Leuning C J, Ngavirue B
Health Care Women Int. 1995 Nov-Dec;16(6):537-50. doi: 10.1080/07399339509516208.
Women's ability to provide for the health and well-being of their children and families is linked in complex ways to the degree of empowerment they experience. Empowerment for women in the developing world is a perplexing venture, hampered by patriarchal barriers and cultural confusion. Our purpose in conducting this research was to discover how disadvantaged Namibian women experienced empowerment when they had access to safe child care. Fifty-two women participated in the study. A qualitative design and ethnographic techniques were used to elicit women's experiences. Five themes, descriptive of women's empowerment, emerged from the data: (a) increasing vitality, (b) freedom from worry, (c) opportunities to increase financial security, (d) strengthened parenting competence, and (e) personal satisfaction and a sense of fulfillment. The findings add a voice from the developing world to the growing understanding of women's diverse journeys toward empowerment. Discussion focuses on the significance of the themes and implications for further research that promotes women's empowerment and community health.
女性为子女和家庭的健康与福祉提供保障的能力，与她们所经历的赋权程度有着复杂的联系。对发展中世界的女性而言，赋权是一项棘手的事业，受到父权制障碍和文化混乱的阻碍。我们开展这项研究的目的是探究处境不利的纳米比亚女性在获得安全的儿童照料服务时是如何体验赋权的。52名女性参与了这项研究。采用了定性设计和人种志技术来了解女性的经历。从数据中浮现出五个描述女性赋权的主题：（a）活力增强，（b）无忧无虑，（c）增加经济保障的机会，（d）育儿能力增强，以及（e）个人满足感和成就感。这些发现为人们对女性走向赋权的多样历程的日益理解增添了来自发展中世界的声音。讨论聚焦于这些主题的重要性以及对促进女性赋权和社区健康的进一步研究的启示。
