India

Citation:

Holzberg, Billy, and Priya Raghavan. 2020. “Securing the Nation through the Politics of Sexual Violence: Tracing Resonances between Delhi and Cologne.” International Affairs 96 (5): 1189–208.

Authors: Billy Holzberg, Priya Raghavan

Abstract:

Postcolonial and black feminist scholars have long cautioned against the dangerous proximity between the politics of sexual violence and the advancement of nationalist and imperial projects. In this article, we uncover what it is in particular about efforts to address sexual violence that makes them so amenable to exclusionary nationalist projects, by attending to the political aftermaths of the rape of Jyoti Singh in Delhi in 2012, and the cases of mass sexual abuse that took place during New Year's Eve in Cologne in 2015. Tracing the nationalist discourses and policies precipitated in their wake, we demonstrate how across both contexts, the response to sexual violence was ultimately to augment the securitizing power and remit of the state—albeit through different mechanisms, and while producing different subjects of/for surveillance, control and regulation. We highlight how in both cases it is through contemporary resonances of a persistent (post)colonial echo—which enmeshes the normative female body with the idea of the nation—that sexual abuse becomes an issue of national security and the politics of sexual violence becomes tethered to exclusionary nationalisms. Revealing the more general, shared, rationalities that bind the nation to the normative female body while attending to the located political reverberations that make this entanglement so affectively potent in the distinct contexts of India and Germany helps distinguish and amplify transnational and intersectional feminist approaches to sexual violence that do not so readily accommodate nationalist ambitions.

Topics: Coloniality/Post-Coloniality, Feminisms, Gender, Women, Intersectionality, Nationalism, Security, Sexual Violence, Rape, Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, SV against Women Regions: Asia, South Asia, Europe, Central Europe Countries: Germany, India

Year: 2020

Citation:

Chowdhry, Prem. 2017. Understanding Women's Land Rights: Gender Discrimination in Ownership. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE.

Author: Prem Chowdhry

Annotation:

Table of Contents:
1. Editor's Introduction, Persisting Gender Discrimination in Land Rights
Prem Chowdhry

2. Land Rights and Land Access to Women in Andhra Pradesh
E. Revathi

3. Engendering Tribal Land Rights for Gendering the Land: A Case Study Among Apatani and Nyishi Communities
Rimi Tadu

4. Gender Issues in Landownership in Chhattisgarh: Existing Land Laws, Policies, and Practices
Ramesh Sharma

5. Women and Land Rights in the Context of Legal Propertied Equality in Goa
Ritu Dewan

6. Women Empowerment Through Landownership Rights: Critical Assessment of Their Status in Gujarat
Itishree Pattnaik

7. Gendering the Landownership Question in Jammu and Kashmir
Abha Chauhan

8. Understanding Women and Land Rights in Jharkhand
M. N. Karna

9. Land, Land Rights, and Women in Maharashtra
Ritu Dewan

10. Women's Access and Ownership of Land: A Case of Mizoram State in India
Saroj Arora

11. Gender and Land Relations in Nagaland: Emerging Issues
Khunenchu Magh

12. Persisting Inequalities: Gender and Land Rights in Rajasthan
Kanchan Mathur

13. Locating Gender in Land Rights Discourse of Sikkim
Sohel Firdos

14. Women's Land Rights in the Context of Neo-liberal Tamil Nadu
Ranjani K. Murthy

15. Gender Justice and Law: A Gender-specific Study of Landownership in Uttarakhand
Indu Pathak

Topics: Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Indigenous, Land Tenure, Rights, Indigenous Rights, Land Rights Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: India, Pakistan

Year: 2017

Citation:

Ray, Sawmya. 2015. "Of Vulnerability and Coercion: A Study of Sex Trafficking in Assam." Sociological Bulletin 64 (3): 305-24.

Author: Sawmya Ray

Abstract:

This paper discusses the political, economic, and socio-cultural context within which trafficking of women and girls take place for commercial sexual exploitation in Assam. Specifically, it examines the relation between existing gender norms, prevailing conflict, and sex trafficking. It is based on data collected from rescued trafficked women, state and non-state anti-trafficking personnel, and case studies collected from NGOs. It argues that gendered norms intersect with existing political economy factors to doubly disadvantage women vis-à-vis trafficking, both during times of normalcy and conflict.

