be her own self”.
Copyright (c) 2024 Hok Yin Lau https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Boosting Land Ownership for Nigerian Women Through the Provision of Sustainable Prefabricated Homes
This study examines the prospects of increasing land ownership for Nigerian women using prefabricated housing. Using theoretical data from desk research and case studies on innovative prefabrication samples, the study qualitatively investigates moribund attitudes to land ownership by women and proposes viable retention strategies for redress through the conception of prototyped prefabricated homes. The study reveals the conversion of locally available materials and low-carbon eco-friendly waste into sustainable prefabrication components potentially reduces building costs to support women’s land ownership and retention. The study seeks to expand existing prefabricated building practices in Nigeria; and raise awareness among architectural think-tanks and prefabrication providers about advances in prefabrication production for the convenience of potential women landowners. The study recommends the dissemination of findings to designers, prefabrication providers, housing policy-makers and housing study researchers who are working to make the ownership of land assets more inclusive for women.
Copyright (c) 2024 Ebelechukwu O Enwerekowe, Sunnom V Ibrahim, Ann M Katyen, Michael O Ajufoh https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Challenging European Identity: Representations of Female Transnational Experiences in Marrón by Rocío Quillahuaman
This paper examines how the representations of female experiences in Marrón, a transnational Life Writing text written by Rocío Quillahuaman, challenge a hegemonic European identity. This European identity was forged after centuries of cultural productions, especially narratives, that vouched for its superiority. In our globalized world today, transnational subjects, who mobilize for varied reasons, face discriminatory legislations and unfair bureaucratic procedures based on their backgrounds and affiliations. Although identities may benefit a sense of belonging and camaraderie that are part of living in societal structures, the fact that a hegemonic European identity has been used to discriminate needs to be contested. To accomplish this contestation, the research’s method encompasses a close reading of the text with a thematic deductive analytic approach to bring forth the importance that transnational narratives, especially those written by Brown women, have in the new modes of identity construction. Through the representations of female transnational experiences, which I referred to as: 1) the monolingual transnational female subject, 2) the displaced transnational female subject, and 3) the unrepresented transnational female subject, this paper argues in favor of a fluid transnational identity construction that is context dependent and malleable through one’s lifetime and physical (dis)placement.
Copyright (c) 2024 María Auxiliadora Castillo Soto https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Mapping Grassroot Women’s Representations in Academic Research on the Women, Peace and Security Agenda in the Global South
Several feminists and academic scholars have written extensively on implementing the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda and how it has been localized in conflict and post-conflict settings. In the same light, the rising inquiry on the connection of academic writing to empirical studies provides resolution to how WPS agenda could be localized. The objective of this paper is to conduct an exploratory mapping of existing literature on how grassroots women are represented in the academic literature on the localization of the WPS agenda in the Global South. Using a thematic method of analysis, this mapping exercise identified four recurring themes across the academic literature namely the multiple interpretations of ‘grassroots women’ in the Global South, grassroots women and discursive construction of “women participant” in the WPS agenda, hierarchy formation in the representation of grassroots women within CSOs, and gender essentialism and stereotypical portrayal of grassroots women. On the one hand, the discursive and institutional construction of women’s participants identifies women as “non-participants” in the WPS agenda. On the other hand, they constitute the bottom layer of a participant hierarchy, making it difficult to reach meaningful participation. Beyond this institutional and discursive interpretation, we map women’s representation in gender essentialist stereotypes portraying them in their reproductive and caregiver identities. Connecting with critical feminist epistemologies and post-colonial feminisms, our results problematize the unequal power relations between the researcher and the researched as well as the participants themselves. We share concerns that the researchers' power to represent and interpret grassroots women and their engagement is often unchecked and unmitigated.
