Local Government Support for Women in the Informal Economy in Durban, South Africa

This paper examines the response of the city government of Durban to the growth of the informal economy. It argues that, unlike the national government of South Africa, Durban's government has been creative in designing policies that favor informal economy workers, particularly women. These progressive policies are the result of an innovative local government and, to some extent, an emerging self-employed women worker's union that has been able to exert influence on informal economy policies.     

Perceived control and emotional status in abusive college student relationships: an exploration of gender differences

The authors assessed perceived control, dysphoria, hopelessness, self-esteem, and optimism in 280 college students involved in abusive and nonabusive relationships. Women reported higher levels of dysphoria and lower levels of self-esteem and optimism than men. Women in abusive relationships reported more psychological symptoms than men in abusive relationships. After controlling for gender differences in emotional status, participants in abusive relationships showed more psychological symptoms than those in nonabusive relationships. Women showed lower perceived control of relationship conflicts than men. Men experiencing high levels of abuse reported higher perceived control of relationship conflict than females experiencing low levels of abuse. Perceived control was affected more by gender than emotional status, abuse level, and gender-affected emotional status. The authors discuss the results in terms of their implications for future investigations of emotional reactions to abuse.     

Working women making it work: intimate partner violence, employment, and workplace support

Partner violence may have significant consequences on women's employment, yet limited information is available about how women cope on the job with perpetrators' tactics and the consequences of her coping methods on employment status. This article investigates whether there is an association between workplace disclosure of victimization and current employment status; and whether there is an association between receiving workplace support and current employment status among women who disclosed victimization circumstances to someone at work. Using a sample of partner victimized women who were employed within the past year (N = 485), cross-tabulation and ANOVA procedures were conducted to examine the differences between currently employed and unemployed women. Binary logistic regressions were conducted to examine whether disclosure and receiving workplace support were significantly associated with current employment. Results indicate that disclosure and workplace support are associated with employment. Implications for clinical practice, workplace policies, and future research are discussed.