Niamh Barry

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Country: Ireland
Background: History, Politics, Sociology and Social Studies
Research Project: Women’s empowerment and masculinity: The limitations of excluding men.

It was realised in the 1990s that it was necessary to include men into women’s empowerment programs in order to contribute to their success. Little has been done, in regards to research, program design or evaluation, especially in Africa. This study seeks to further understand the consequences of excluding men from women’s empowerment programs by examining the levels of women’s empowerment and attitudes to empowerment; expressed through the male viewpoint. Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED) an NGO working in Zambia implementing female empowerment programs was used as a sample. Qualitative research was used with interviews and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), targeting married men whose wives have completed the CAMFED empowerment program, a control group of men whose wives have never undergone empowerment was also sampled. It was found that while the CAMFED women had higher levels of empowerment in spousal selection, contraceptives and domestic duties compared to the control group. However when it came to full social and economic empowerment high levels of resistance were demonstrated and focused on male control over women and gender stereotypes. Men are happy with their wives earning but this did not translate to an equal status in the household. Tenants of masculinity were the greatest barrier to success. 100% of men asked to be included in the empowerment program and the findings suggest that their education and inclusion is vital to the advancement of women’s empowerment.