Community Heath Master Program, School of Public Health, University of Kinshasa, Kinshasa P.O. Box 11850, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health, University of Kinshasa, Kinshasa P.O. Box 11850, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2024 Jul 19;21(7):943. doi: 10.3390/ijerph21070943.
Empowering women and promoting gender equality is crucial for accelerating sustainable development in fragile countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). However, there is scarce existing knowledge or understanding of the factors determining women's empowerment in these contexts. We aimed to assess women's empowerment and determine its associated factors in Kinshasa, DRC. We analyzed data from the 2021 Performance Monitoring Assessment (PMA) survey. A sample of 1365 women of childbearing age was retained for this study. Twenty empowerment items related to household decision-making, contraception use, and husband/partner influence were considered. We calculated the average women's empowerment index (aWEI), identified the women's empowerment variables using principal component analysis (PCA), and determined the associated factors for the first three principal components through the performance of multivariate binary logistic regression. In Kinshasa, the overall aWEI was estimated at 0.65. It was low for household decision-making (0.34) and high for husband/partner influence domains (0.93). Three principal components were identified and named, including the absence of threats, control of sexuality, and participation in decision-making. The factors associated with these components were having internet access, being in free union with a partner, being aged 40-49 years, and residing in a non-slum area. Increasing access to information would enable women in Kinshasa to make strategic decisions about their lives, benefiting themselves and others.
赋予妇女权力和促进性别平等对于加快包括刚果民主共和国（刚果（金））在内的脆弱国家的可持续发展至关重要。然而，对于在这些背景下决定妇女赋权的因素，我们知之甚少。我们旨在评估金沙萨妇女的赋权状况，并确定其相关因素。我们分析了 2021 年绩效监测评估（PMA）调查的数据。这项研究保留了 1365 名育龄妇女的样本。考虑了 20 个与家庭决策、避孕使用和丈夫/伴侣影响相关的赋权项目。我们计算了妇女赋权平均指数（aWEI），通过主成分分析（PCA）确定了妇女赋权变量，并通过多元二项逻辑回归分析确定了前三个主成分的相关因素。在金沙萨，总体 aWEI 估计为 0.65。家庭决策（0.34）的赋权程度较低，而丈夫/伴侣影响领域（0.93）的赋权程度较高。确定了三个主成分，并分别命名为无威胁、控制性行为和参与决策。与这些成分相关的因素包括有互联网接入、与伴侣处于自由结合状态、年龄在 40-49 岁之间以及居住在非贫民窟地区。增加获取信息的机会将使金沙萨的妇女能够就自己的生活做出战略决策，使自己和他人受益。
