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. 2007 Oct;97(10):1794–1802. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2006.095521

TABLE 2—

Participants’ Experiences of Empowerment After the Intervention: Intervention With Microfinance for AIDS and Gender Equity Study, Limpopo Province, South Africa, September 2001 to March 2005

Individual level: power within
    Self confidence: “I was unable to solve problems that can be solved by a small child . . . even at church, I had never stood up and say something or lead a chorus—but now I am able to do all of these things, that’s why I feel I am empowered.”
    Financial confidence: “It is when you can do it without looking for help from a man. You see to it, especially when your child does not have shoes.”
    Challenging gender norms: “To be empowered is to wear trousers. To wear trousers is a choice—women choose what to wear themselves because they want to.”
Household level: power to
    Autonomy in decisionmaking: “Now that I have joined SEF I can take 100 Rand and hire a car and take my child to hospital. And when their father comes back home, I tell him what happened to his kids. I do not always have to wait for him to give me money.”
    Perceived contribution to household: “Since I joined SEF my husband has been thanking me because I have been helping even financially in the house.”
    Household communication: “I am able to talk to my kids about sex. I also find it easer to talk to my partner about his other affairs without being angry and shouting at him—and I found that I make a difference because he listens.”
    Partner relationship: “Because we have money, the stress level has gone down and the high blood pressure is gone because we are able to help our partners with taking care of the family.”
Community level: power with
    Social group membership: “What I can say about my empowerment is that I was unable to speak in public. I was unable to speak in front of a crowd. But this year I was elected as a chairperson of the School Governing Body.”
    Collective action: “Power has to do with leadership—when a person has power he or she should be able to lead and support people to move on in life.”

Note. SEF = Small Enterprise Foundation.

aIn an approach to recognizing an interplay between gaining internal skills and overcoming external barriers, we drew upon a conceptual framework that included “power within” (internal qualities, such as self-confidence or critical thinking skills, that contribute to individual agency); “power to” (the creation of new opportunities without domination; factors such as the ability to make independent decisions that determine and demonstrate such agency) and “power with” (communal dimensions, such as group solidarity or collective action, which acknowledge that positive change may often be effected through individuals acting together, rather than alone).