Women's Empowerment or Disempowernent through Microfinance_Bengladesh.pdf

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O R I G I N A L A R T I C L E

Women’s Empowerment or Disempowerment

throughMicrofinance: Evidence from

Bangladesh

Isahaque Ali and Zulkarnain A. Hatta

School of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia

Women’s empowerment has been one of the declared goals of Bangladesh’s national development

program, and microfinance is playing a leading role in bringing about the realization of this pro-gram. Since one of the intended goals of microfinance is to empower women, this concept paper

attempts to investigate the success rate — does microfinance truly empower or is it a case of disem-

powering through “empowerment”? The effectiveness of microfinance today has been a debatable

subject in the economic and social work realms, in which it is considered a viable tool for women’s

empowerment. Although there are scores of studies that demonstrate that microfinance has a sig-

nificant impact on livelihood and improves the living standards of women by reducing poverty, this

paper contests those claims.

Keywords Bangladesh; microfinance; poverty reduction; women’s empowerment

doi:10.1111/j.1753-1411.2012.00066.x

Introduction

Women’s empowerment has been one of the top priorities of development agencies and

governments around the world, including Bangladesh. International aid donors, govern-

ments, scholars, and other development experts have paid much attention to microfi-

nance as a strategy capable of reaching women and involving them in the development

process. However, women’s empowerment in the development process has, up to now,

been viewed as the achievement of a “better deal” for women, with the concentration

mainly on women’s well-being (Sen, 2000).Bangladesh has been ranked 100th out of 128 countries in the 2007 Gender Gap

Index of the World Economic Forum. The index illustrates that labour force participa-

tion among women is 55% as compared with 88% for men, and women earn less than

half their male counterparts. The literacy rate among women is 31%; however, only 4%

of women undertake tertiary education (World Economic Forum, 2007). It has been rec-

ognized that, even in the developed countries, women continue to experience various

forms of discrimination in one form or another. In developing countries, gender disparity

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Isahaque Ali, School of Social Sciences, Universiti

Sains Malaysia, 11800, Penang, Malaysia. Email: [email protected]

© 2012 The Authors

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Asian Social Work and Policy Review 6 (2012) 111–121


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or low status of women has been recognized as a significant obstacle to equality and

development (World Economic Forum, 2007).

Presently, in Bangladesh many girls are sent to attend primary school, but completing

a high school education is still a challenge for them as they are usually married off before

the age of sixteen or drop out of school due to poverty (Bhusal, 2010). Boys are compara-

tively privileged compared with girls, but they too are forced to leave their education

early due to severe poverty and continue wandering around big cities in search of menial

employment (Bhusal, 2010). Similar realizations have resulted in the conclusion that

unless, women are economically, socially, and politically empowered, an equal and just

society remains a distant dream.

The concept of microfinance was developed by Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen and

nationalist Jonathan Swift. Their altruistic action was motivated by a concern to assist the

poor rural population to break out of their dependence on money lenders and improve

their welfare. Their principal purpose was to provide small loans with interest for short

periods. From the 1870s, microfinance institutions (MFIs) have expanded rapidly over a

large sector of the Rhine Province and other regions of the German States (Global Envi-

sion, 2006). In Bangladesh, the concept of microfinance was developed in 1976 by

Muhammad Yunus, a Bangladeshi economist, as a means of alleviation poverty and

improving the lives of the very poorest inhabitants in Bangladesh (Grameen Bank, 2012).

Against that backdrop, microfinance emerged as an attractive tool with the impres-

sive claim of empowering poor women at all levels. Microfinance is a small-scale loan to

poor women for income-generating activities with a view to helping them get out of pov-

erty within their family structures. If programs wish to empower women, they should be

grounded in a clear conceptualization of empowerment, rather than assuming that

programs are empowering. As a result, it is difficult to evaluate how programs might

help some women, leave some without help, and cause harm to others (McDermott &

Garofalo, 2004).

Problem statement

Women’s empowerment is conceptually complex and methodologically challenging to

measure and analyze. Measuring empowerment is not only a difficult task, but also a

recent phenomenon in the field of social sciences. It has a very relative meaning too. The

meaning, outcomes, and goals of empowerment differ according to cultural, regional,social, and political context. Yet, to date, neither the World Bank nor any other major

development agency has developed a rigorous method for measuring and tracking

changes in levels of empowerment. In the absence of such measures, it is difficult for the

international development community to be confident that its efforts to empower women

are succeeding (Malhotra, Schuler & Boender, 2002). It is even more worrying for

Bangladeshis to trust claims from certain quarters that microfinance is succeeding in

empowering women.

