International Gender Politics: Women in Global South Essay

Introduction

Since the beginning of humanity, women have never been able to enjoy equal status in society. The suppression of the female gender has always been present throughout the world, and its utmost presence in the global south has made many developments that could have been made in this field come to a standstill. The cultural and religious practices in the global south come with the expense of female liberty.

Even though with many advancements in women studies and with the efforts of the human rights activist, women are now able to get recognized in the social, economic, and political circle of the world, however in the global south the women lack basic social, economic and legal rights. The level of these disadvantages the women face in these countries range from low to high depending on the urban and rural situations. Women face more hardships in the rural areas than in the urban areas (Chant, 3-5, 2007).

The subordinate role of females in the global south enables minimal maintenance of their urban structure. They help in raising the children where there are no nurseries, they help in cleaning the homes and do all sorts of housekeeping chores where there are no servants available, they help in repairing homes and unpaid transportation of goods and materials and most of all they are there to raise the family as a whole and bring a cultured group of people in the society (Castells, 1978:177-8).

Even though, as mentioned above, women do most of the household work and are responsible for producing more than half of the food in many countries in the global south, they still lack basic necessities of life. In this essay, it will be shown how women in the global south are deprived of their right, their right to even live. With various points put forward in defense of the main questions, which is “Is development necessary to improve the situation of women in the global south?” the paper will identify the need to make necessary improvements in these areas. It is definitely true that certain measures have to be taken in the global south in order to improve the condition of the women in these countries and therefore this study will put forward ideas which can be implemented to improve the situation.

The situation of women in the developing nations

The role of women in any society is considered as an important one as long as the developing nations are considered. The situation of the relatively weaker gender is quite strong in these countries, unlike the situation in the underdeveloped or the nations of the global south. Many NGOs and even the government is taking a keen interest in the research and development of women’s issues in these countries. As women play a very important role in the development of a family structure, which in turn is the basis of a civilized nation, therefore many international organizations are playing a very important role in developed nations to bring forward the changes required in order to give women equal opportunities.

Over the past decade, a lot of advancements for women in many sectors such as education and health have been noticed in the developed nations. For example, the World Bank came up with the “women in development” program, which provides equal opportunities to women in contrast to men. It focuses on many important issues, such as the role females play in the agricultural sector and their access to education and health. It has been noticed that due to these programs, more and more people are getting their daughters educated, and more and more females are getting bachelors and master’s degrees.

However, the developed nations have a plus point as the technological advancements in these countries have helped the females take care of their homes in a shorter span of time and hence dedicate the rest of the time to studying and other activities. The average health of females in these countries has also increased due to better health programs and the low cost of medical assistance. Safer pregnancies and contraceptives have also contributed to the better health of females in these countries.

The situation of women in the Global South

As noted above, a lot of developments have been made for women in developing nations. However, the situation in the global south, or in other words known as the third world, is unbearable for women as compared to the situation in the developing nations. The religious practices, customs, and culture of the global south are also responsible for the deterioration in the status of women.

Many initiatives have been taken to change the situation of women in the global south. 1975 was marked as the decade for women. The United Nations called it the UN decade for women and programmed many exercises to change the current situation. The millennium development program came next, and with an initiative to make a change in the way women live in these third world nations, this program tried to make a lot of change; however, little change has been noticed in more than thirty years. Even with more urbanization and people moving towards cities more than ever, the status of women remains the same. Most of the time, the women even do not go with their husbands to the cities, and even if they do, not much in their lives are changed (Chant, 5-9, 2007).

According to Woodford Berger (131, 2007), “Despite decades of struggle, large parts of the “mainstream” in all our societies, including their androcentrism and male bias, remain stubbornly intact. In fact, many of us fear that the most misogynist and oppressive structures have instead been reinforced, gaining strength from an increasingly militarized and polarized world community and the effects of conservatism and of neo-liberal economic reformism.”

At the same time, it has also been noticed that the chances of betterment in this situation are more than ever. There was little hope in the past that any developmental programs could change the current situation of women in the global south. A lot is now being done in these areas, but very little change has been noticed. Therefore, more and more developmental programs should be brought up in order to make a drastic change in these societies. As very little change is being noticed, this means that the government and the NGOs can do more, and they are not taking much interest in the issue.

Critics believe that whatever little achievement has been made, it is ‘hard-won and cannot be dismissed as being insignificant (Molyneux, 225, 2007). These little changes can be the seed for the bigger, better change. They can push the government to make more changes. Usually, the government in the underdeveloped nations usually leaves such situations as no progress has been made, but with whatever little progress has been made, they can be pushed o reconsider various policies and make amendments. It has also been noticed that many NGOs in the global south are now working towards making the conditions better for women and giving them their rights.

