FHHs are categorized as de jure and de facto. Widowed, divorced, abandoned and single women, who support themselves and their dependents are de jure FHHs and are legally recognised as such. In contrast, de facto FHHs become household heads when the male head of household migrates or when they support their families financially when their male counterparts are disabled, unemployed or do not earn an income (Habib 2010, p. 175).
In general, FHHs are economically and socially deprived or disadvantaged (Mencher 1993; Panda 1997). Even though FHHs make economic decisions on their
own, they often suffer from economic pressures leading to ‘psycho-physiological stress’ and physical tiredness or exhaustion (Pathak 2009, p. 218). FHHs become the ‘poorest of the poor’ (Tripathy & Mishra 2005, p. 91) due to the lack of job opportunities and job security; limited access to land, agricultural technologies and valuable assets; restricted social networks; and lesser physical movement. A significant difference in the mean monthly income between female and male headed households was observed in De Silva, Pulasinghe and Panditha (2012) and male heads of households earn more than their female counterparts at the BOP in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
However, some studies (Bourguignon & Chiappori 1992; Browning & Chiappori 1998; Hoddinott & Haddad 1995; Lloyd & Blanc 1996; Pathak 2009)show that FHHs are more empowered in decision-making than women living in male-headed households. For instance, when women are breadwinners, they enjoy considerable bargaining and decision-making power, especially concerning their children’s education, food and health expenditures. Chant (1997, p. 161) found such families to be ‘more secure and stable’ in different ways compared with male-headed households, enjoying ‘psychological security’ due to the absence of violence and ‘abuse of authority’ within the family. Yet, these families are found to rely more on relatives, because of the discrimination single women face in society due to cultural issues, even if they are financially secure.
Fig. 4. Distribution of female heads of household by marital status -2012 (Department of Census and Statistics 2013, p. 10).
During the last decade, there has been a dramatic increase in FHHs in Sri Lanka. Recently, there were over one million FHHs or 23% of all households, recorded in the country, with most belonging to the age group between 40 and 59 years (Department of Census and Statistics 2013, p. 9). As Fig. 4 indicates, more than half are widowed, with the majority (74.6%) not having completed secondary education (Department of Census and Statistics 2013, p. 10). There is no significant difference in the income generated between male and female-headed households. Nonetheless, not all FHHs are entirely run only on the woman’s income because, in many of these households, the husband has migrated elsewhere to work (Department of Census and Statistics 2013, p. 29). In the sample used by de Silva, Pulasinghe and Panditha (2012), while most male heads of households were married (89.1%), only 45% of FHHs were married, indicating the significant proportions of widows, divorcees and single women in the country. In Sri Lanka and Thailand, there were larger numbers of divorced women compared to more conservative countries such as Bangladesh and Pakistan.
A number of studies have been carried out on FHHs in Sri Lanka. Ruwanpura and Humphries (2004, p. 179), for instance, investigated widows in the Eastern province and found the civil war was not the only reason for the existence of the larger number of FHHs. Additional factors such as separations, desertions, divorces, physical/mental disability, alcoholism and unemployment of their husbands had also caused women to become FHHs. Younger widows with children faced more financial stress and responsibilities than older widows with adult children, who could contribute to the family income.
Sinhalese FHHs in the Eastern province, as members of the majority ethnic group, were in a more socially advantageous position due to their comparatively less conservative culture than Muslim or Hindu FHHs. They were also less constrained ‘by caste, ideologies and purity/pollution concepts and practices’ targeting widows (Ruwanpura & Humphries 2004, p. 152) than Tamil women. Hence, due to their restricted mobility, Tamil and Muslim FHHs enjoyed considerably fewer opportunities for paid work and largely relied on self-employment compared to the Sinhalese. While all Sinhalese FHHs in Ruwanpura and Humphries’ (2004) sample were employed,
only 8% of Muslim FHHs were and Tamil FHHs were engaged in more than one income-earning activity.