Copyright (c) 2024 Piumi Denagamage, Grace Amarachi Lekwauwa, Adriana Mayela Hurtado-Bautista https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Promoting Women's Well-Being Through Socially Sustainable Urban Transport: A Developing Country Study
This study delves into the intricate intersection of sustainable urban transport planning, gender perspectives, and their profound implications for women's well-being. Drawing from comprehensive literature reviews and employing the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), the research investigates the complexities of women's mobility experiences and the design of transportation systems in the context of the city of Amman, Jordan. The objectives of the study encompass a nuanced examination of gender-conscious assessments within urban transport planning, emphasizing the non-neutral nature of transportation systems. By addressing the diverse travel patterns, responsibilities, and constraints faced by women, the research advocates for a departure from one-size-fits-all approaches. The study underscores the transformative potential of integrating women's voices, needs, and preferences in planning processes, paving the way for inclusive, equitable, and well-being-oriented urban transport systems. The AHP methodology involved surveying 38 stakeholders and decision-makers in Amman, Jordan, utilizing a structured questionnaire. The survey focused on key accessibility, safety, and livability indicators derived from stakeholder perceptions. These indicators, quantified through AHP, include factors such as the weighted annual adult transit pass cost, types of transport options available, safety concerns like air pollution emission and fatality rates, and various livability indicators encompassing citizen satisfaction, infrastructure investment, and mobility space usage. The findings reveal critical insights into the impact of gender on mobility patterns and preferences, unearthing gender disparities that necessitate urgent attention. The study's data, based on stakeholder perspectives, underscores the need for interventions that break down barriers and amplify opportunities, thus transforming transportation networks into enablers of women's empowerment and social participation. In conclusion, this research advocates for gender-sensitive sustainable urban transport planning as an imperative rather than an aspiration. By emphasizing stakeholder engagement, mitigating cultural biases in indicator selection, and strengthening data collection and management, the study lays the groundwork for transformative urban transport systems. Ultimately, this work positions cities that prioritize women at the center of their transport planning endeavors as pioneers in creating truly sustainable, inclusive, and transformative urban environments.
Copyright (c) 2024 Mohammad Thaher https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Violence against Deaf Women from an Intersectional Framework in Mexico
This research aimed to analyse the association between violence with linguistic knowledge in Mexican Sign Language (LSM) and sociodemographic data of Mexican Deaf women. To collect data from an intersectional framework, this study applied an opportunistic and chain sampling of 46 Deaf women from different areas of Mexico. Methods included in-person and remote interviews. Forty-one per cent of women indicated that they had been victims of abuse by their partner. In comparison, 73.9% of women had suffered some abuse in schools, and 39% of women had been victims of sexual abuse. The analyses with Spearman bivariate correlation showed that as the LSM learning age of the Deaf women increased, the levels of labour abuse (rs = .50, p < .0001), violence in a bank (rs = . 51, p < .0001), violence in school (rs = .56, p < .0001), and violence by an interpreter (rs = .45, p < .01) increased too. Results also revealed that a more excellent LSM family knowledge of LSM is moderately related to less labour abuse (rs = -.53, p < .0001), violence in a bank (rs = -.45, p < .01), violence in school (rs = -.43, p < .01), violence by an interpreter (rs = -.39, p < .01), and with lower magnitude to institutional violence (rs = -.37, p < .05).
Copyright (c) 2023 Journal of Advanced Research in Women’s Studies
This article investigates the intricate relationship between race, gender, and identity within the domain of painting. It delves into the historical depiction of women from diverse racial backgrounds, aiming to shed light on the intersectional experiences and challenges encountered by women of colour in the art world. Through an examination of prominent artworks and an analysis of their social and cultural contexts, this research seeks to enhance our comprehension of how race and gender intersect in artistic representation. The study employs a multifaceted research methodology, including a thorough literature review, visual analysis of selected paintings, socio-cultural contextualization, and an intersectional analysis. The results of the study reveal a historical pattern of underrepresentation and misrepresentation of women of colour in painting, characterized by Eurocentric beauty standards, exoticization, and objectification. However, the analysis also uncovers instances where artists have challenged these stereotypes and presented more diverse and empowering representations. By highlighting these findings, the research emphasizes the importance of fostering inclusivity and appreciation for the diverse voices and narratives of women in painting, ultimately contributing to a more equitable and diverse art world.
