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

2. 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

3. 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?

4. 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

5. Causes of women’s poverty and that of LGBTI

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

7. Focus on gender and poverty (Buvinic, 1983)

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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