Access to decision making process : A study of widow women in Dharmasthali VDC

Abstract

The study “Access to Decision Making Process, A study of widow women” is based on primary data from Dharmasthali VDC of Kathmandu district during October, 2009. The major objective of this study is to find out current socio-economic and demographic characteristics of widow women in the study area and to examine the access to decision making process of widow women on the basis of socio-economic characteristics including health, education, land ownership, economic and political opportunities, physical and psychological violence in the study area. By using data from 114 households of 712 individuals of all 9 wards information were collected through field survey with the help of purposive random sampling. The data were entered into EPI Data software and required Dummy table were generated through SPSS programme. Through mean, frequency table, cross table objectives were analysed and hypothesis were tested by the use of bivariate (Correlation Coefficient) analysis. In the study area only 6.73 percent population is found as widow/widower. Out of total respondents majority of population is found as Janajaties (49.12 percent), 73.68 percent is found as illiterate, 41.23 percent is found as household head, 64.91 percent is found as Hindu religious people and 38.60 percent population is involved in agriculture, only 3.51 percent respondents are found in below the age of 35 years and 85.96 percent were married before the age of 20 years. Access to Median Decision Making Process is calculated as the median of all seven areas as going treatment of health problem, attending any types of education, cropping of land, working outside to feed family, expensing money from income, participating political activities and involving social organization. The median access to decision making process is found as 0.466(less than 50%). In correlation coefficient, widow women who faced health problems have higher access to decision making process then who didn’t face. Increasing the level of education, transformation the ownership of land in own/son’s/daughter’s name, widow women who work outside to feed family and who got any political post have higher access to decision making process(these are negatively correlated with access to median decision making process). Participation in social organization have negative relationship in access to decision making process (i.e., negatively correlated -0.1351). Widow women who faced any types of violence have higher access to decision making process. Similarly widow women who got counseling have lower access to decision making process.