Another difference among the three ethnicities was the cause for their widowhood (Ruwanpura & Humphries 2004). Specifically, 72% of the Tamil widows’ husbands in the study sample (298 participants) had been murdered during the civil conflict, while this figure was 28% and 22% for Sinhalese and Muslim widows respectively. Coping strategies and reasons to undertake the headship were also different between the ethnic groups. For example, although widowhood was the prime reason for the participants of all three ethnicities to become the heads of their households, war was the main reason for Tamil widows to lose their husbands.
Ruwanpura and Humphries (2004, pp. 159, 60) claim that women’s struggles for survival, along with their independence and freedom, have empowered them through improved self-worth and pride in their achievements. For example, young Tamil widows residing in refugee camps in the Northern parts of the country have challenged the traditional Hindu concept of widowhood as inauspicious by continuing to wear the red pottu (dot) on their foreheads and flowers in their hair – not generally allowed for widows, as these are symbols which traditionally convey stable marital relations and sexual activity. As the breadwinners of their family, they do not want to be socially and culturally isolated and ostracised through these practices.
Traditional Tamil women who occupy lower social status due to their social (e.g. caste) and religious affiliation have become empowered since the end of the conflict, even though they are victims of war, becoming more active in their public roles and solving their problems than men (Rajasingham-Senanayake 2004, p. 149). Their mobility, previously restricted to their own households are expanded, being able to go out of their homes for employment. Some admitted that, despite their feelings of fear and insecurity, they felt more liberated in decision-making and mobility. Joke Schrijvers (1999, p. 323) describes Tamil refugee women as ‘strong, enduring, emancipated’ with high ‘coping capacities’ and that their traditionally dependent roles, low status and low self-esteem had helped them to be better survivors as refugees than men. Yet, high mobility and freedom of women have led to greater levels of violence against them (Rajasingham-Senanayake 2004, p. 161). In contrast, mobility for
Muslim women became more restricted during and due to the conflict (Rajasingham- Senanayake 2004, p. 157) than before.
In his ethnographic study of Tamils and Muslims in the Eastern Province- especially in Batticaloa, McGilvray (2008) found that the matrilineal social structure and practices of transferring dowry-houses from mother to daughter have contributed to more resistance ‘to harsh forms of female domestic subordination’ (2008, p. 11). Rice fields, household furniture, vehicles, clothing, jewellery and cash, ‘every form of wealth and property, including fixed assets’ (McGilvray 2008, p. 38), are included in a daughter’s dowry. While Tamil parents give the dowry to their daughter and son-in- law as an official dowry with their deeds written as joint undivided ownership at the time of the marriage, Muslims register houses and land as gifts to their daughters in advance of the wedding, which is described ‘fairly radical and pro-feminist’ compared to other dowry practices in South Asia (McGilvray 2008, p. 39). However, Tamil women are empowered because they are covered by the Thesawalamai law (the civil legal code covering Tamils in Sri Lanka) that allows women to inherit matrilineal property (Ruwanpura & Humphries 2004).
However, marriage is essential for a woman to inherit property from her parents. Despite the prolonged civil war, the matrilineal kinship system and matrilocal marriage system have not changed (McGilvray 2008). Yet, changes have taken place in marriages and dowry policies in the area as a consequence of the civil conflict. For instance, rice fields given as dowry property became less valuable during the conflict as they were no longer safe to be worked on. During the civil conflict, a greater number of men migrated, were recruited, killed, or disappeared, leading the scarce eligible bachelors to demand houses in safer areas and increase the overall value and required standards of a dowry. While Tamil women had to wait much longer to find a husband, Tamil men, particularly those who have found jobs in the diaspora, are in a very strong bargaining position when seeking a wife (McGilvray 2008, p. 341).
While significant numbers of Tamils had left the country since 1983, when the conflict officially started, Sri Lankan Muslims too have travelled abroad mainly for economic reasons- especially to the Middle East for employment. Most foreign earnings remitted by the men and women in the area however, have been used to build dowry homes for their daughters (McGilvray 2008, p. 336).