The majority of empirical studies do not measure the process element of empower-

ment (Latif, 2001; Osmani, 2007). Additionally, macro-level studies are especially weak

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on measuring agency and often do not employ a relevant conceptual framework

(Haymanot, 2007; Kurey, 2005; Zaid, 2008). Household-level studies have made signifi-

cant progress in conceptualizing broader, context-specific frameworks and in specifying

indicators that can be said to capture aspects of agency, but considerably more work is

required in this area. The lack of empirical research at “meso” levels presents an important

gap, as does the relative lack of rigorous research on policy and programmatic efforts.

The scope of empowerment here encompasses social, economic, political, child health

or welfare, household well-being, women’s health, and spiritual advancement among

individuals within the households as well as communities (Cheston & Kuhn, 2002). Anec-

dotal evidence suggests a substantive need to explore in greater depth the relationship

between microfinance structures and the issues of gender in development and empower-

ment related to microfinance (Armendiz & Roome, 2008). It is underscored that women’s

empowerment is needed to increase poor people’s access to opportunity, security, and

empowerment to enable economic growth and poverty reduction in Bangladesh.

Definition of women’s empowerment

There is general consensus that empowerment is a process that is manifested in more

than one dimension. The most frequently identified dimension is women’s absolute well-

being, where empowerment is seen as the process of improving the welfare of women and

girls, and is indicated by outcomes that measure current status with respect to literacy

and schooling, health and nutrition, labour force participation, contraceptive use, mobil-

ity, and ownership of clothing and assets. Another dimension is women’s relative

well-being, where empowerment is seen as the process of improving the position of women relative to men within the household, and is indicated by women’s involvement

in intra-household processes such as decision-making, control over household income

and assets, and control over loans taken. The biggest organization in Bangladesh that

represents this school of thought is Proshika, which believes that empowerment of poor

women is achieved through raising their consciousness, giving them training in organi-

zational and practical skills, supporting them with resources, and infusing them with the

confidence and determination necessary for taking action to improve both their social

and economics lives (Drake & Rhyne, 2002).

The microfinance institutions in Bangladesh are working for women’s empowerment

in order to reduce poverty. Women’s empowerment is the process by which the powerlessgain greater control over the circumstances of their lives. It means not only extrinsic con-

trol, but also a growing intrinsic capability; greater self-confidence and an inner transfor-

mation of one’s consciousness enable women to overcome external barriers to accessing

resources or changing traditional ideology, and monitoring and evaluating them, and

can create an environment that is conducive to women’s empowerment (Batliwala, 1994).

In this study women’s empowerment is defined as the achievement of expanded rights

and opportunities including education, economic self-reliance, ownership and inheritance

of property, political participation, and the elimination of all forms of gender-based dis-

crimination, violence, abuse, harassment, and exploitation (Harriet & Sen, 2003).

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Microfinance and women’s empowerment in Bangladesh

Microfinance is being promoted as an entry point in the context of a wider strategy for

women’s economic and sociopolitical empowerment, which focuses on gender awareness(Kessey, 2005). In addition, access to credit is considered to be an important ingredient

of empowerment, simply because it plays a crucial role in the process of developing liveli-

hood strategies for women given their responsibility in fulfilling both social and eco-

nomic roles in society (Kessey, 2005). Microfinance has become popular not only for its

alleged ability to combat poverty but also for its potential to empower the microfinance

client, especially those clients who are women (Sugg, 2010). In addition, the study of

Haymanot (2007) indicated that participation of women in a microfinance service has

had a significant impact on their livelihoods, enhanced their household decision making,

and improved other direct and indirect outcomes related to empowerment.

According to Ahmad (2006), approximately 1000 microfinance institutions and ser-vices are in existence and operational, serving 17 million active borrowers in more than

85,000 villages in Bangladesh. The largest microfinance sector reaches 37% of Banglade-

shi households, which is among the highest coverage in the world (Ahmad, 2006). How-

ever, the effectiveness of microfinance programs is not considered to improve the living

standards of the poor Bangladeshi women. A study by Mayoux (2005) claimed that mi-

crofinance does have the potential to significantly impact the lives of women by empow-

ering them. However, that is not an automatic consequence of women’s access to savings

and credit or group formation. In many cases, benefits may be marginal and women may

even be disempowered (Mayoux, 2005). Microfinance is not suitable for the majority of

poor women in Bangladesh. It can empower only those wealthier women who have acertain level of income, land, and assets and who have had no previous loans (Haque &

Yamao, 2008).

