awareness

1. Using a Gender Lens:
A Gender Perspective in
Environmental Management
Dr. Abhijit Dutta
Department of Zoology
Ranchi University

2. A
MEDICAL
METAPHOR

3. Lens is that part of the eye behind
the pupil that enables us to focus. It
focuses light rays on the retina,
which with light sensitive cells,
transmits the images to the brain
through the optic nerves.

4. CATARACT – is a disease of the eye that causes opacity of the
crystalline lens or its capsule; thus, this can impair or destroy
one’s vision and MUST BE REMOVED.

5. Using a gender lens to focus on development
issues, like UEM, may also require a greater
sensitivity and consciousness of some
blinders and covers (like cataracts and
opacities) that impair our view of the world
and social relations.
Traditional and stereotypical views of
society and gender relations have to be
changed, and new perspectives and
strategies employed.

6. •What is a gender perspective applied
to UEM?
•Why is gender an important concern
in environmental protection and
management?
•What are the consequences of using
or not using a gender perspective?

7. Sex and Gender:
How do they differ?
SEX – biological characteristics of a person that indicate
whether one is male or female, difference only in their sex
chromosomes (XY and XX)
GENDER – socially constructed roles and socially learned
behaviors and expectations associated with females and males.
These roles and behaviors are:
LEARNED
Changeable over time
Have wide
variations
within and
between
cultures

8. Men
Versus
Women

9. The advocates that women are
oppressed

10. 70% of 1.3 billion people who live in absolute poverty around the
globe, are women. For them, poverty not only mean scarcity and
want, but also rights denied, opportunities curtailed and voices
silenced.
• Women work 2/3rd of the world’s working hours (UN) for
sustaining life – growing food, cooking, raising children, caring
for the elderly, maintaining a house, hauling water, without pay.
This ceaseless cycle of labor rarely shows up in economic
analyses, earning only 10 percent of the world’s income -
invariably low-pay, low-status positions.
• Women own less than 1 percent of the world’s property. they
have no assets to leverage for economic stability and cannot invest
in their own or their children’s futures.

12. Why a GENDER LENS?
The realities of patriarchy…male
dominance.
“Although there are considerable variations
in the respective roles of women and men in
different cultures, there is no known
instance of a society in which females are
more powerful than men…”
Anthony Giddens,1989
(The most prominent modern contributors in the field of
sociology)

13. The belief is that these should be
addressed by advocacy not policy.
But part comes from “real (or feigned)
ignorance about the nature of gender
disparities and the costs of these
disparities to people’s well-being and
countries’ prospects for development.”
Gender inequality “has undermined the effectiveness of
development policies in fundamental ways”.
But why has the gender issue remained marginal
in policy dialogue and decision-making?
In part “the
neglect comes
from the
policymakers’
reluctance to
deal with what
they deem
inextricably
associated with
societal norms,
religion or
cultural
traditions.”

14. A Recap:
Highlights of the
Struggle for Gender Equality

15. 1995 UNDP Human Development Report
“One of the defining movements of the 20th century
has been the
relentless struggle for gender equality,
led mostly by women,
but supported by growing numbers of men.
When this struggle finally succeeds
– as it must –
it will mark a great milestone in
human progress…”
Human development, if not engendered, is endangered.

17. 1995 Beijing Platform for Action (PFA)
EQUALITY
between women and men
is a matter of human rights
and
a condition for social justice
and is also
a necessary and fundamental prerequisite
for EQUALITY, DEVELOPMENT and PEACE.

18. Why Does Gender Matter?
1. Environmental institutions are gendered
2. Individual environmental behaviour is gendered
3. Men and women have different relationships to the
environment
4. Environmental degradation has a different impact
on men and women
5. Environmental action / conflict / discourse is
gendered.

19. Empirical Evidence:
Men and women think and act differently:
Women tend to have a higher environmental
awareness than men
Women show more willingness to act for preserving
the environment
Women are more sceptical towards technological
risks
Women act more environmentally friendly:
 they buy more environmentally sound products
 they eat less meat
 their mobility behaviour is less environmentally
harmful

20. Empirical Evidence:
Women are particularly vulnerable to chemical
pollutants…
•Most of these chemicals are toxic, non-biodegradable,
and bioaccumulative…
•They have been proven more harmful to women, as
they accumulate in fatty tissues which are more
abundant in women’s bodies.
•They also have grave effects on pregnant women, as
they can be passed on to the unborn
•Example: Tchernobyl Accident, Bhopal Gas Leak, etc...

