IB2016/17 The Relationship between Violence against Women and Women's Economic Empowerment in Bougainville

Womens economic empowerment is now seen to be a critical aspect of poverty reduction and development and is an important goal of the current Australian aid program. Economic empowerment initiatives generally focus on income-generating activities to enable women to acquire income independently of their partners. Given the importance the Australian aid program places on womens economic empowerment, it is important to reflect on the relationship between economic empowerment and broader empowerment (Eves and Crawford 2014). This In Brief reports on research undertaken as part of the Do No Harm project in three districts of Bougainville: Kieta, Panguna and Tinputz, in October 2015.