A project carried out to empower widows and other marginalised women in rural areas in Jaffna, Northern Sri Lanka, between August 2013 and July 2014 by the Initiative for Political and Conflict Transformation (Inpact), found the lack of security to be a severe problem faced by these women, along with ‘feeling threatened or disadvantaged in their opportunities to sustain their livelihoods’ (Klimesova & Premaratne 2015, p. 2). They were unable to receive any kind of support from their communities because of their previous involvement with the LTTE. The Tamil community in the North ostracised widows with any affiliations or associations with the LTTE in the past, either directly or through their husbands. Most participants had experienced some form of sexual abuse within their families, from employers or law enforcement authorities. The ‘theatre-based’ workshops conducted in the project helped the women to form a ‘sense of community spirit’ among themselves and, in some cases, led to joint small-scale business initiatives (2015, p. 2).
A study by Ayadurai and Sohail (2006) of 200 female entrepreneurs from eight districts in the war-affected north east of Sri Lanka found the main reason for their enterprise their own survival and that of their families. Achieving a higher standard of living, pursuing a business idea, and the lack of opportunities in the formal employment sector were some other reasons given. Interestingly, the challenges identified by the researchers, such as lack of financial and interpersonal support, were not identified as challenges by these women, indicating their strong will and determination (Ayadurai & Sohail 2006, p. 7). However, gendered power relations and traditional social practices in these societies were not identified by the researchers as challenges faced by the women.
In their study, Ayadurai and Sohail (2006) met women who did not marry as they were handicapped during the war or had to take care of war victims, while a few stayed single due to fears of becoming widows if their husbands died in the war. These reasons indicate the traditional gendered structure of society, wherein women become victims of war and caught in traditional gender roles. The majority of these women were literate and educated, despite the prolonged civil conflict (Ayadurai & Sohail 2006).
Livestock farming, office services, crafts/textiles, retail trade, agriculture and food products were identified as the main business activities these women were
engaged in, due to the low capital investment required, flexible working hours and possessing the skills and experiences required for the enterprise. Most participants were in business for the first time and the majority was ‘very optimistic’ (Ayadurai & Sohail 2006, p. 9) about their businesses. This gave them feelings of self-fulfilment and balance between family, work and profit. Even though this study was not specifically focused on widows or FHHs and did not examine the incorporation of ICTs in their businesses (Ayadurai & Sohail 2006, p. 8), it revealed the survival strategies and coping capabilities of women in war-affected areas in Sri Lanka.
According to Hyndman’s (2008) study of war and tsunami widows and widowers in Eastern Sri Lanka, the absence of the protections and support from extended families led to their insecurity and harassment. While Bagwe (1998) noted that war widows became vulnerable and were viewed negatively in society if they did not receive protection from their extended families, while their chances of remarriage were minimal, Hyndman (2008) found that they may receive protection from their extended families after the loss of their husbands. Hyndman (2008) further found that, due to the existence of tsunami widowers, loss of property, husbands and extended family members, tsunami widows remarried more often than war widows. The decisions of unsecured widows or young unmarried women to remarry or marry a widower, however, do not demonstrate their improved agency in decision making but rather the reinforcement of gendered power relations in the society as they are sexually harassed by men while single. Most tsunami widows expressed their wish to not remarry due to the fear that their new husbands would mistreat their children and their inability to secure a dowry for themselves (Hyndman 2008).
These studies on war and tsunami widows and FHHs in Sri Lanka indicate that gender, ethnicity and other factors such as religion and caste contribute to constructing social meaning for FHHs in patriarchal societies. While natural and man-made destructions have disempowered and victimised women in Sri Lankan society, they have also liberated them, enabling them to transform their agency and traditional gender roles. Therefore, their present position in society is likely to be reflected in their mobile phone use because mobile phones assist such women to be more self-reliant and liberated as well as face harassment from men.
3.5 Conclusion
This review of literature, primarily focused on the use of mobile phones by women in the Global South, vividly illustrates the mobile phone as having empowered women in certain socio-economic, spatial, educational and political aspects and expanded their capabilities and agency. Yet, its use has also reinforced existing gender and power relations and socio-cultural norms that are not necessarily favourable to women. In some instances, existing disparities were amplified in the use of mobile phones. Hence, women’s use of mobile phones has been restricted in different ways, preventing many from enjoying its optimal benefits in their day-to-day lives. It is argued, therefore, that the mobile phone is not a panacea for alleviating female poverty or eliminating or even reducing gender inequalities.
However, an emerging argument in the literature is that women in the Global South have not entirely accepted their subordinate position in patriarchal societies or become victims as argued by feminist theorists. Rather, within their limited capabilities and opportunities, they have shown their resistance to the status quo through their mobile phone use and have adopted strategies to benefit from the technology. This means they have been able to achieve limited agency or situated empowerment. Many unique means of mobile phone adoption have emerged amongst women in developing countries due to the conflicting challenges they face in their mobile phone use, their multiple identities and socio-cultural values.
Even though most existing studies focus on poor, uneducated and unemployed women and their mobile phone use, they do not specifically look at FHHs, despite their growing number in the Global South. This is an important gap in the literature, as access to, and use and ownership of a mobile phone by FHHs are likely to be different and more challenging than for woman living in male-headed households, even within the same setting. This is because, although the former may be at more liberty than the latter, their status as FHHs can limit their freedom in many aspects of their lives. Many past studies have focused on more homogeneous female groups from one or two small geographic areas and with similar demographic characteristics, leading to limited generalisability. Hence, it is important to look at women from diverse socio-economic backgrounds who live in the same geographic area. Such a study has potential to highlight unique mobile phone uses as adopted by FHHs based on their context and
multiple identities. There is also a dearth of recent literature on more-than-voice mobile phone services, particularly amongst women in Sri Lanka, where MNOs and policy makers have begun to explore the potential of mobile phones in uplifting the living standards of women. Simply giving access to ICTs to achieve female empowerment ignores the importance of active appropriation of technology in women’s lives. Therefore, existing literature on mobile phones and women leaves a gap to explore one of the main problems in the development process, which is the mismatch between the services, knowledge and content provided, and the actual requirements of the target population.
The large-scale studies conducted by development-oriented agencies have employed mixed methods in their data gathering and analysis, enabling them to reveal hidden factors that restrict female mobile phone use in patriarchal societies (De Silva, Zainudeen & Ratnadiwakara 2008; Grameen Foundation 2013; GSMA 2010; GSMA Connected Women & Altai Consulting 2015; GSMA mWomen 2012; Zainudeen & Galpaya 2015). Yet, due to the lack of clearly explicated theoretical approaches used in the research design, they could not critically analyse their findings. The studies which used a quantitative approach (Chew, Ilavarasan & Levy 2013, 2015a; Chew, Ilavarasan & Levy 2015b; Chew, Levy & Ilavarasan 2011; De Silva, Pulasinghe & Panditha 2012; Komunte 2015; LIRNEasia 2012) have been unable to investigate their findings to ask the ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions. Some researchers demonstrate a lack of understanding of their research contexts (Chew, Ilavarasan & Levy 2013; Chew, Ilavarasan & Levy 2015b). While many qualitative studies have observed both the empowering potential and reinforcement of existing gender relations and socio- cultural values on mobile phone use in a specific context, the small sample sizes used limit gathering of richer and novel findings and only serve as preliminary studies (Kyomuhendo 2009; Masika & Bailur 2015; Traore & Sane 2009). Meanwhile, although qualitative studies based on an ethnographical approach have uncovered unique mobile phone use within particular contexts, they too lack a theoretical lens as applied in communication studies (Jouhki 2013; Tenhunen 2014a). Hence, the present study narrows the above identified gaps in the existing literature and makes a substantial contribution to the field of research into mobile phone adoption and women in the Global South.
The next chapter- the Research Design- will discuss the research methodology, data collection methods, sampling and recruitment processes used in the current study and the data analysis methods employed.