Gender, development and marriage / edited by Caroline Sweetman.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Sweetman, Caroline.

Oxfam GB.

Series:

Oxfam focus on gender

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Married women--Legal status, laws, etc--Developing countries.

Married women.

Married women--Developing countries--Social conditions.

Women's rights--Developing countries.

Women's rights.

Social conditions.

Married women--Legal status, laws, etc.

Developing countries.

Sex role--Developing countries.

Sex role.

Physical Description:

102 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxfam GB, [2003]

Summary:

Marriage is now acknowledged as an institution of key relevance to development policy, practice, and research. The vast majority of women and men get married at least once, and in many places life outside marriage is almost impossible for either sex to contemplate. Yet marriage as experienced by men is very different from marriage for women. This is because marriage is, in all male-dominated societies, an institution imbued with inequality, in which husbands and fathers rule the roost. Many cultures and legal systems still permit the control and punishment of 'unruly' wives, through violence ranging from genital mutilation to domestic beatings. Within marriage there exist clear roles for women and men to perform, as they create and maintain a family. The conventional assumption that these roles are natural and divinely ordained determines the inequality that prevails between men and women. It also helps to set the terms on which women participate in wider society, and colours perceptions of the political and economic contribution that they make.

This collection of articles traces the economic and social impact of inequality in marriage on women, men, and wider society, and considers its implications for development. Topics include child marriage; the link between women's economic contribution and equality within marriage; NGO responses to domestic violence; and the need to understand particular forms of marriage as a prerequisite for appropriate development policy.

Contents:

Early female marriage in the developing world / Robert Jensen, Rebecca Thornton 9

Rethinking culture and development: marriage and gender among the tea plantation workers in Sri Lanka / Amali Philips 20

Negotiating violence and non-violence in Cambodian marriages / Rebecca Surtees 30

Early marriage and poverty: exploring links and key policy issues / Naana Otoo-Oyortey, Sonita Pobi 42

Marriage, development, and the status of women in Kerala, India / Elizabeth Chacko 52

Child support as a strategic interest: la Asociacion de Madres Demandantes of El Salvador / Kelley Ready 60

Early marriage in eastern Nigeria and the health consequences of vesico-vaginal fistulae (VVF) among young mothers / Eno-Obong Akpan 70

Marriage, well-being, and agency among women / Meenakshi Thapan 77

Rethinking marriage and gender relations using evidence from the Pacific / Nancy Pollock 85.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

0855985046

OCLC:

53030511