Abstract

Women’s economic empowerment (WEE) programs have become central to development strategies in emerging economies, yet evidence increasingly shows that their benefits are unevenly distributed. Despite progress in income, agency, and wellbeing indicators, women situated at the intersection of multiple marginalizations by caste, class, ethnicity, disability, or geography remain disproportionately excluded. This paper systematically analyzes the structural roots of intersectional exclusion across three programmatic models: Self-Help Groups (SHGs), One-Stop Crisis Centers (OSCCs), and graduation programs. Drawing on feminist intersectionality theory and empirical evidence from South and Southeast Asia, this study argues that such exclusion is not incidental but structural, embedded in institutional designs and implementation logics that assume homogeneity among women. Through critical synthesis of 112 empirical and evaluation studies (2010–2024), the paper identifies three interlocking domains of exclusion design-level invisibility, organizational bias, and operational gatekeeping that sustain inequities even within “inclusive” frameworks. The findings reveal that while integrated, gender-transformative interventions have yielded significant empowerment outcomes, their effectiveness remains contingent upon deliberate intersectional inclusion mechanisms. The paper concludes by proposing an Intersectional Social Work Framework for policy and practice, emphasizing disaggregated monitoring, participatory accountability, and institutional reflexivity as preconditions for truly transformative empowerment.