Oral

This session includes presentations from five countries – Vietnam, China, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and Kosovo and includes discussion of the concepts of empowerment, gender inequality, women’s autonomy and their relationship with sexual behavior, reproductive health and gender-based violence, including intimate partner violence. The session includes discussion of an intergenerational study in Bangladesh of the influence of empowerment of one generation of women on the behavior of the next generation. A study in China looked the relationship between migration on gender attitudes related to reproductive health. It also includes a presentation on the effects of women’s autonomy on practice of safer sex in marital relationships in Vietnam. A presentation on Zimbabwe assesses gender inequality, domestic violence and male characteristics as risk factors for HIV among women. A study in Kosovo examines characteristics associated with seeking help for intimate partner violence among women.

Session Objectives: • Describe several mechanisms through which empowered women influence the next generation of women and analyze the limitations of commonly used empowerment indicators • Articulate the relationship between gender inequality and sexual behavior and reproductive health • Investigate the determinants of women’s autonomy over sexual behavior in marital relationships and understand the attitudes of married couples towards women’s negotiation of safer sex • Examine the degree of influence of gender inequality and domestic violence on risk of HIV infection among women • Identify factors associated with use of formal and informal support sources for intimate partner violence

CE Credits: CME, Health Education (CHES), Nursing