Gender, Poverty and Rights Ranjani K.Murthy prepared for Vishtar Gender and Diversity course, March 23rd, 2008

Objectives At the end of the session the participants understand women’s poverty is a failure of ownership, production and exchange entitlements mediated by social relations and institutions would be familiar with the debates on gender, poverty and rights the need to address women’s poverty from a rights lens strategies within Asia to address women’s poverty and from a rights lens some comments on poverty of transgender and inter-sexed people

Questions for case study What are the dimensions of poverty of women and girls or transgender person in the case study? How is their poverty different from that of men and boys in the case study? What are the causes of poverty of women and girls or transgender person in the case study? How are the causes of their poverty different from that of men and boys in the case study? Do you see caste, ethnicity, religion, gender/sexual orientation etc having a role to play with regard to the experience of poverty of women and girls and transgender person concerned?

Women’s poverty and poverty of LGBTI people Dimensions – lack of access to basic needs food, water, clothing, shelter, education, and health care. Causes- failure of women’s and LBGTI people’s entitlements-ownership, production, exchange

Causes of women’s poverty and that of LGBTI

and disasters- acute failures and Cases of poverty Conflicts and disasters- acute failures and potential for change

Focus on gender and poverty (Buvinic, 1983)

Stand on the debate in South Asia For - pay attention to gender and poverty Girls and women in poor households in SA face poverty more intensely Poor WHH poorer than poor MHH Poor households have more females than males Women have lesser means to overcome poverty Women – non poor- slip into poverty in gender specific ways and cope more adversely For rescue gender from poverty trap Funding for poor women’s poverty reduction and empowerment more than for all women’s empowerment WB poor women’s empowerment programmes reduce to micro credit or using women’s labour Efficiency paradigm leaves out non efficient poor women- elderly poor and poor women with disability Non poor women bypassed in most gender programmes and CBOs LGBTI issues left out given the poor women focus

There are examples wherein the debate has been resolved Mahila Samakhya groups, India: majority poor, but non-poor women also in group- takes up women’s economic, social and political rights Women’s para-legal committee, Nepal: both poor and non poor women come together (majority poor) address gender-specific causes of poverty and women slipping into poverty Poor women groups for ‘access’ and all women’s groups for rights, India Women acid survivors’ networks, Bangladesh- both poor and non poor survivors, preventing non poor from slipping into poverty Join hands single-women’s district forum, Sri-lanka- both poor and non poor single women- action on rights of single women from non poor households so that they do not slip into poverty Blue diamond society, Nepal: takes up causes of poor and non poor LGBTI, the only country in south Asia to de-criminalise homosexuality

Not a Conclusion Every South Asian women is vulnerable to poverty in the context of deep rooted patriarchal and homophobic values Address poor women’s poverty from a rights or causal perspective – not dimensional or access Address marginalised people’s poverty from a rights perspective: dalits minorities, adivasis, migrants, elderly, disabled, LGBTIs etc. Address all non poor women’s potential poverty by including them in CBOs- not majority (not access so much) Including them in GBV survivors’/identity specific groups and support services promoting their economic, social and political rights