21. Focus on Some Realities
Male Advocates

22. INVISIBLE
Gender concerns
are NOT specified
and
benefits
are NOT gender-based.

24. Levels in the environmental agenda:
critical and secondary issues
Critical / global
Depletion of the ozone layer
Global climate changes
Accumulation of toxic chemical or
radioactive wastes coupled with the
exhaustion of sinks
Human overappropriation of biomass
Loss of biodiversity

25. Localized / secondary Environmental
Problems
Acid rain
Air and water pollution
Desertification and other forms of land degradation
Depletion of natural resources
Floods
Individual instances of nuclear accidents and
radioactive contamination
Others:
 the use of inappropriate technologies,
 maladministration of natural resources,
 population growth,
 consumption patterns,
 Poverty

26. Interactions between gender and
sustainability
• Women as victims: the impact of environmental change
on the roles of women and men
• Women as resource managers
• Gender relations, population and the environment
• Empowerment and its impact on sustainability
• The rural and traditional loci of the gender /
sustainability agenda

27. Truth
Women are stronger than
men in many aspects:
•Emotionally
•Psychologically
•Immunologically
Question
•Why then they are treated as second class citizens?
• Why they should be treated as a commodity of enjoyment, use
or abuse?
•Why don’t they recognize their own strengths to fight against this
gender discrimination?

28. Gender relations and sustainability
women's empowerment, though clearly a justifiable
objective in and of itself, can make a limited
contribution to long-term sustainability
though empowerment is a justifiable objective in and of
itself, it is insufficient to guarantee long-term
sustainability.
it is important to take women into account, but there is
also a need to include men in the analyses, as well as
the relations between men and women
it is essential to promote both empowerment as well as
the cultural traits which benefit sustainability

29. GENDER ISSUES
refer to problems
that women and
men experience as a
result of societies’
definitions an
expectations about
feminine and
masculine roles,
rights and
capacities.
Women and men
are BOXED into
situations, which
constrain their
capacity TO DO
and TO BE and
hinder their
potential to
attain a full and
satisfying life

30. Gender and the Environment
Human beings are at the center for sustainable
development. They are entitled to a healthy and
productive life in harmony with nature.
•Gender concerns should be Integrated and
perspectives in policies and programs for sustainable
development
•Mechanisms should be strengthened or established
at the national, regional and international levels to
assess the impact of development and environmental
policies on both women and men

32. “If gender is to be everybody’s issue, then
we need to find constructive ways of
working with men as well as with women
to build the confidence to do things
differently…it is time to move behind the
old fixed ideas about gender roles and
about universal male domination. Time to
find ways of thinking and analyzing
gender that makes sense of the
complexity of people’s lives…”
(Cornwall 1997).
Missing Masculinity:
Bringing Men into Gender and Development

33. Gender roles need to be acknowledged and
respected by development agencies involved in
environmental programs as lack of knowledge or
consideration for gender issues can discourage or
inhibit development efforts if not handled wisely.
Development programs need to capitalise on the
different ways in which men and women utilise
their natural resources.

34. Equality for better environmental Management
should be based on following points:
• Women and men are part of their environment
• Women and men’s perception of their environment is
a reflection of their gender division of labour
• Gender roles can change with economic development
• Gender issues need to be identified by conducting an
EIA before and after project implementation

35. •The effect of a development project on the multiple
roles of men and women must be considered to avoid
overburdening them
• Natural resources are sources of livelihood for
community members who are needed to be consulted
about any development efforts that target their
resources;
• Cultural values must be considered in development
programs because they influence the roles of men and
women.

36. A
GENDER
Perspective
Takes into serious account the existing belief system,
roles and responsibilities of men and women.
Men and women do not necessarily have the same
access to resources.
Open-mindedness is needed.
Aim is to ensure the fullest possible participation of
both men and women.

37. The Slogan should be
“ We will continue the struggle
for a peaceful, just and healthy
planet for all, in a spirit of full
cooperation and global
solidarity… we call upon all
concerned to step up
action…Together, as agents of
change, bound together by our
commitments to justice,
equality and peace, we can
sustain our environment, and
our common future.”

38. Hope for a better
tomorrow