Water development projects and marital violence: experiences from rural Bangladesh.

In this study, we explored the implications of a groundwater development project on women's workload and their experience of marital violence in a Bangladesh village. We believe that the project facilitated irrigation water but also that it resulted in seasonal domestic water shortages. Men used deep motorized pumps for irrigation, and women used shallow handpumps for domestic purposes. Many handpumps dried out, so women had to walk to distant wells. This increased their workload and challenged their possibilities of fulfilling household obligations, thereby increasing the risk of normative marital male violence against women as a punishment for their failure.

Gender and Women Development Initiatives in Bangladesh: A Study of Rural Mother Center.

Women-focused development initiatives have become a controversial issue connected with women's health and welfare. Previous studies indicated that development initiatives might increase women's workload, family conflict, and marital violence. This study explored the gendered characteristics of a development initiative Rural Mother Center in Bangladesh. Data incorporated policy document and interviews of social workers working with the mother centers in two northwest subdistricts. The qualitative content analysis of data emerged a general theme of expanding women's responsibility while maintaining male privilege explaining gendered design and practice of the development initiative. The theme was supported by two gendered categories related to the design: (a) essentializing women's participation; (b) maintaining traditional gender, and four categories related to the practice; (c) inadequate gender knowledge and skills; (d) reinforcing traditional gender; (e) using women for improving office performance; and (f) upholding male privilege. The study suggests that though women-focused development initiatives need to be embraced with gender-redistributive policies, the social workers should be trained for attaining gender-transformative motivation and competencies.

Men's views on gender and sexuality in a Bangladesh village.

The violation of women's sexual rights is a crucial public health problem, which is often related to the way people view gender and sexuality in a society. This study explores married men's typical views on gender, family, and sexuality in a rural Bangladesh context. Using a qualitative methodological approach, 10 married men were purposively included from a northwest village. The study revealed that married men's views about gender and sexuality are heavily influenced by patriarchal norms. Men think that a wife is the property of her husband and that the wife should obey her husband by giving sex to her husband whenever he wants. Men also think that if women fail to obey their husbands or please them sexually, men are allowed to beat their wives. Interviews explored that the violation of women's sexual rights might be closely related to men's gendered views about women's rights.