Transcript Underwood GPCA SBCC Addis 01292016 final

Gender, power, and
communicative action:
Qualitative findings from
selected Nepali communities
Carol Underwood, Zoé Hendrickson, and Ron Hess
Nepal HC3 Project
February 2016
Presentation Outline
• Background and context
• Integrating communication and gender
theory
• The Nepal HC3 Project
• Methods
• Findings
• Significance and implications
• International and domestic
attention to contraceptive
availability, accessibility,
and utilization in Nepal1,2
• Contraceptive use
remains lower among the
young married cohort,
migrants, rural
populations, and couples
from marginalized and
disadvantaged groups3,4
Image from: http://mesa.ucdavis.edu/files/pictures-staff-faculty-flagsmaps-etc/pictures-of-the-maps/south-asia-map.gif/view
Background and context:
Nepal
Background and context:
Family planning decisions in
Nepal
• Role of communication: Greater partner
communication and joint decision-making
associated with greater contraceptive use3,5-8
• Gender norms, gender preferences, and
expectations of women’s roles also influence
reproductive decision-making9-12
Habermas and communication
• Strategic
communication vs.
communicative
action12,13
• Communicative
action as the
pursuit of
consensus
Image from: Habermas, 1974; Jacobson & Storey, 2004
Connell and the theory of
gender and power
• Three organizing dimensions of gender
relations in the family/household14
– Labor: “Allocation of particular types of work to
particular categories of people” (p. 99)
– Power: “Relations of power that act as a pattern of
constraint on social practice” (p. 107)
– Cathexis: Structure organizing emotional
attachments to people, particularly relations
between men and women and
masculinity/femininity
Integrating communication and
gender theory
• Communicative action provides a lens
that moves beyond labor, power, and
cathexis to examine how mutual
understanding and consensus construct
and/or reconstruct gender relations in a
family or household
The Nepal HC3 Project
• Multi-component, four-year project
(2013-2017)
• Intervention includes integrated media,
social media, community events
Map of districts in Nepal
Humla
Darchula
Bajhang
Bajura
Baitadi
Dadeldhura
Doti
Kanchanpur
Achham
Kalikot
Dailekh
Mugu
Jumla
Dolpa
Mustang
Jajarkot
Kailali
Rukum
Manang
Surkhet
Myagdi
Salyan
Bardiya
Rolpa
Pyuthan
Banke
Dang
Gorkha
Baglung
Kaski
Parbat
Gulmi
Syangja
Arghakhanchi
Lamjung
Rupandehi
Nuwakot Sindhupalchok
Tanahu
Palpa
Kapilbastu
Rasuwa
Nawalparasi
Chitawan
Dhading Kathmandu
Dolakha
Bhaktapur
Solukhumbu
Sankhuwasabha Taplejung
Kavrepalanchok
Lalitpur
Ramechhap
Makwanpur
Formative research districts
Okhaldhunga
Khotang Bhojpur
Sindhuli
Parsa
Bara
Sarlahi
Udayapur
Rautahat
Mahottari
Dhanusa
Siraha
Saptari
9
Terhathum
Panchthar
Dhankuta
Sunsari Morang
Ilam
Jhapa
Formative research methods
• Sixty in-depth interviews on attitudes, norms,
experiences, and processes that influence
contraceptive use
• Participants:
–
–
–
–
–
–
Unmarried women and men,
Married women and men
Mothers-in-law
Migrants
Health workers and FCHVs
Influential community members
Analysis methods
• Multi-national research team (US- and
Nepal-based individuals) worked to
develop coding framework using a priori
and inductive coding
• Thematic analysis of English transcripts
performed in ATLAS.ti
Findings: Sexual division of labor
“Wife makes the decision related to raising the children .
. . She takes decision right from their care to every other
thing. I only bring the materials to the house.” (Married
man, Banke)
“My wife does household work. . . . I take such
decisions [on expenditures for children] according to my
judgment, not spending extravagantly.” (Man from
disadvantaged group, Siraha)
“The female is similar to that of the male. She can
engage in a job and make her career. She has the right;
and she is not here just to have babies and cook and
take care of the family.” (Migrant man, Banke)
Findings: Power inequities
A: “In my experience, it is the husband who decides. It
is the husband who gives either trouble or happiness. . .
. “If [women] worked according to their own interest,
husband comes with the stick and punishes them.”
(Male health worker, Banke)
“Whatever husband says, wife does accordingly
[regarding contraception].” (Unmarried woman, Siraha)
“In my home I have a job so I have more rights. But in
some houses there are women working more than men.
In some houses the women will have more rights.”
(Married man, Banke)
Findings: Power equity
“In our Muslim community . . . if the matter between them
comes to a conclusion and they both are positive for the
conclusion, then they can do that thing, otherwise they can’t
do it… We have that rule in our religion.” (Migrant man 1,
Banke)
“[Decisions are] not only taken by husband now. Now most of
the wives are understanding, and it happens through
agreement. In the past men used to tell their wives to do.
