Women Empowerment and Spousal Violence in Relations to Health Outcomes in Nepal

As in many Asian countries violence against women is rampant in Nepal. Several studies on women empowerment and gender-based violence have been conducted in Nepal and elsewhere, however there is a dearth of knowledge on how women empowerment is associated with Gender Based Violence (GBV) and whether the GBV is linked with health service utilization and health outcomes. Thus, the objectives of this paper are to measure the empowerment level of married women of reproductive age, to examine the relationships between women empowerment and GBV and to examine the relationship between spousal violence and health service utilization and the health outcomes. This study has used the domestic violence module of the Nepal Demographic and Health Survey (Nepal DHS) 2011 data. Out of all the women interviewed in the module, data of only those women who were currently in union (a total of 3,084 married women aged 15-49 years) are included in the analysis. A conceptual framework and a Women Empowerment Index will be developed to guide the study and to analyze the linkages. Univariate and bivariate analysis will be used to meet the study objectives. The linkage of GBV with health outcomes and Gender Empowerment Index will be the significant value of this study.
Key words: women empowerment Index, women empowerment and GBV health outcomes