ABSTRACT
To mitigate gender inequities, governments and organisations implement different types of women’s empowerment interventions. One prominent intervention offers women microfinance, taking an independent economic approach to empowerment. This may not always align with local realities in settings that prioritize interdependence such as rural Bangladesh. The current research takes a bottom-up approach to investigate the experiences of women in rural Bangladesh who are members of a microfinance intervention. We conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 11 female microfinance clients and thematically coded their answers. Despite receiving loans, most women were not engaged in income generation. Women described key barriers to earning rooted in a lack of social support, such as restrictions imposed by family members. Furthermore, they described women’s empowerment as being deeply embedded in the social fabric, going beyond education, earning and decision making and including social standing, social responsibilities and moral wisdom. To improve women’s position, they stressed the need for social support and pointed towards safety, opportunities and education. Together, our findings underscore the importance of embedding independent economic interventions in women’s social and cultural realities. We discuss how this is key for conceptualizing women’s empowerment and for developing effective interventions to strengthen women’s position.