The Comparison of the Beginnings of Feminism in Spain and China
This comparative study aims to explores the origins of feminism in Spain and China. After examining the early stages of feminism in both countries, common aspects and differences emerge as a result of distinct social, political, and cultural conditions that shape the identity of each nation. To understand the beginnings of feminism, it is necessary to delve into the past when the concept of feminism did not yet exist, but there were voices that began to demand a different way of considering and treating women. In the case of Spain, notable pioneers such as María de Zayas Sotomayor have been selected, and also two key aspects, female education and women's suffrage, to comprehend the beginnings and their chronological evolution. Likewise, when considering China, apart from examining thinkers like Li Zhi in the 16th century, attention should be directed to the late 19th century to observe the development of feminism in areas that align with the Spanish context, such as women's education, as well as other initial feminist movements shaped by the unique circumstances faced by women in China. Overall, this study sheds light on the historical trajectories of feminism in Spain and China, offering insights into their shared and distinctive characteristics.
Copyright (c) 2023 Journal of Advanced Research in Women’s Studies https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Women as “The Fittest” for a New Post-Pandemic World Order: Christina Sweeney-Baird’s The End of Men
As a major invisible global threat causing unprecedented disruptions and restrictions in daily life all over the world, COVID-19 pandemic has been among the most popular subject matters of contemporary fiction. At this point, the first work of fiction focusing on COVID-19 is Lawrence Wright’s The End of October (2020), in which coronavirus is fictionalised as the Kongoli breaking out in Indonesia and spreading all over the world. Elaborating on the effects of the virus on daily life, Wright puts emphasis on the need for global solidarity to combat the virus and save the global society. However, different from Wright’s work, Christina Sweeney-Baird discusses the issue of pandemic, reinterpreting COVID-19 from a futuristic perspective, envisaging a post-pandemic world order dominated by women, with men’s death due to a lethal virus showing its effects all over the world in her debut novel, The End of Men (2022). In the work, the deaths of Fraser McAlpine, Catherine’s husband, Anthony and the wealthy Mr Tai signify men’s failure in adaptation to circumstances of the pandemic, while women’s survival, the domination of once male-dominated jobs by women, Catherine’s solo impregnation by donor sperm and the use of apps for dating and love just between women embody females as the “fittest species” for survival to bring a new world order dominated by women. Thus, Sweeney-Baird’s work invites reading for the evolutionary transformation of the global society due to a lethal pandemic from male-dominated to female-dominated system with reference to Darwin s theory of evolution.
Women’s Dilemmatic Constraints in Emerging Second-Wave Feminism, Heideggerian Ambivalence and Oscillation between Authenticity and Inauthenticity
This paper adopts Heidegger’s philosophy, its authenticity and inauthenticity in particular, to analyze ambivalent or even conflictual representations of women in emerging second-wave feminism. During the consciousness-raising stage of second-wave, women’s consciousness-raising enabled their struggles for feminist ways of living, while patriarchal society’s struggles against feminism were commonly witnessed to impose enormous constraints on women with consciousness raised, who were thirsty for employment but cringed from leaving homes to enjoy rights in the public sphere. This problem of “getting out” and “getting back” is explained by Heidegger’s existential (in)authenticity, especially the oscillation, with reference to humans’ existential structures. Authentically, to strive for economic independence, women as Dasein with feminist consciousness raised were encouraged to speak up for themselves to reclaim the long-lost authentic “Self of one’s own” by confronting the patriarchal oppression of “The They”. However, due to social constraints which exacerbated women’s fear of confrontation, women chose to live by the inauthentic status quo in average everydayness with full absorption where women largely gave up on reflecting on assigned domestic roles and on taking responsibility for feminist life-planning. This paper argues that volatile and oscillatory transitions between authenticity and inauthenticity among women constituted the ambivalent representations of struggling women, existentially due to first the temporariness of authenticity and strong pulling power of inauthenticity in the less influential emerging second-wave to render authenticity ineffective, and second the unavoidable existence of the powerful influence of “The They” – as ontologically Being-with – as patriarchal those on women to draw them back to homes.
