An assessment of attitude towards equitable gender norms among Muslim women in Bangladesh

SynopsisWe assessed women's attitudes towards equitable gender norms in a total of 653 Muslim women in Bangladesh. We selected the participants from both rural and urban areas using a convenience sampling technique and carried out face-to-face interviews. We measured women's attitudes towards equitable gender norms using the Gender Equitable Men (GEM) scale which consisted of seven items. Results revealed that on average, women scored 15.97 (SD = 2.08) on the total scale score of 21 on their attitude towards equitable gender norms. Women's attitudes ranged from the most favorable (90.7%) with regard to “A man should know what his partner likes during sex” to the least favorable (39.7%) for “It is important to have a male friend that you can talk to about your problems”. Multi-variate linear regression analysis identified five explanatory variables, which together explained 30.9% of variance in the dependent variable. Significant variables include participants' age (B = − 0.027, p < 0.01), decision making authority (B = − 0.450, p < 0.001), participants' working status (B = 0.398, p < 0.001), number of children (B = 398, p < 0.001) and health care exclusion (B = 0.146, p < 0.001). We conclude that interventions are needed for two groups of women, viz, those who are less favorable towards gender equity, and younger women. These interventions include education to improve their understanding of gender equity and the need to advocate for their own rights, on the one hand, and the provision of women's income generating opportunities, on the other. These will help change women's collective attitude towards equitable gender norms in a society dictated by male dominance for generations.