Abstract: This article deals about the impact of microcredit on women’s lives in rural Bangladesh. Taking the case of Grameen bank as one of the main microfinance institutions of Char Khankhanapur and Degree Charchandpur, two villages of south-western Bangladesh, I focus on the impact of Grameen bank’s microcredit scheme on the rural women and I underline some basic points like who controls and takes the responsibility of loan repayment and try to identify the real beneficiaries of such loans. To identify whether microcredit is empowering or disempowering women of the villages , I have used the perspectives of women and development including women in development ( WID), gender and development (GAD), Hashemi et al ( 1996)’s women’s empowerment indicators and the national discourse of economic participation and women’s empowerment in Bangladesh. The article shows that women’s experiences of microcredit significantly vary according to class. It highlights how microcredit, which many development policy planners see as a source of women’s empowerment, has turned into ‘micro-theft’ for many poor women. Interestingly, it focuses on how some ways microcredit replaces dowry and appears as a weapon to exploit and disempower some rural women.
Keywords: women, microcredit, rural change, poor, development, micro theft.
Title: Microcredit and Women’s Development in Rural Bangladesh
Author: Dr. Ishrat Jahan
International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research
ISSN 2348-3164 (online)
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