Microfinance and domestic violence
The Journal of Adult Protection
ISSN: 1466-8203
Article publication date: 21 October 2020
Issue publication date: 21 October 2020
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to document the impact of participation in microfinance programs on domestic violence against women.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses the survey data from 69 villages in Bangladesh and the instrumental variable approach to estimate the effect of participation in microcredit programs on domestic violence.
Findings
The results show that women’s participation in microcredit programs does not reduce domestic violence. However, this result is possible only when the authors do not distinguish between female borrowers who have control over credit and those who do not have control over credit. Classifying female borrowers into these two categories can significantly change the results. The authors report significantly lower physical violence against those female who have control over credit. In case of psychological violence, the authors report no significant impact of control over microcredit.
Originality/value
The novelty of the paper lies in distinguishing between physical and psychological violence.
Keywords
Citation
Aktaruzzaman, K. and Farooq, O. (2020), "Microfinance and domestic violence", The Journal of Adult Protection, Vol. 22 No. 5, pp. 333-351. https://doi.org/10.1108/JAP-05-2020-0014
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited