WOMEN ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT CAUSES HULLABALLOO IN HOMES

BY GEORGINA KEKEA

SEXUAL jealousy, disagreement over disciplining of children, disagreement over spending priorities, men’s alcohol consumption, men’s failure to work, men coercing women to work harder and failure of wives to fulfill husbands’ expectations are some of the reasons of marital conflict and violence in the home.

Australia’s Department of Pacific Affairs study titled ‘Do no Harm’, reported that the most violence reported during the research was connected to men’s alcohol consumption, which drains resources from households. When women questioned their men in how they spend their money, this in turn can cause conflict in the home.

The research found when women are able to sustain themselves financially, this enabled men to lessen their contributions to the household. In some cases men contribute nothing at all. Because of this, they are able to use their money for their own personal consumption resource and some act in a manner that often causes conflict in the marriage.

In the report, an example was cited on how women engaged themselves in financial activities such as savings club to help them pay for their family’s needs. In Malaita, a woman called Gabrielle told the researchers in how she used to hide her money from her husband as she can’t trust him with money.

She told researchers of how at one time, her husband spent SBD$45,000 (logging money) in Honiara with nothing left for his family.  She said they tried to share funds and he (husband) wanted to spend the money on cigarettes and beer and occasionally these conflicts led to violence.

She said the only way to resolve the problems over money was to have their own separate money. Gabrielle says she uses her income for the family and he uses his to do what he likes.

 The study reported that domestic conflicts also arise when men ask their wives for money for things that don’t benefit the whole family, such as alcohol, cigarettes and betel nut.

The study said that women also reported that men sometimes get jealous about them earning money and take the money out of spite.

The study also suggested that women’s income earning activities have led to a withdrawal of male contributions to the household. So, although women may have become economically empowered, this comes at the cost of increased workload, the report said.

The ‘do no harm’ report points to the imbalance in workloads as a recurring theme across all the research sites in Malaita, especially in Kiu. It was said that when men see women bringing income into the household they feel enabled to opt out of contributing.

In Honiara, the report mentioned that two women bemoaned the fact that their husbands would get angry with them if they came home late from work.

In one case, this was despite the woman’s workplace being far away so that travel to and from work was time consuming. Other women spoke of their husbands’ controlling behaviour, such as texting them incessantly to check on their whereabouts.

One man who was university educated but without work, said that he and his wife argued over decisions and support given to each other’s relatives. His wife complained that he supported only his relatives, and not hers, and he complained that she only supported her relatives.

The report said that many of the women interviewed during the research endure a double, and sometimes a triple, work burden which impacts on their security, health and well-being, leaving them exhausted and in some cases ill.

Add to this male ‘backlash’ and withdrawal of male contributions to the household, clearly it is essential that women’s economic empowerment programming adopt a Do No Harm approach.

The report said for this to be effective, there needs to be specific action to address social norms and behaviour concerning violence, gender roles and gender relations and to ensure prevention, protection and response. The Do No Harm research addresses the question of how to improve women’s economic agency and the security of their livelihoods without compromising their safety.

This report draws on primary qualitative research in Solomon Islands (Makira-Ulawa Province, Malaita Province and Honiara) that explores any connections between women’s economic empowerment initiatives and increased violence against women, as well as other problems that arise due to this change in women’s economic status.

It sought to capture the diversity of ways that women endeavour to overcome economic disadvantage in contemporary Melanesia.

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