Keywords: Assam, gender norms, sex trafficking, sex work, violence

Topics: Economies, Conflict, Gender, Women, Girls, NGOs, Sexual Violence, Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, Trafficking, Sex Trafficking Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: India

Year: 2015

Citation:

Cairns, Maryann R., Cassandra L. Workman, and Indrakshi Tandon. 2017. "Gender Mainstreaming and Water Development Projects: Analyzing Unexpected Enviro-Social Impacts in Bolivia, India, and Lesotho." Gender, Place & Culture 24 (3): 325-42.

Authors: Maryann R. Cairns, Cassandra L. Workman, Indrakshi Tandon

Abstract:

Keywords: women, water supply, equity and inclusion, NGOs, development, Mujeres, provisión de agua, equidad e inclusión, ONG, desarrollo, 女性, 水资源供给, 平等与包容, 非政府组织, 发展

Topics: Development, Environment, Gender, Women, Gender Mainstreaming, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equity, Governance, Infrastructure, Water & Sanitation, Livelihoods, NGOs Regions: Africa, Southern Africa, Americas, South America, Asia, South Asia Countries: Bolivia, India, Lesotho

Year: 2017

Citation:

Govindan, Mini, Debajit Palit, Rashmi Murali, and Deepa Sankar. 2019. “Gender in Electricity Policymaking in India, Nepal and Kenya.” In Energy Justice Across Borders, edited by Gunter Bombaerts, Kirsten Jenkins, Yekeen A. Sanusi, and Wang Guoyu, 111-35. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Authors: Mini Govindan, Debajit Palit, Rashmi Murali, Deepa Sankar

Abstract:

Electricity is regarded as a basic amenity fundamental to improving human well-being and overall economic development. It also contributes to improving gender parity and social inclusion, especially in situations where women are challenged by harsh living conditions. This chapter examines how gender issues that were considered are addressed in the policies related to electricity in India, Kenya, and Nepal. The analysis reveals that whilst more than half of the reviewed documents were devoid of any explicit mention of gender concerns, an increasing number of electricity policies are now reflecting gender considerations. The predominantly “gender-blind” approach towards the potential benefits of electricity access emanates from a reluctance to explicitly acknowledge gender based differences in needs in creating equitable outcomes. The assumption that electricity access itself is enough for associated benefits to trickle down, that too equitably for men and women, stems from limited awareness. This is aggravated further by the absence of documented evidence on the merit of including gender elements in electrification policies and programmes. Based on the review of existing electricity policies, this chapter provides specific recommendations for incorporating gender in the electricity policies with a view to support and address the broader energy justice concerns. 

Keywords: electricity, gender, women, policies, energy justice, India, Nepal, Kenya

Topics: Development, Gender, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equity, Households, Infrastructure, Energy, Justice Regions: Africa, East Africa, Asia, South Asia Countries: India, Kenya, Nepal

Year: 2019

Citation:

Reddy, Tada Prabhakar. 2019. “Land Rights of Women: A Study of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana States, India.” Journal of Land and Rural Studies 8 (1): 1-21

Author: Tada Prabhakar Reddy

Abstract:

Empowerment of women takes place through structural changes in women’s lives such as provision of land rights, promotion of non-farm employment, self-employment and support to unleash their potential of entrepreneurial qualities and their participation in decision making at various levels. The initiatives undertaken by the Government such as promotion of rural livelihoods (NRLM) and wage employment (MGNREGS) resulted in enhancement of livelihoods and economic freedom to women. The need for the study arises from the fact that ensuring effective and independent land rights for women is critical as it can serve multiple functions in rural women’s lives and empower them to challenge the socio-economic and political inequalities prevalent in rural semi-feudal society.

The present study while looking at the situation of land rights of women covered five districts from two states, examined the efficacy of ‘Bhoomi’ initiative and studied the processes of securing land rights by eliciting the perceptions of stakeholders in a non-survey method supported by secondary data. The data from Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty of state governments established that the para-legal assistance strategy and Bhoomi Nyaya Sahaya Kendram initiative helped poor women to secure land rights and improve their status significantly. The study found that the initiative of land purchase by the government helped poor women to access land while gender mainstreaming in government departments was a felt need. It is a classic example of ensuring land rights of poor women and thus improving their status and livelihoods among others.

Keywords: land rights, gender equality, inheritance, legal assistance and land purchase

Topics: Agriculture, Gender, Women, Livelihoods, Rights, Land Rights Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: India

Year: 2019

Citation:

Sunikka-Blank, Minna, Ronita Bardhan, and Anika Nasra Haque. 2019. “Gender, Domestic Energy and Design of Inclusive Low-Income Habitats: A Case of Slum Rehabilitation Housing in Mumbai, India.” Energy Research & Social Science 49 (March): 53–67.