Coping with Motherhood and Education: Revealing Strategies of Student Nursing Mothers in Distance Education Programs in the Upper West Region, Ghana
This study explores the social and psychological coping strategies employed by nursing-mother students to manage the challenges of balancing their education, childcare, and family responsibilities. A case study design was employed. It adopted purposive sampling technique to select 10 respondents for interview. Semi-structured interview guide was used for the collection of data. The data were analysed using thematic analysis with the aid of Dedoose analysis software. The study found that nursing-mother students employed various social and psychological coping strategies to manage the challenges of balancing education, childcare, and family responsibilities. Socially, they increased contact hours with their children, sought help from family members, prioritized essential activities, and addressed conflicts through effective communication. Psychologically, they relied on effective communication, motivation to succeed in exams, additional studying, peer-teaching, and technology. Sleep was used as a last resort for psychological calming. These strategies helped them adjust to societal demands while continuing their education. To support nursing-mother students, two recommendations are proposed: the management of UCC study centers in the Upper West Region should establish supportive peer networks where they can share experiences and find emotional support, and integrate stress management workshops to equip them with coping strategies for balancing their responsibilities and promoting well-being.
Exploring the Role of NGOs in Addressing Gender-Based Violence Against Women
This research explores the role of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in addressing Gender-based Violence (GBV) against women through a case study of NGO Shakti Shalini located in Delhi, India. There are four aspects of the NGO's operation that are examined: 'Pehchaan' - the shelter home, Crisis Intervention and Counseling services, Community Outreach Programs, and 'Kushalta Vikas Kendra' (Skill Development Centre). This research argues that NGOs can become grassroots agents of peace as they develop a sense of familiarity and closeness with the residents in the locality in which they operate. Due to this, a relationship of trust develops between the NGO and the residents, and this makes them better equipped to work on issues related to gender discrimination through direct interaction with the residents in its Community Outreach Programs. Women who came in contact with the NGO have shared their personal journeys of transformation into more confident and strong beings; this demonstrates the positive impact of NGOs in addressing the issue of violence against women. The NGO’s informed and well planned intervention not just in the aftermath of a case but also at a preventive stage has been studied. This research employs a mixed-methods approach to investigate the role of NGOs in addressing gender-based violence against women. The primary research is based on a case study of NGO Shakti Shalini in Delhi, India. Multiple methods of data collection were utilized, including participation observation, structured open-ended interviews, and unstructured interviews. The use of multiple methods allowed for data triangulation, enhancing the validity and reliability of the findings. This approach facilitated a comprehensive exploration of the research topic, providing different perspectives and increasing overall knowledge about the phenomena under investigation. In addition to primary research, secondary research in the form of literature review was conducted. A primary focus of this research is to understand how structural violence that manifests itself in uneven development affects women differently than men. It also explores ways that the government and civil society can collaborate in preventing GBV.
Women Owned MSMEs in the Greater Male’ Region: An Exploratory Study on Their Level of Economic Empowerment
Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) is a flourishing sector in the Maldives, with a significant number of women participating in such businesses to support their livelihoods. The purpose of this study is to analyze the impact MSMEs have on women’s economic empowerment in the Greater Male’ Region (GMR) and describe the challenges faced by women to maintain and expand their businesses. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews with 15 women who own a registered business in GMR, and common patterns in datasets were identified using a thematic analysis. Similar to the literature reviewed, women face several challenges in acquiring resources for business operations and face limitations due to factors affecting their level of economic empowerment. The findings show that although factors affecting economic empowerment are not fully achieved, women continue to overcome hurdles given the financial benefits and individual autonomy they gain by being a part of this sector.
An Exploratory Study on the Maternity Leave Policy and Normative Discrimination in the Greater Male’ Region
Literature has contemplated the discourse regarding discrimination against working mothers in the workplace from various angles. While contemporary studies consider the implications of maternity-related policies, this has not been studied locally. This study aims to identify if and how working mothers in the Maldives face normative discrimination due to the maternity leave policy, the motherhood penalties which ensue, and its contribution to the maternal wall, through the lens of patriarchal ideologies and gender roles. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 8 working mothers between the ages of 25 to 40 who have had at least one child after the maternity leave policy for civil servants was revised in 2019. A thematic analysis was conducted to evaluate the impact of the maternity leave policy for civil servants. The findings of this study demonstrate that preconceived gender stereotypes and patriarchal ideologies motivates a cycle of discrimination.