The study by Banerjee, Duflo, Glennerster and Kinnan (2009) asserted that micro-

finance for women has no impact on participants’ average monthly expenditure per capita,

health, education, or their decision making in India. A recent study by Shillabeer (2008)

in Bangladesh argued that microfinance created indebtedness and led to poverty traps

for poor women. The study of Sugg (2010) conducted with Bangladesh Rural Advance-

ment Committee (BRAC) clients showed a negative correlation between ownership of

assets and length of membership with the organization. BRAC beneficiaries reported that

they have to sell personal assets in order to repay their debts. In addition, in a study withGrameen Bank clients in Bangladesh, Sugg (2010) showed that 57% of female clients

saw a rise in spousal verbal aggression since the start of their loans, and a 13% rise in

both verbal and physical violence.

A study by Anderson and Baland (2002) ascertained that the most important motive

for women to join the Rotating Savings and Credit Association (ROSCA) saving pro-

gram was to keep the money away from their husbands. Thus, this finding provides evi-

dence that husbands misuse their spouses’ assets, and this induces new conflicts between

husbands and wives in the family. In addition, Mallick (2002) claimed that in some cases

the Grameen Bank minimizes its transaction costs by threatening women with “shame”,

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or using or condoning violence (both physical and verbal) as a mechanism for pressuring

women to make timely payments. MFIs prefer to lend money to wealthier women, rather

than poor women, because they can more easily repay the loans, and this helps ensure

the sustainability of the organisations. They regard poor women as too risky for microfi-

nance. Also, MFIs prefer to lend larger amounts of money because they can make a lar-

ger profit. Therefore, they discriminate against poor women by providing them with

smaller loans (Haque & Yamao, 2008; Swope, 2010).

Additionally, the study of Johnson (2004) showed that having women as a key partici-

pant in microfinance programs did not mean empowerment. On the other hand, microfi-

nance had some negative impacts on the family — it increased the workload for women of

running a business and caring for children (Cheston & Kuhn, 2002). Traditionally, in

Bangladesh, women take care of their children and the household work while the men

earn income for the family. More and more women are now entering the public work-

force to earn money and make their weekly repayments (Murdoch & Haley, 2002). This

creates an enormous double burden for many poor women in Bangladesh. In addition,

after getting the loan, women often give the borrowed money to their husbands, who then

spend it for their own purposes. When a wife asks her husband for the weekly loan repay-

ment, the husband may become angry and violent to his wife. Thus, the loan creates addi-

tional mental and physical harassment for poor women since they are liable for the

weekly repayment. In addition, many children are then forced to drop out of school to

work at the family business to increase household income and reduce the family’s pov-

erty. The study by Ertel and Rao (2006) claimed that, in spite of having access to credit,

some female microfinance clients did not have control over the loans contracted or the

income generated by their microenterprises. Microfinance institutions may put pressure

on field staff to achieve financial targets and ignore their social responsibilities, such as

professional and skill development training for poor women to empower them to build-

ing capacity, control their loans, reduce poverty, and improve their living standard

(Hulme & Arun, 2011).

Although access to credit and women’s empowerment are inextricably linked in much

of the international discourse on the impact of microcredit, within Bangladesh the major

policy thrust of microfinance institutions has not been women’s empowerment. However,

given the gender- and class-based nature of rural Bangladesh society, it is hardly surpris-

ing that the tremendous capacity of microcredit programs to reach poor women should

have important consequences for women’s empowerment (Mahmud, 2002). In addition,

the focus on female borrowers has promoted the idea that microfinance is a tool for gen-

der empowerment. Finally, the claim that the act of participation in microfinance pro-

grams is itself empowering produces contradictory evidence.

The study by Haque and Yamao (2008) established that the majority of microfinance

clients and their households lived in unhygienic and unhealthy environments. Malnutri-

tion and lack of knowledge pertaining to hygiene and physical illnesses were prevalent

among the clients and their households. The findings showed that 30% of the recipients

were financially wealthier, 81% were illiterate, about 95% lacked access to medical

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facilities due to shortage of money, 91% borrowed money from at least 2.74 microfi-

nance institutions, and 71% indicated that microfinancing had no impact on their lives.

