Contra-powerment?

This book has a lot to offer to researchers, policy makers and practitioners in the field of Gender and Social Policy. It explores the extent to which access to modern contraceptive methods contribute to Ready-Made Garment worker’s empowerment in Bangladesh. Using feminist definition of empowerment as challenging and transforming gender inequalities, it analyses the transformative potential of contraception and examines the structural and social relations that define the contexts of worker’s lives. The book highlights some enabling and constraining factors in the realisation of workers’ empowerment and concludes that to challenge discriminatory norms and customs, access to contraception needs to be supplemented with the provision of a range of contraceptive methods, combined with the dissemination of knowledge about gender equality, the provision of healthcare facilities before and after contraceptive use, the involvement of men, the improvement of work environments and conditions, and the legal enforcement of reproductive rights.