Rethinking women empowerment in rural Bangladesh: Male out-migration, left-behind wives, and changing gender roles
Although male migration from rural areas of Bangladesh to various destinations abroad has been a common practice, there is, however, a dearth of studies to document the impact of such male out-migration on the left-behind wives who are supposed to shoulder the overall familial responsibilities left...
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| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Social Sciences and Humanities Open |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590291125001524 |
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| author | M. Saiful Islam Md Fouad Hossain Sarker Shah Md Azimul Ehsan Md Salman Sohel |
| author_facet | M. Saiful Islam Md Fouad Hossain Sarker Shah Md Azimul Ehsan Md Salman Sohel |
| author_sort | M. Saiful Islam |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Although male migration from rural areas of Bangladesh to various destinations abroad has been a common practice, there is, however, a dearth of studies to document the impact of such male out-migration on the left-behind wives who are supposed to shoulder the overall familial responsibilities left by their husbands in a patriarchal society. How does an absent husband contribute to changing gender roles for the left-behind wives? What are the challenges women face while performing the daily responsibilities left by their husbands? Do women feel a stronger sense of belonging to the family and a sense of empowerment through performing public space activities and exercising their agency? This study revolves around these questions and examines how male out-migration abroad has contributed to changing traditional gender roles in rural Bangladesh, and thereby empowered women in the family. Drawing upon a mixed-method approach with both quantitative and qualitative data, the findings of this study suggest that women feel empowered through the process of engaging in various activities previously carried out by their husbands, such as cultivating and managing land (p = .001), maintaining a house (p = .001), taking care of domestic animals (p = .030), ensuring health facilities for the family members (p = .001), taking care of social responsibilities (p = .001), ensuring family security (p = .001), and managing financial matters (p = .002). This study also reveals that women feel empowered when they do not need to seek permission to go outside the home (p = .001). Moreover, women whose husbands send regular remittances feel significantly more empowered than women whose husbands do not or inadequately send remittances (p = .001). This study further identifies significant barriers that women encounter while pursuing everyday tasks outside the home. These barriers include, but are not limited to the husbands' lack of willingness to send remittances (p = .001), non-cooperation from family members (p = .027), negative social attitudes and pressure to comply with traditional gender norms (p = .001), and religious disapproval of exposing women to public space (p = .001). The findings of this study provide a new theoretical argument on how women could be empowered through the process of male out-migration and absent husbands, which opens up space for the women to come out of their private sphere and engage in public activities to meet everyday family necessities, thereby positively impacting on decision-making, authority exercising, a better sense of belonging to the family, and overall empowerment of the women. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-1c24a28d24a443f8ae46e8cb034b8c81 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2590-2911 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
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| series | Social Sciences and Humanities Open |
| spelling | doaj-art-1c24a28d24a443f8ae46e8cb034b8c812025-08-20T02:37:01ZengElsevierSocial Sciences and Humanities Open2590-29112025-01-011110142510.1016/j.ssaho.2025.101425Rethinking women empowerment in rural Bangladesh: Male out-migration, left-behind wives, and changing gender rolesM. Saiful Islam0Md Fouad Hossain Sarker1Shah Md Azimul Ehsan2Md Salman Sohel3Department of Development Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, BangladeshCentre for Global Migration Studies (CGMS), Department of Development Studies, Daffodil International University, Dhaka-1216, Bangladesh; Corresponding author. Department of Development Studies, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Daffodil International University, Dhaka-1216, Bangladesh.Business School, University of Edinburgh, UK; Jagannath University, Dhaka, BangladeshCentre for Global Migration Studies (CGMS), Department of Development Studies, Daffodil International University, Dhaka-1216, BangladeshAlthough male migration from rural areas of Bangladesh to various destinations abroad has been a common practice, there is, however, a dearth of studies to document the impact of such male out-migration on the left-behind wives who are supposed to shoulder the overall familial responsibilities left by their husbands in a patriarchal society. How does an absent husband contribute to changing gender roles for the left-behind wives? What are the challenges women face while performing the daily responsibilities left by their husbands? Do women feel a stronger sense of belonging to the family and a sense of empowerment through performing public space activities and exercising their agency? This study revolves around these questions and examines how male out-migration abroad has contributed to changing traditional gender roles in rural Bangladesh, and thereby empowered women in the family. Drawing upon a mixed-method approach with both quantitative and qualitative data, the findings of this study suggest that women feel empowered through the process of engaging in various activities previously carried out by their husbands, such as cultivating and managing land (p = .001), maintaining a house (p = .001), taking care of domestic animals (p = .030), ensuring health facilities for the family members (p = .001), taking care of social responsibilities (p = .001), ensuring family security (p = .001), and managing financial matters (p = .002). This study also reveals that women feel empowered when they do not need to seek permission to go outside the home (p = .001). Moreover, women whose husbands send regular remittances feel significantly more empowered than women whose husbands do not or inadequately send remittances (p = .001). This study further identifies significant barriers that women encounter while pursuing everyday tasks outside the home. These barriers include, but are not limited to the husbands' lack of willingness to send remittances (p = .001), non-cooperation from family members (p = .027), negative social attitudes and pressure to comply with traditional gender norms (p = .001), and religious disapproval of exposing women to public space (p = .001). The findings of this study provide a new theoretical argument on how women could be empowered through the process of male out-migration and absent husbands, which opens up space for the women to come out of their private sphere and engage in public activities to meet everyday family necessities, thereby positively impacting on decision-making, authority exercising, a better sense of belonging to the family, and overall empowerment of the women.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590291125001524Male out-migrationAbsent-husbandLeft-behind wivesChanging gender rolesWomen empowermentRural Bangladesh |
| spellingShingle | M. Saiful Islam Md Fouad Hossain Sarker Shah Md Azimul Ehsan Md Salman Sohel Rethinking women empowerment in rural Bangladesh: Male out-migration, left-behind wives, and changing gender roles Social Sciences and Humanities Open Male out-migration Absent-husband Left-behind wives Changing gender roles Women empowerment Rural Bangladesh |
| title | Rethinking women empowerment in rural Bangladesh: Male out-migration, left-behind wives, and changing gender roles |
| title_full | Rethinking women empowerment in rural Bangladesh: Male out-migration, left-behind wives, and changing gender roles |
| title_fullStr | Rethinking women empowerment in rural Bangladesh: Male out-migration, left-behind wives, and changing gender roles |
| title_full_unstemmed | Rethinking women empowerment in rural Bangladesh: Male out-migration, left-behind wives, and changing gender roles |
| title_short | Rethinking women empowerment in rural Bangladesh: Male out-migration, left-behind wives, and changing gender roles |
| title_sort | rethinking women empowerment in rural bangladesh male out migration left behind wives and changing gender roles |
| topic | Male out-migration Absent-husband Left-behind wives Changing gender roles Women empowerment Rural Bangladesh |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590291125001524 |
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