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Women in Participation

What can we do about the issues that women face when it comes to water and sanitation? Participation, collaboration, inclusion, and communication!

Women have often been excluded from decision-making processes at different levels of society. Restrictions to participation include many of those discussed in previous blogs, including gender roles, land rights, and time poverty. I have also illustrated the important role that women play in relation to water, from collecting it to managing it, yet they are deemed the least important due to social norms, law, and policy bias. The male position in society is assumed to be one of monetary and societal power, in which authority is automatically awarded and assumed. They are “allocated non-domestic duties such as decision-making, breadwinning and others, all of which belong to the public sector.” This in turn leads to women being dismissed, ignored, or forgotten as they are not assumed to be part of the discussion around water issues and management. Implementing more gender and social inclusion measures will allow for more sustainable and cooperative management of transboundary water resources. 

Why is participation important?

Participation allows for the collaboration of different stakeholders; put simply, if you are not there to raise your issues, who will? Both men and women are needed to participate in decision making as they will have different experiences as a result of gendered roles. Therefore, collective participation, in which different backgrounds and genders are represented, is needed not only to provide a platform to voice problems but also a way of proposing and improving solutions. In fact, women’s participation is one of the greatest factors associated with water project effectiveness, because women play a critical role as water users, and water-related decisions must be linked to water users’ needs and struggles at the grassroots level. However, even in cases where women are sat at the table, their voices remain unheard. 

Case Study: Tanzania

Programmes aimed at empowering women or increasing participation often attempt to redefine societal roles. This is needed to allow women to be heard as there is a fear of being judged for being outspoken or ‘speaking out of line’, which challenges norms including that women’s contributions complicate and lengthen community decision-making. For instance, during Uplifting Women’s Participation in Water-Related Decision-Making intervention, women who spoke in village meetings experienced sanctions for disrespect and outspokenness and their husbands were teased for being “controlled.” This shows that although programmes can help increase confidence and provide women with the right tools, local norms and mentalities, they can also limit their success. This then explains why local committees are overwhelmingly dominated by male members of the community and why women may feel sceptical about participating.

Therefore, there is no quick or simple fix to the lack of female participation or representation. Instead, governments should continue implementing legal requirements for participation, such as having female committee members but also monitor the level of authority and power they are given. Such changes take time, but by educating males on the importance of women’s participation, this time can be reduced.

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