Males did not [use contraception]. But now if the woman is
weak [so cannot use contraception], she tells her husband to
do. Everything is based on agreement.” (Influential man,
Syangja)
Cathexis
“What kind of [husband]? (Laughing). One who fulfills my
needs and wants, understands me, cooperates, and
makes decision together.” (Unmarried woman, Syangja)
“If both husband and wife suggest to each other, they can
live with happiness and love throughout the life.”
(Influential man, Banke)
“There should be trust between husband and wife. If we
lose that trust, we lose our wealth, we lose our home, and
we lose everything.” (Migrant man, Syangja)
Findings: Communicative
Action
“If I do so on my own [make a decision] it would hurt my wife. It
would be a forceful and one-sided decision. That’s why we decide
collectively in everything not only in the matter of children.” (Migrant
man, Siraha)
“There is good understanding. If he finds anything good, he shares
with me, and vice-versa. . . There is good agreement with my
husband. We work in coordination. What else?” (Woman from
disadvantaged group, Banke)
“Taking the decision together helps to keep the couples happy and
see other options of the subject as well.” (Man from disadvantaged
group, Syangja)
Summary of Findings
• Mutual trust, understanding, and empathy
• Accounts of decision-making often varied
• Gendered divisions of labor and power were
reported, but participants’ emphasized that
joint decisions and communication about
family planning and other topics with partners
was increasingly important
Significance and implications
• We often assume that household gender dynamics
are characterized by strategic action and driven by
power imbalances and unequal divisions of labor that
perpetuate inequities between men and women
• Our findings from select communities in Nepal
suggest that although gendered divisions of
power/labor exist, partners are motivated to achieve
mutual understanding and agreement regarding
family planning and reproductive decisions
Namaste!
References
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Shrestha, D. R., Shrestha, A., & Ghimire, J. (2012). Emerging challenges in family planning programme
in Nepal. Journal of Nepal Health Research Council.
FP2020. (2015 March 16). Nepal: Commitments, Progress & Transparency. Retrieved from
http://www.familyplanning2020.org/entities/129.
Ministry of Health and Population (MOHP) [Nepal], New Era, and ICF International Inc. (2012). Nepal
Demographic and Health Survey 2011. Kathmandu, Nepal: Ministry of Health and Population, New ERA,
and ICF International, Calverton, Maryland.
Khanal M.N., Shrestha D.R., Panta P.D., and Mehata S. (2013). Impact of male migration on
contraceptive use, unmet need and fertility in Nepal. Further analysis of the 2011 Nepal Demographic
and Health Survey. Calverton, Maryland, USA: Nepal Ministry of Health and Population, New ERA, and
ICF International.
Link, C. F. (2011). Spousal communication and contraceptive use in rural Nepal: an event history
analysis. Stud Fam Plann, 42(2), 83-92
Yue, K., O'Donnell, C., & Sparks, P. L. (2010). The effect of spousal communication on contraceptive
use in Central Terai, Nepal. Patient Educ Couns, 81(3), 402-408. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2010.07.01
Sharan, M., & Valente, T. W. (2002). Spousal communication and family planning adoption: Effects of a
radio drama serial in Nepal. Int Fam Plan Perspect, 28(1), 16-25. doi: 10.2307/3088271
Acharya, D. R., Bell, J. S., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E. R., & Regmi, P. R. (2010). Women's
autonomy in household decision-making: a demographic study in Nepal. Reproductive Health, 7, 15.
References, continued
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Asian Development Bank (ADB). (2010). Overview of Gender Equality and Social Inclusion in Nepal.
Mandaluyong City, Philippines: Asian Development Bank.
Rai, P., Paudel, I. S., Ghimire, A., Pokharel, P. K., Rijal, R., & Niraula, S. R. (2014). Effect of gender
preference on fertility: cross-sectional study among women of Tharu community from rural area of
eastern region of Nepal. Reprod Health, 11(1), 15.
Uprety, S., Jha, N., Poudel, I. S., Pokharel, P. K., Poudel, M., & Niraula, S. R. (2011). Impact and
determinants of gender preference in Duhavi VDC of eastern Nepal. JNMA J Nepal Med Assoc, 51(181),
28-33.
Basnyat, Iccha, & Dutta, Mohan J. (2011). Family planning (re)defined: how young Nepalese women
understand and negotiate contraceptive choices. Asian Journal of Communication, 21(4), 338-354. doi:
10.1080/01292986.2011.574711
Habermas, J. (1984). The theory of communicative action, Vol. 1: Reason and the rationalization of
society. Boston: Beacon Press.
Jacobson, T. L., & Storey, J. D. (2004). Development communication and participation: Applying
Habermas to a case study of population programs in Nepal. Communication Theory, 14(2), 99-121.
Connell, Raewyn. (1987). Gender and power : society, the person, and sexual politics. Stanford, Calif. :
Stanford University Press.