Gender and Poverty

This piece was submitted as part of an e-discussion on ‘Women and Poverty’ which was organised by the UNDP and UN/DESA between the 11th of  January and 12th of  February, 2010.                                    
 
There is no doubt that women have been given a centre stage in the poverty alleviation process even though this can be questioned on a number of grounds. This increasing attention is demonstrated in the enormous emphasis on women when it comes to enterprise development, microfinancing activities and other poverty alleviation interventions. However, these interventions have mostly been women-centred rather than gender centred; this phenomenon has compelled many feminists to view women as being used as instruments of poverty alleviation strategies. Unfortunately many of those who argue in this direction do not provide alternative strategies through which women can champion the course of poverty reduction without being seen as a means to an end. One backlash of this women-centred approach to reducing poverty has been the increasing violence of all forms against women. Thus, whilst assessing how poverty alleviation strategies have impacted on the lives of women, there is also the need to remodel such strategies (at least to involve men) so as to avoid such and other backlashes.

In Ghana, the changes in the political landscape have also brought in its wake increasing participation of women in local politics most especially at the grass root level. This is demonstrated in the rising number of women as representatives of local assembly at the district level even though this has not translated into significant changes in the number of legislations (both at bye-laws and national laws) that continue to perpetuate the differential level of poverty among men and women. The rising number of girls getting education is also translating into increasing number of women being employed into the formal sector (mostly to the benefits of the elites). This development is as a result of the emphasis on the girl child education by both the government and NGOs. The establishment of the national health insurance and the free maternal health for pregnant women, the passage of the Intestate Law (even before the Beijing conference) as well as the passage of the controversial Domestic Violence Law which serves as a shield against violence on women have been some of the developments since the ratification of Beijing Action. Unarguably, there is more to be done in reducing poverty among women in the country.

In spite of these institutional developments, most women in Ghana are not able to take advantage of these institutional frameworks (mostly the legal aspect) which are meant to protect them against various forms of discrimination. This is partly as a result of the culture of silence and the fear of being branded a ‘misfit’ even by other women. This could also be the result of mistrust in the judiciary system. Even though some cultural practices which perpetuate poverty among women have been outlawed, there are some (e.g. witch camps) which continue to be practised, mostly with the support of women themselves.

With regards to the measurement of poverty, the parameters for measuring poverty are increasingly taking into consideration the different gender groups even though the scale is quite minute. Like most poverty studies, most of the sources of data for the Ghana Living Standard Survey are from household level and this masks the differential poverty level among the household members. Income parameters, access to social services and other indicators are measured at the household level and this makes it difficult to know the well-being of individual members of the household. It is worth noting however that poverty level among female-headed households is lower than male-headed households even though this might not be a reflection of the situation among women as individuals.

In a nutshell, at least some efforts are being made but there is the need to accelerate the speed of intervention and also the need to intensify education to mitigate discrimination against women taking into consideration, the culture and the values of the people.