Economic Violence Against Women

What is it about?

Economic Violence Among Women of Economically Backward Muslim Minority Community: The Case of Rural North India (Prof. Ramphul Ohlan, Springer HTML Full View) Core Focus An intersectional analysis of economic violence against Muslim women in marginalized rural communities, examining: Unique vulnerabilities at the crossroads of gender, religion, and class Structural mechanisms perpetuating financial oppression Community-specific barriers to economic agency Methodology Fieldwork: Primary data from 400+ households across Uttar Pradesh and Haryana (2018–2020) Mixed Methods: Surveys on asset ownership/income control Ethnographic interviews with victims Focus groups with local NGOs Analytical Framework: Intersectional feminist economics Key Findings Prevalence & Forms: 87% of respondents experienced ≥1 form of economic violence Most reported types: Confiscation of wages (73%) Denial of inheritance (68%) Exclusion from livelihood programs (61%) Intersectional Drivers: Triple marginalization: Gender + Muslim identity + rural poverty Religious misinterpretation: 82% cited "local clerics" justifying financial control State neglect: Only 12% accessed government schemes (vs. 29% Hindu women) Structural Barriers: Credit access: 94% lacked property collateral for loans Digital exclusion: 89% no access to mobile banking Occupational ghettoization: 76% confined to home-based piecework Theoretical Contributions Develops "Religious-Patriarchy Capital" concept: How conservative interpretations amplify economic subjugation Challenges homogeneous "Muslim community" narratives in policy design Policy Recommendations Faith-Sensitive Interventions: Partner with progressive clerics on financial literacy Gender-responsive Islamic microfinance Affirmative Action: Reserve 50% of MGNREGA workdays for minority women Priority lending for women-led artisan cooperatives Legal Empowerment: Mobile courts for inheritance disputes Simplify FIR filing for economic crimes Field Insights Counterintuitive Finding: 41% of perpetrators were female in-laws (intra-gender oppression) Positive Deviance: Self-help groups using Quranic verses on women’s economic rights showed 300% higher savings. Why This Matters First empirical study linking Islamic social capital to economic violence in India Exposes how development programs fail intersectionally marginalized groups Provides culturally grounded solutions beyond Western feminist frameworks Key Takeaways for Practitioners: 1️⃣ Economic violence manifests uniquely in religious minorities 2️⃣ Empowerment programs must engage with local belief systems 3️⃣ Intersectional data collection is critical for policy effectiveness

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Photo by Library of Congress on Unsplash

Photo by Library of Congress on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Why This Study on Economic Violence Against Rural Muslim Women in India is Critically Important 1. Exposes Hidden Dimensions of Gender-Based Oppression Reveals how economic violence (less visible than physical violence) systematically disempowers women through: Wage theft (73% of cases) Property disinheritance (68%) Digital/financial exclusion (89%) Documents intersectional oppression where religion, class, and gender compound vulnerability 2. Challenges Stereotypes About Muslim Communities Counters monolithic portrayals by showing: Internal variations: 41% female-perpetrated violence highlights complex intra-family dynamics Positive deviance cases: Quran-based SHGs achieving 300% higher savings prove religion can be empowerment tool Corrects development policies that treat "Muslim women" as homogeneous group 3. Provides Evidence for Policy Reform Identifies structural gaps in current programs: Only 12% accessed govt schemes vs. 29% Hindu women 94% lack collateral for loans due to inheritance denial Proposes culturally adapted solutions: Cleric-partnered financial literacy Islamic microfinance models Mobile courts for inheritance disputes 4. Advances Feminist Economics Theory Introduces "Religious-Patriarchy Capital" framework showing how: Conservative interpretations become economic tools Local power structures monetize religious doctrine Contributes to global literature on gendered poverty traps 5. Quantifies Macroeconomic Costs Links micro-level abuse to development losses: Lost productivity from occupational ghettoization (76% confined to piecework) Intergenerational poverty cycles from asset denial Provides metrics for cost-benefit analysis of interventions 6. Informs SDG Implementation Directly addresses: SDG 5 (Gender Equality): Exposes non-physical violence forms SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities): Highlights minority-specific barriers SDG 8 (Decent Work): Reveals informal sector exploitation 7. Offers Grassroots Empowerment Models Identifies what works in local context: SHGs using religious texts for legitimacy Women-led artisan collectives Mobile banking literacy programs 8. Corrects Data Gaps in Development Research First large-scale empirical study (400+ households) on this intersection: Previous reliance on urban or Hindu-dominant samples Absence of faith-sensitive indicators in national surveys Stakeholder-Specific Importance For Policymakers: Shows why "one-size-fits-all" women's programs fail minorities Provides template for intersectional policy design For NGOs: Reveals need for faith-literate economic interventions Highlights unexpected allies (progressive clerics) For Researchers: Models mixed-methods approach to study sensitive issues Sets agenda for studying economic vs physical violence trade-offs For International Agencies: Demonstrates how global indicators mask local realities Argues for sub-group SDG tracking by religion/caste For Affected Communities: Validates lived experiences with rigorous data Showcases community-tested solutions The Bigger Picture This study transforms how we understand: Violence: Economic coercion can be more debilitating than physical abuse Development: Marginalized women face "triple filtering" of state resources Agency: Empowerment must work with cultural frameworks, not against them By centering the voices of rural Muslim women—a demographic often statistically invisible—this research doesn't just document oppression but lights pathways to actionable dignity. Its true importance lies in shifting the question from "Do these women need help?" to "How have systems failed them, and what specific changes will work?"

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