Authors: Minna Sunikka-Blank, Ronita Bardhan, Anika Nasra Haque

Abstract:

Women's involvement in decision-making in domestic energy remains an under-researched area, especially in the urban context. This research adopts a gendered perspective in exploring slum rehabilitation housing in India. Based on a household survey and a focus group discussion (FGD), women’s household and working practices are explored in interview narratives and systems analysis. The findings show that the relocation to slum re- habilitation housing (SRH) has radically changed women’s household routines (cooking, comfort, childrearing, working and entertainment practices) and that women are more affected by the relocation than men. Changed practices, poor design of SRH and lack of outdoor space have radically increased electricity use and living costs in all the surveyed households. The economic pressure forces women into lowly paid jobs or informal economy, creating a vicious circle where women’s time poverty further reduces their social capital and opportunities for self-development in terms of education or formal employment. A comparison of SRH typologies shows that building design has great influence both on gendered use of space and electricity use, advocating a courtyard typology. Further, interviews with policy-makers reveal a dis-juncture between the occupant realities and the policy objectives. The paper argues that gender equality can and should be influenced through energy and housing policies and offers a conceptual framework for inclusive SRH to address this dis-juncture.

Keywords: Gender, domestic energy use, inequality, design, slum rehabilitation housing

Topics: Economies, Informal Economies, Education, Gender, Gender Analysis, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Households, Infrastructure, Energy Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: India

Year: 2019

Citation:

Clancy, Joy, Fareeha Ummar, Indira Shakya, and Govind Kelkar. 2007. “Appropriate Gender-Analysis Tools for Unpacking the Gender-Energy-Poverty Nexus.” Gender & Development 15 (2): 241–57.

Authors: Joy Clancy, Fareeha Ummar, Indira Shakya, Govind Kelkar

Abstract:

In rural and low-income urban households, energy is ‘women’s business’: women are responsible for providing energy, and use it for domestic chores and productive activities. However, the poor quality fuels many women use contribute to their time poverty, ill health, and level of drudgery. Despite these negative impacts, energy policy remains gender-blind. This can be attributed to the invisibility of women’s needs to energy planners, stemming from a lack of appropriate gender-analysis tools to meet the particular data requirements of the energy sector. This article analyses why standard gender tools do not provide appropriate gender-disaggregated energy data, and describes a set of tools that have been developed for that purpose. The paper concludes with an evaluation of recent experiences testing the tools in Pakistan, India, and Nepal.

Topics: Economies, Poverty, Gender, Women, Gender Analysis, Households, Infrastructure, Energy Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: India, Nepal, Pakistan

Year: 2007

Citation:

Mohideen, Reihana, Pankaj Batra, and Prabhjot Khan. 2020. “Low-Carbon Energy Transition in India: Implications for Gender Equality and Social Inclusion.” IEEE Technology and Society Magazine 39 (1): 76-84.

Authors: Reihana Mohideen, Pankaj Batra, Prabhjot Khan

Abstract:

The Government of India has undertaken the ambitious target of 175-GW installed capacity of renewable power by 2022 as part of its climate treaty commitments. This will amount to 37% of projected installed capacity, second to coal and lignite (45%) and more than hydropower (11%). It has also undertaken a program of universal electricity access to all through the scheme called "Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana" or "Saubhagya".

Keywords: government, employment, gender issues, wind power generation, biomass, capacity planning

Topics: Environment, Climate Change, Gender, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Infrastructure, Energy Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: India

Year: 2020

Citation:

Shailaja, R. 2000. “Women, Energy and Sustainable Development.” Energy for Sustainable Development 4 (1): 45–64.

Author: R. Shailaja

Abstract:

Summary:
"Sustainable development is an equitable, empowering, environmentally sound, economically viable process of growth. Energy is the key indicator of sustainable development. About 74% of the population of India live in rural areas. 80% of their energy needs are derived from biomass. About 92% of this energy is consumed in cooking activity. Women play a major role in biofuel management. Rural women's perspective in sustainable development is therefore critical.

Declining biofuel resources, poor quality of the available biofuels and inefficient devices have pushed women into greater hardships. This paper examines the role of rural women in biomass management. The energy resources that rural women use, the strategy that the government and other organisations have adopted to alleviate rural energy problems and how these strategies have benefited women and improved their quality of life, the importance of incorporating the concept of ‘gender and development’ in alternative energy strategies to achieve the objectives of sustainable development are discussed in this paper" (Shailaja 2000, 45).

Topics: Development, Environment, Gender, Women, Households, Infrastructure, Energy Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: India

Year: 2000