Microfinance Gateway>From Rags to Riches or Fortunes to Fists? Microfinance and Gendered Intra-household Conflict in India

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Library » From Rags to Riches or Fortunes to Fists? Microfinance and Gendered Intra-household Conflict in India

From Rags to Riches or Fortunes to Fists? Microfinance and Gendered Intra-household Conflict in India
2006, Thakrar, K.

Does microfinance need a new gender agenda?

This paper attempts to examine whether:

Women's access to income-earning opportunities renders their position within the household more vulnerable;
Traditional intra-household conflicts are exacerbated by micro-finance services.

The study puts forward that microfinance must look beyond economic benefits and more towards the expansion of the mental mind sets of both men and women thus recognizing the potential for domestic conflict to arise over the use of credit.

The paper further highlights:

Significant need for microfinance to be more male friendly;
Symbolic capital manifested as aggression is often the sole form capital poor men have within the home;
Obsession with microfinance must not push men away from their domestic and child care responsibilities within the home;
Benefits of engendering staff are also noted. Attention needs to be paid towards participatory methodologies and their value in monitoring and assessing the impacts of micro-finance and establishing why women leave self help groups.

The findings emphasize the value of social capital and self help group credibility. Addressing domestic violence as a result of women's economic empowerment requires time, trust and the building up of credibility by the micro-finance institution.

The limited amount of literature available on micro-finance and intra-household conflict demonstrates the delicate nature of this study and the reluctance of micro-finance institutions in India to undertake studies of this nature. If anything, the extensively documented presence of patriarchy in South Asia should alert us to extreme caution in any intervention where there is a prospective transformation of gender norms. The conclusions in this paper act as a mere introduction to complex and deep rooted issues that rightly deserve more attention in light of the current micro-finance frenzy.

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