Microcredit, gender norms, and women’s experiences of economic coercion and agency in Matlab, Bangladesh

A. T. Hoover, K. L. Andes, R. T. Naved, A. Talukder and K. M. Yount

Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, 2025, vol. 30, issue 3, 1137-1157

Abstract: Microfinance organizations in Bangladesh often direct microloans to women, due in part to women’s high repayment rates. Questions remain about how microfinance institutions are addressing – or enabling – economic coercion of women taking out loans. In-depth interviews with 25 men and 24 women examined how the structure of microcredit programs, and men’s reactions to such structures, enabled or challenged women’s economic agency. We found that loan access and control was gendered, that loans were socially disruptive and engendered shame among men and women, and that this social disruption and shame was managed through practices of concealment. Interviews revealed that inequitable gender structures governing microloan administration are impeding gender transformative experiences with microloans. The results of this study illustrate the importance of considering structural and normative elements of gender systems to understand women’s experiences of economic agency and coercion around microloans.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1080/13547860.2024.2345998

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