The Socio-Economic Impact of Female Employment on Intimate Partner Violence; A study on Female Employees of Yirgalem Addis Textile Factory
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Date
2016-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Research addressing the relationship between employment and empowerment often focuses on
examining such themes as access to employment opportunities and, and woman’s control over
resources and women’s contribution to family earnings at the household level. There is an
observable gap of research addressing the impact of women’s employment on GBV in the Ethiopian
context. The study was conducted with the objective of identifying the different changes employment
of women brings to their day-to-day lives specifically examining if women’s employment brings any
change to gender relations at the household level affecting degree of intimate partner violence. It
examined if women’s employment and their economic empowerment enhances their knowledge and
protection of their basic rights and their engagement in economic, social and political spheres. The
research was conducted in Yirgalem Addis Textile Factory (herein after YATF) which is commonly
called Adey Abeba Textile Factory. The study used qualitative research approach mainly by
drawing on the lived experiences of female key informants. It utilized both primary and secondary
sources of data.
The study argues that unlike the conventional argument that equates employment of with better
provision and protection of women’s rights, the lived experiences of female employees of YATF
shows that employment of women impacts the degree of IPV both positively and negatively and
hence is very subjective . The study found out that even though employment of women in the
garment and textile sector enhances their earning power that does not necessarily translate to their
empowerment in other domains of life specifically the protection from IPV.