Page - 12 - in Water, Energy, and Environment - A Primer

asocialandnotabiologicalconcept: forourpurposesit refers toa set of relations which define social function and power on the basis of gender identity. This implies that gender-based relations can be changed. While these relations are not inherently oppressive, all too often they have been oppressive of women. Where gender equity is missing – that is, where women andmen do not have equal opportunity to realize their full human rights and potential – there are serious negative consequences for development and for addressing issues related towater scarcity. Women head one-third of the world’s families (and more than half of the families in Latin America) and frequently are the principal water providers and income producers for their families. They are responsible for half of the world’s food production, and produce a majority of the food in most developing nations. To produce this food and have adequate sanitation for their families they must first ‘produce’ water. They do this in many cases by spending several hours a day hauling water, time that could be better spent on education, cottage industries, and community development. If safe and reliable water sources do not exist within reach, they are forced to rely on often contaminated local water supplies or pay exorbitant prices to local water vendors. This has major implications for hygiene and the spread of diseases among poor women and their families. Finally, poor women’s access to water in many communities is less than that of men because decisions are most likely made by men, and the needs of women are often ignored or undervalued. This has led to a situation where women are the poorest of the poor in many parts of the world, creating what has come to be called the ‘feminizationof poverty’. Water,Energy, andEnvironment–APrimer12