Ullah and Routray (2007) established that 73% of microfinance recipients remained

below the poverty line and 74% were unemployed. It is also reported that Sufia Begum,

the first customer of Muhammad Yunus, died without food and basic needs. The first

village named “Jobra”, where his microfinance projects started in 1976, has the same

outlook and the level of poverty remains unchanged (Daily Amadershomoy, 2010).

Under these overt circumstances, it is vital to scrutinize the effectiveness of micro-

financing initiatives in women’s empowerment and poverty reduction, with special

reference to Bangladesh.

Social work and women’s empowerment

Empowerment has become a catchword in the field of development, with special refer-ence to poverty reduction and the political inclusion of marginalised groups such as

women (Kessey, 2005). Empowerment is used in the context of social work and educa-

tion where there is broad agreement that empowerment is a process, that it involves some

degree of personal development, but that this is not sufficient, and that it involves moving

from insight to action (Rowlands, 1997). From the social work view, empowerment

means assisting individuals, groups, or communities to enhance or restore their capacity

for social functioning, to solve their own problems and to create societal conditions

favourable to this goal. Women’s empowerment is an important goal of social work.

Therefore, social workers can provide the necessary protection and empower women to

control their lives and improve their living standards (Parsloe, 1996).Empowerment should be practised in all sectors of social work. Without empower-

ment, something basic is missing from social work practices (Steiner, 1975). Empowering

women involves the women themselves analyzing the sources of their problems, exploring

their needs and developing their own strategies for poverty reduction (Mayo, 2000).

In addition, the process of women’s empowerment creates self-maintaining, problem-

solving structures, stimulates wide interest and participation in community affairs, fosters

collaborative attitudes and practices among people, and enhances indigenous leadership

and local problem-solving capacity for poverty reduction (Rothman, 1964).

The process of women’s empowerment could be directed to individuals, families,

groups, organizations, or communities, and also to different levels of people’s lives inBangladesh. Before empowering groups, communities and organizations, it is essential to

develop a practice which empowers individuals. Individuals’ empowerment involves

taking power over their own lives, being able to influence each other, and bringing about

change for poverty reduction in Bangladesh (Croft & Beresford, 2000). However, an indi-

vidual’s empowerment is not effective without empowering groups, communities, and

organizations. Empowered groups can provide their members with a positive experience

for improving living standards. Empowering strategies offer people in communities ways

of improving their coping skills and self-confidence and may give them greater control

over their lives (Adams, 2003).

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Women’s empowerment is essential for poor communities and could help improve

access to resources by linking them with other groups through social movements or by

connecting them to others who can represent their interests in different arenas. However,

the empowerment process can be more effective for poverty reduction if it involves broad

coalitions between policy makers or government agents and active citizens (German

et al., 2008). Empowerment of women and their full participation on an equal basis in all

spheres of society, including participation in the decision-making process and access to

power, are fundamental for the achievement of equality, development, and poverty

reduction in Bangladesh (Dooren, 2007).

Women’s empowerment also helps to ensure a more equitable distribution of

resources and to improve the financial status of low-income communities (Gamble &

Weil, 1995). Community participation can empower people and offer more ownership,

and it also makes the development process more transparent and accountable (Dorsner,

2004). The concept of women’s empowerment is said to have its origin in the fight against

poverty among women in poor communities (Barry & Sidaway, 1999). Therefore, partici-

pation by local people in decision making may help empower women to reduce poverty

(Hardina, 2003).

People living in poverty are generally regarded as lacking normative and other know-

ledge about improving living standards, including lack of family planning, inability to

plan a budget, inadequate parenting skills, and lack of interpersonal skills (Nevo, 2005).

Community social workers may help their clients tackle wider problems arising from

poverty, including unemployment, poor housing, and inadequate health-care and social

services (Adams & Palgrave Macmillan, 2003). The community social worker should

educate and inspire poor women to be enterprising, autonomous, and innovative, as indi-

viduals and communities to help reduce poverty (Jordan, 2008).

The majority of poor women in Bangladesh are illiterate and they have little know-

ledge about making effective changes for themselves and their families, especially pov-

erty reduction (Encyclopaedia of Bangladesh, 2010). Hence, community social workers

could help to empowerment individual women, as well as families and communities, by

providing them with the skills they need to effect change for poverty reduction in Ban-

gladesh.

