Report
1 September 2016

Women's economic empowerment: navigating enablers and constraints

Author: Abigail Hunt, Emma Samman
Published by: ODI
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This report details how gender equality, poverty eradication and human development require increased investment in women’s economic empowerment. The report suggests that no single intervention or actor can address all aspects needed to enable women’s economic empowerment, but it highlights, amongst other factors, discriminatory gender and social norms as potential constrainers.

In particular, discriminatory gender norms around what constitutes a suitable job for women and violence against women and girls constrain women’s economic opportunities and outcomes, and/or result in their work and skills being under-valued. The report also suggests that the process of norm change is highly context-specific, complex and non-linear, but that discriminatory gendered norms can be changed.