These NGOs have now become a part of the bigger global network of NGOs, and these now work together in a better way. Due to globalization and betterment in the communications and information technology a little ease of work can be noticed in this kind of work. The international alliances these NGOs have formed are bringing up more and more programs every day to make the current situation better (see McIlwaine and Datta, 2003; also D’Cruz and Satterthwaite, 2005).

What can be done?

A lot can be done to change the current situation. As seen from the above, the NGOs are already doing their part, however as not much results are obtained therefore more changes needs to be made. The very first important thing is that the government in these areas should now start taking interest in such situations. In many countries of the global south the government has taken keen interest in the developmental programs to ensure that the women are being their due right, however in many other countries the government is also bound by religious and cultural values.

It is now the duty of the government to come forward and take the initiative. As seen from the above discussion, even though a lot of efforts have been made, very little changes have been noticed, this indicates only one thing, that more and more efforts should be done in these areas.

The very first step of the government should be to eradicate poverty. Even though this is a long term plan, but will definitely affect the situation of women in these areas. Once poverty is eliminated and families let their daughters and the female members of their societies to get educated, it is inevitable that they will see what change it can bring in their societies. Women can bring up their kids in a better way and hence bring better citizens in the societies.

Another thing which needs attention is education. The government should make sure that the boys and girls should get at least primary education free. Schools should be setup which offer free education to the poor. For this reason, the government can check the net enrolment ratio and hence find out whether the programs they launched for free primary education were successful or not. However, the gender ratio in primary education will have to be maintained as this will determine whether the attitude of people is really changing towards women or not.

Women should be given proper seats in parliament, and they should be able to contribute to the non agricultural sector of the industry also.

The child mortality rates in such countries are usually high. The government should ensure that the women are given their sexual and reproduction rights and are given better health rights too. Violence against women should be condemned. The wage gap should be closed, which shows yet another biased attitude of the male oriented society towards women. The women should also be given their land ownership rights (UNDP, 53, 2003).

In both Urban and Rural areas, to a greater or lesser extent, women are still living in below poverty level conditions (see Tacoli, 2006). According to UNFPA (10, 2007);

“In many cases, poor urban people are no better off than poor rural people”.

Large numbers of people rely on local water supplies to relinquish their water needs. These water supplies are in the form of streams and rivers, where the local sewerage is also dumped. As females in the third world countries are responsible for bringing in water from these streams and lakes, they are more prone to diseases like dengue etc. better water supplies can ensure better health of women and men both (Chant, n.p, 1996).

Conclusion

As seen from the above discussion, the efforts made to change the situation of women in the global south were not enough, and therefore, developments are necessary to improve their situation. Many suggestions have been given which can help in programming those developmental programs to ensure that women are given their rights and have better living and health conditions.

In the above discussion, it has been shown that the countries in the global south need effective and necessary developmental programs to see that the female gender, which constitutes almost 50% of the total population and has been deprived of mere basic necessities of life is given its due right.

References

Castells, Manuel (1978) City, Class and Power (London: Macmillan).

Chant, Sylvia (1996) Gender, Urban Development and Housing (New York: UNDP, Publication Series for Habitat II, Volume 2).

Chant, Sylvia (2007). GENDER, CITIES, AND THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH.London School of Economics, Gender Institute ISSN No:1470-8515;New Working Paper Series. Web.

D’Cruz, Celine and Satterthwaite, David (2005) Building Homes. Changing Official Approaches: The Work of Urban Poor Organisations and their Federations and their Contributions to Meeting the Millennium Development Goals in Urban Areas. Poverty Reduction in Urban Areas Series, Working Paper 16 (London: International Institute for Environment and Development).

McIlwaine, Cathy and Datta, Kavita (2003) ‘From Feminising to Engendering Development’, Gender, Place and Culture, 10:4, 345-58.

Molyneux, Maxine (2007) ‘The Chimera of Success: Gender Ennui and the Changed International Policy Environment’, in Andrea Cornwall, Elizabeth Harrison and Ann Whitehead (eds) Feminisms in Development: Contradictions, Contestations and Challenges (London: Zed) 227-40.

Tacoli, Cecilia (ed.) (2006) The Earthscan Reader in Rural-Urban Linkages (London: Earthscan).

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (2003) Millennium Development Goals: National Reports Through a Gender Lens (New York: UNDP).

Woodford-Berger, Prudence (2007) ‘Gender Mainstreaming: What is it (About) and Should We Continue Doing It?’, in Andrea Cornwall, Elizabeth Harrison and Ann Whitehead (eds) Feminisms in Development: Contradictions, Contestations and Challenges (London: Zed) 122-34.