Community social workers could organize community members to identify problems,

identify community assets, locate resources, analyse the local power structure, assess

human needs, and explore other concerns related to women’s empowerment and poverty

reduction in Bangladesh (Ali & Hatta, 2010). In addition, community social workers can

also assist political parties to persuade the government and microfinance policy makers

to develop new policies or reverse existing policies; they may also be able to influence

those involved in the implementation of MFI programs, from local and international

human services institutions or organizations, to adopt new strategies to minimize the

issue of poverty in Bangladesh. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural

Organization (UNESCO) suggests that the full and genuine participation of poor and

vulnerable women in poverty assessments, planning and implementation of anti-poverty

programs, as well as monitoring and evaluation of impacts of these programs help to

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improve the living standards of poor communities, especially in Bangladesh (UNESCO,

2000).

Conclusion

Microfinance institutions in Bangladesh seem to assess the success of their programs

mainly in light of repayment rate and self-sustainability, whereas, the real impact on the

beneficiaries is not adequately prioritized. Although long-term microfinance beneficiaries

enjoy slightly improved chances of social mobility and have increased feelings of self-

worth, there is no significant improvement in securing an enhanced economic base and,

at the same time, the longstanding issues of gender disparity and powerlessness remained

unchallenged. Thus, the link between minimalist microfinance and women’s empower-

ment is not as strong as it is normally perceived. It is important that microfinance institu-

tions (MFIs) promote independent academic studies and research in order to verifyanecdotal claims. In addition, it has been clearly proven that a single intervention such

as microfinance cannot dramatically improve women’s empowerment or lives of

women who have historically been oppressed by the traditional patriarchal society in

Bangladesh. Minimalist microfinance seems to have many limitations and, thus, cannot

contribute effectively to the empowerment of poor women in Bangladesh. Like micro-

finance beneficiaries, it is important that donor agencies also recognize the deficiencies of

minimalist microfinance as a financial service to the poor and not have unrealistic expec-

tations. If microfinance is to succeed and provide more productive results, it should be

accompanied by a significant amount of skills training and educational opportunities for

poor women to help increase capacity building. In addition, integrated MFIs in coopera-tion with other non-government organizations (NGOs) can also promote the organiza-

tion and “empowerment” of the poor, particularly poor women, through a combination

of awareness raising, proper training for group members, and other social services for

capacity building towards sustainable community development.

As has already been realized by some microfinance practitioners, community social

workers, donor agencies and academic, alternative models of microfinance are needed in

the near future to reduce poverty and increase women’s empowerment. Women in

Bangladesh are facing great challenges at the family, community and state levels, ranging

from poverty, illiteracy, and irreligious patriarchy to sociopolitical exclusion. The

government should embark on a comprehensive programme for local women, focusingon enhancing their capacity building and increasing their productivity. This would enable

them to play a vital role in increasing their own sense of empowerment. Building capacity

is about putting people at the centre of development. It is about people realizing their

potential, increasing their choices and enjoying the freedom to lead better lives. Building

capacity of women in family and communities, so they can form partnerships with local

leaders and institutions to bring about social change, has been another effective means of

empowering women and engaging them in transforming their lives. Social development

activities based on adult education, and trade-related technical and vocational training

can enhance women’s income-generating activities and empower them to reduce poverty.

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Unfortunately, Bangladesh’s government programs do not have enough adequately

trained personnel for effective capacity building or to assist poor women in their empow-

erment process. If the government sets up a separate comprehensive training or educa-

tional unit intended for the poor, there is no doubt that more productive results will be

achieved and a meaningful process of empowering the poor will begin. The focus should

be on building capacity of poor women in Bangladesh, not merely on raising the income

of the poor. Capacity building involves more than simply stimulus assistance through

microfinance. This paper has presented sufficient evidence to show that microfinance has

fallen short of empowering the poor women of Bangladesh. The impressive claim that

microfinance empowers poor women at all levels has to be categorically qualified. What

is needed is an integration of efforts comprising several fronts, such as capacity building

of women. Microfinance in itself does not necessarily bring about capacity building. As

mentioned above, if programs wish to empower women, they should be grounded in a

clear conceptualization of empowerment, rather than assuming that programs are

empowering.

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