benefit levels are often too low to provide women with financial independence or a greater say in household decisionmaking evaluations of ghanas livelihood empowerment against poverty leap programme for example found that in spite of transfers being directed to women decisionmaking remained with husbands brothers and sons in this case the low level of benefits was compounded by irregular and inconsistent payments the risk of stigmatization is greatest where gender inequalities intersect with other axes of disadvantage such as class ethnicity disability location or race