Water development projects and marital violence: experiences from rural Bangladesh
Karim, K.M.Rabiul.; Emmelin, M.; Resurreccion, B.P.; Wamala, S.
Health Care for Women International 33(3): 200-216
2012
ISSN/ISBN: 0739-9332 PMID: 22325022 DOI: 10.1080/07399332.2011.603861Document Number: 537883
In this study, we explored the implications of a groundwater development project on women's workload and their experience of marital violence in a Bangladesh village. We believe that the project facilitated irrigation water but also that it resulted in seasonal domestic water shortages. Men used deep motorized pumps for irrigation, and women used shallow handpumps for domestic purposes. Many handpumps dried out, so women had to walk to distant wells. This increased their workload and challenged their possibilities of fulfilling household obligations, thereby increasing the risk of normative marital male violence against women as a punishment for their failure.