Gendered Perspectives on International Development

Introduction to the 40th Anniversary of Gendered Perspectives on International Development

Chelsea Wentworth, Wenda Bauchspies, Rebecca Irvine, Ashley Strong, Katie Paulot — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 00:00:00 -0400

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The Role of Water, Sanitation, Hygiene, and Gender Norms on Women’s Health: A Conceptual Framework

Rita Jalali — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 00:00:00 -0400

While the health impact of poor water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) conditions on children have been well documented there has been less focus paid to its adverse impact on women’s well-being and health (Caruso et al. 2015). In this paper, I highlight the health burden of water and sanitation insecurities for women by proposing a conceptual framework for understanding WASH-related diseases from a gender perspective, focused primarily on resource poor countries. The framework draws on feminist perspectives to examine how WASH insecure communities constrain women’s functionings and capabilities (Sen 1993). I identify eight different social-cultural pathways that fall into two synthetic constructs – gendered relations in the household and gendered presentation of the body - because they illustrate how social and cultural norms may burden women and put them at their risk of exposure to a variety of WASH-related diseases. By using the Critical Interpretive Synthesis methodology (Seers 2015; Tong et al. 2012; Barnett-Page and Thomas 2009; Dixon-Woods et al. 2006a ) I draw on research from the fields of epidemiology, medicine, and social sciences to develop this conceptual framework that connects WASH-related diseases to gender norms that oppress women. This gender analysis suggests providing women with direct financial assistance to purchase sanitary material; collecting sex-disaggregated data on sanitation access and on the health impact of gendered WASH related tasks could improve quality of life for those living with poor water and sanitation conditions.

The Influence of Gender in Refugee Camp Safety: A Case Study of Moria and Kara Tepe

Allison Pail — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 00:00:00 -0400

This paper focuses on the safety of women in refugee camps in the overcrowded and underfunded camp in Moria, on the island of Lesvos, Greece. The current refugee crisis in Europe has shown unprecedented numbers of forcibly displaced people, and many women and young girls are forced to flee alone or without male accompaniment. Despite their best efforts, camp managers struggle to improve female refugees’ safety in the Moria camp due to lack of adequate resources. Female refugees fear violence and sexual assault in the Moria camp and have virtually no mechanisms through which to report assault or receive assistance. Another camp on Lesvos, Kara Tepe, has a safer environment for women and young girls. A comparative analysis of the two camps alongside relevant scholarship suggests that women’s safety in refugee camps can be improved through involvement from local grassroots organizations and refugee women in decision-making processes regarding programming focused on reducing sexual and gender based violence.

Gendered Civic Epistemology

Abou Traore, Wenda Bauchspies, Wesley Shrum — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 00:00:00 -0400

This paper analyzes how public trust and reason were being negotiated within the political and scientific challenges surrounding the 2014 Ebola crisis in Guinea and Mali. Using qualitative data collected during and at the end of the crisis with local community members we explore civic epistemology as an analytic framework to interpret how women and men were sense-making to create public knowledge for their communities, families and themselves. The paper begins with the arrival of Ebola in Guinea and Mali. We discuss three themes from the interviews through the lens of civic epistemology: sources of information, causes of Ebola and hand washing to illustrate how gender roles and norms inform the stabilizing of knowledge. Our examples illustrate differences in civic epistemologies for women and men that are shaped and informed by their roles, responsibilities and cultural norms as females and males.

A Comparison of Zika Incidence and Access to Reproductive Healthcare in El Salvador and Cuba During the Latin American Zika Epidemic

Georgia Artzberger — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 00:00:00 -0400

The 2015-2016 Zika epidemic in Latin America was significant in how it interacted with women’s healthcare in the region. The paper investigates the connection between access to reproductive healthcare and transmission of Zika virus, by comparing rates of Zika incidence and congenital Zika syndrome in El Salvador and Honduras. By looking at access to contraceptives and legal abortions, El Salvador is considered to have limited access to reproductive healthcare, whereas Cuba is considered to have increased access. Additionally, El Salvador’s incidence of Zika infection and CZS is higher for the region, while Cuba has some of the lowest rates. Although there are many factors to consider why infection and CZS rates are higher in El Salvador, access to reproductive healthcare should be considered.

COVID‐19 and MENA: Governance, Geopolitics, and Gender

Val Moghadam — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 00:00:00 -0400

The MENA region has features that make it an instructive site to study the gendered impacts of COVID-19. Healthcare systems are functional and some of excellent quality, but challenges remain in many countries, such as: extremely high out-of-pocket expenditures; gaps in quality between the private and public health systems; ill-served rural populations; and budgets that provide more funding to the military than healthcare. Some countries also have large populations of refugees or migrant workers, experienced conflict, harsh sanctions, or suffered economic difficulties even before the pandemic hit. Due to its relatively late demographic transition, most MENA countries still have large populations of young people and smaller populations of the elderly (unlike most Western countries). Finally, MENA countries have very high rates of youth unemployment, especially female unemployment, along with low levels of female labor-force participation. As in other countries, the healthcare sector employs many women at different levels; and women also care for children and the elderly in their own families. But the region is known for the multiplicity of gender-discriminatory laws, policies, and norms. This paper examines the various institutional, governance, and socio-demographic issues from a gender perspective, to show how different categories of women across countries are being affected by COVID-19, with some suggestions for social investments and a new gender contract.

Mapping Gender Roles in the Wheat Value Chain of Central Afghanistan: Evaluating Roles, Constraints, and Opportunities

Tue, 25 Jun 2024 00:00:00 -0400

The contributions of women in agriculture are often invisible or otherwise poorly recognized, especially in settings such as that of rural Afghanistan, where women’s work is largely home-based (Wilcox, et al., 2015). This mixed-methods study maps gender roles in the wheat value chain through key informant interviews and focus groups with 120 respondents from small and medium-size wheat farms in four key wheat producing districts of Kabul Province, Afghanistan. Constant comparative analysis was used to draw results from qualitative data, with member checks to strengthen trustworthiness (Merriam and Tisdell, 2015). Results indicate that both men and women view women’s roles as integral to adding value to wheat at various stages, including storage, washing and seed selection, cultivation, and harvest. Still, women are often overlooked by research and extension programming. Recommendations for practitioners and policymakers are further presented.

Traffic in Asian Women

Chloe Damon — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 00:00:00 -0400

Book Review of Readings in Sexualities from Africa

Samantha Smith — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 00:00:00 -0400

A book review of Readings in Sexualities from Africa edited by Rachel Spronk and Thomas Hendricks, and published by Indiana University Press in 2020.

Gender and work in global value chains: Capturing the gains?

Abou Traore — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 00:00:00 -0400