Access to village community banks by women and its impacts on household gender roles and relations: a case study of Kijitonyama ward, Dar es salaam Tanzania

Abstract

The establishment of microfinance institutions including Village Community Banks (VICOBA) is based on the belief that empowering a woman leads to improvement of the entire family wellbeing. This strategy have been used and encouraged by development practitioners including the Governments, Non-Governmental Organizations, International Donors, Policy Makers and Women Empowerment Activists as an approach of alleviating poverty and facilitating development. These institutions believe that introduction of microfinance services to women is a step to push forward development and empowering the world. This study aimed at assessing the extent to which access to VICOBA by women can lead to a change in gender roles and relations within the households, and the male reactions accompanied by it in Kijitonyama Ward, Kinondoni District, Dare es Salaam, Tanzania. The study was guided by Gender Role Theory, Social Learning Theory and Gender Stratification Theory and it adopted a qualitative method to collect data including Observation, four KI Interviews, one Focus Group Discussion and thirty Interviews. The findings indicate that access to finance by women has led to a change of their gender roles in their households as well as improved relations with their male partners. Although men‟s reactions to women financial empowerment tend to be jealous, anger, humiliations and frustrations as their positions as household breadwinners is challenged, they adapt to it slowly. The study concludes that culture is not static and recommends to the community to accept the structural changes which are brought by the change of culture which according to this study, creates a better society. Key words: VICOBA, Gender roles/ relations, Male reactions