Gender &

Development

October 21-2010

• “I was really surprised when I was told that my grandmother did not come to see me till a month after my birth”.

• I was born seven years after my only sister Chandranshu and my birth was a big disappointment for her,"

• ……………Saina Nehwal

India has one of the lowest sex ratios in the world

• Sex ratio:

Japan 1041

USA 1029

Indonesia 1004

Bangladesh 953

China 944

India 933

Reasons for the skewed sex ratioSTRONG preference for sons over daughters exists in

the Indian subcontinent.Female infanticide and foeticide1 out of every 3 girls does not live to see her 15th

birthday.Transfer of reproductive technology.It is estimated that a dowry death occurs in India

every 93 minutes.The NCRB statistics show that 91,202 dowry

deaths were reported in the country from January 1, 2001 to December 31 2012.

Haryana-highest discrimination

• Haryana has the dubious distinction of having the worst male-female ratio among all states while Kerala fares the best.

• According to the 2011 Census, the number of females per 1000 males in Haryana in 2011 stands at 879

Women Achievers

????? MANY MORE ELIMINATED BEFORE THEY COULD ……….

Sex and Gender

• Sex refers to the biological characteristics that categorise someone as either female or male;

• GENDER REFERS TO THE SOCIALLY DETERMINED ROLES/ IDEAS AND PRACTICES OF WHAT IT IS TO BE FEMALE OR MALE

Selected concepts central to Gender and Development thinking

1. Culture • The distinctive patterns of ideas, beliefs, and

norms which characterise the way of life and relations of a society or group within a society

2. Patriarchy

• Systemic societal structures that institutionalise male physical, social and economic power over women.

• male is the primary authority figure central to social organization and the central roles of political leadership, moral authority, and control of property, and where fathers hold authority over women and children.

3.Gender Relations

• Hierarchical relations of power between women and men that tend to disadvantage women

4. Gender Discrimination

• The systematic, unfavourable treatment of individuals on the basis of their gender, which denies them rights, opportunities or resources

5.Gender Division of labour

• The socially determined ideas and practices which define what roles and activities are deemed appropriate for women and men

6.Gender Equality and Equity• Gender equality refers to equal access to

social goods, services and resources and equal opportunities in all spheres of life for both men and women. When there is gender inequality, it is women that are more likely to be disadvantaged and marginalised.

• Women and men should not only be given equal access to resources and equal opportunities, but they should also be given the means of benefiting from this equality.

7.Gender Needs

• Shared and prioritised needs identified by women that arise from their common experiences as a gender

8.Gender Training

• A facilitated process of developing awareness and capacity on gender issues, to bring about personal or organisational change for gender equality

9.Gender Violence

• Any act or threat by men or male-dominated institutions, that inflicts physical, sexual, or psychological harm on a woman or girl because of their gender

10.Women’s Empowerment

• A ‘bottom-up’ process of transforming gender power relations, through individuals or groups developing awareness of women’s subordination and building their capacity to challenge it

11.Women’s Human Rights

• The recognition that women’s rights are human rights and that women experience injustices solely because of their gender

Gender&

Development

Two approaches

1. Women in Development

2. Gender and Development

The WID (or Women in Development) approach

• The WID (or Women in Development) approach calls for greater attention to women in development policy and practice, and emphasises the need to integrate them into the development process

Gender and Development

• In contrast, the GAD (or Gender and Development) approach focuses on the socially constructed basis of differences between men and women and emphasises the need to challenge existing gender roles and relations

• The main objectives of a Gender and Development approach (GAD) are to strengthen the effectiveness of development work in improving the situation of both women and men, and achieving progress towards social and gender equality.

• The focus is on social and gender equality as an objective, rather than women as a target group.

7. Gender Analysis

• The systematic gathering and examination ofinformation on gender differences and social relations in order to identify, understand and redress inequities based on gender.

1. Gender Roles or Harvard framework2. Social Relations Analysis.

Gender Roles or Harvard framework

• The Gender Roles framework focuses on describing women’s and men’s roles and their relative access to and control over resources.

• The analysis aims to anticipate the impacts of projects on both productive and reproductive roles.

• It takes the household, rather than the breadth of institutions, as the unit ofanalysis

Social Relations Analysis.

• This analysis moves beyond the household to include the community, market,and state institutions and so involves collecting data at all these levels.

• It uncovers differences between women, divided by other aspects of social differentiation such as class, race and ethnicity.

• The aim is to understand the dynamics of gender relations indifferent institutional contexts and thereby to identify women’s bargaining position and formulate strategies to improve this.