Peru

Gender, Seeds, and Biodiversity

Citation:

Sachs, Carolyn E. 1997. “Gender, Seeds, and Biodiversity.” In Women Working In The Environment. New York: Routledge.

Author: Carolyn E. Sachs

Abstract:

All over the world, declining biodiversity threatens people's livelihoods, cultures, and standards of living. Degradation of the environment, destruction of natural habitats, and changes in cultural strategies for survival contribute to the increasing loss of biodiversity and also to the impoverishment of women (Abramovitz, 1994; Shiva, 1995). Declines in biological resources often result in declining standards of living for many people in the world, especially women and the poor (Abramovitz, 1994 ). Women, in many cultural contexts, rely on diverse biological resources to provide food, clothing, housing, and other needs for their families. As access to these resources declines through environmental degradation or inequitable distribution of resources between men and women, women's workloads often increase and their ability to provide food for their families decreases. As a result of gender divisions of labor, women and men have different knowledge about plants and other biological resources (Sachs, 1996). Efforts to preserve biodiversity have generally neglected women's work and knowledge about crops and other natural resources. This chapter focuses on women's knowledge and efforts to maintain crop diversity. First, we discuss reasons for the decline in crop genetic diversity; then, we focus on two studies of seed saving in the United States and the Peruvian Andes.

Topics: Agriculture, Economies, Gender, Men, Women, Livelihoods Regions: Americas, North America, South America Countries: Peru, United States of America

Year: 1997

Negotiating Belonging and Place: An Exploration of Mestiza Women’s Everyday Resistance in Cajamarca, Peru

Citation:

Boudewijn, Inge A. M. 2020. “Negotiating Belonging and Place: An Exploration of Mestiza Women’s Everyday Resistance in Cajamarca, Peru.” Human Geography 13 (1): 40–48. 

Author: Inge A. M. Boudewijn

Abstract:

SPANISH ABSTRACT:
Desde 1993, la región de Cajamarca en Perú ha sido el hogar de la mina de oro Yanacocha, asociada con la degradación ambiental, los impactos negativos en la salud y las consecuencias socioeconómicas. Loayza (2012), estallaron protestas a gran escala en toda la región por la propuesta de la nueva mina Conga. Cada vez más, la investigación académica se dedica a reconocer las luchas socioambientales fuera de la movilización masiva y las protestas públicas; a nivel local, doméstico y cotidiano, a menudo realizado en escalas de tiempo mucho más largas. En este contexto, exploro críticamente la resistencia cotidiana de las mujeres que se identifican como mestizas en la ciudad de Cajamarca. A través de una discusión sobre cómo su resistencia en curso construye críticamente quién / qué pertenece en el lugar y quién / qué es ‘otro’ / ‘extraño’, analizo cómo movilizan los valores y conocimientos locales de género para continuar oponiéndose a la minería a gran escala en las secuelas del conflicto de la Conga.

ENGLISH ABSTRACT:
Since 1993, the Cajamarca region of Peru has been home to the Yanacocha gold mine, associated with environmental degradation, negative health impacts, and socio-economic consequences. In 2012, large-scale protests broke out across the region over the newly proposed Conga mine. Increasingly, scholarship is devoted to recognizing socio-environmental struggles outside of mass-mobilization and public protests, at the local, household and everyday level, often performed over much longer timescales. In this context, I critically explore the everyday resistance of mestiza-identifying women in Cajamarca city. Through a discussion of how their on-going resistance critically constructs who/what belongs in place and who/what is ‘other’/‘stranger’, I analyse how they mobilize gendered local values and knowledge to continue opposing large-scale mining in the aftermath of the Conga conflict.

Keywords: women, extractive industries, Andes, everyday resistance, industrias extractivas, resistencia cotidiana, minería, mining, Mujeres

Topics: Environment, Extractive Industries, Gender, Women, Health, Indigenous Regions: Americas, South America Countries: Peru

Year: 2020

Gender, Energy, and Inequalities: A Capabilities Approach Analysis of Renewable Electrification Projects in Peru

Citation:

Fernández-Baldor, Álvaro, Pau Lillo, and Alejandra Boni. 2015. “Gender, Energy, and Inequalities: A Capabilities Approach Analysis of Renewable Electrification Projects in Peru.” In Sustainable Access to Energy in the Global South: Essential Technologies and Implementation Approaches, edited by Silvia Hostettler, Ashok Gadgil, and Eileen Hazboun, 193-204. Cham: Springer.

Authors: Álvaro Fernández-Baldor, Pau Lillo, Alejandra Boni

Abstract:

Technology, despite being very important, is not the only factor that ensures the success of an intervention. There are many different elements to take into account when planning projects, especially in complex environments such as the least-developed areas of the world. However, development aid interventions have generally been focused on supplying a technological goods or services instead of focusing on people, thus missing out on the project’s potential for social transformation. This paper analyzes four renewable energy-based electrification projects implemented by the nongovernmental organization Practical Action in the rural area of Cajamarca, Peru. Using the Capabilities Approach, the research examines the effect of the projects on the things people value. It confirms that projects provide different benefits to the communities (reducing air pollution caused by candles and kerosene, improving access to communication through television and radio, providing the possibility of night study under appropriate light, etc.), but also detects an expansion of the capabilities in other areas not considered by the nongovernmental organization such as those related to religion, leisure, or community participation. However, the expansion of capabilities is different for men and women. The study reveals the limitations of interventions designed to supply technology, electrification in this particular case, which do not take into account certain elements that can cause the use of technology to contribute unequally to the expansion of people’s capabilities. The research concludes that technological projects can generate inequalities and some recommendations are presented in order to address these issues when planning interventions.

Keywords: real option, gender inequality, Capability Approach, supervisory board, practical action

Topics: Development, Gender, Infrastructure, Energy, NGOs Regions: Americas, South America Countries: Peru

Year: 2015

Engaging with Gender and Other Social Inequalities in Renewable Energy Projects

Citation:

Baruah, Bipasha, and Mini Govindan. 2015. “Engaging with Gender and Other Social Inequalities in Renewable Energy Projects.” In Sustainable Access to Energy in the Global South: Essential Technologies and Implementation Approaches, edited by Silvia Hostettler, Ashok Gadgil, and Eileen Hazboun, 189-92. Cham: Springer.

Authors: Bipasha Baruah, Mini Govindan

Abstract:

The scholarship and discourse on climate change has been dominated by natural scientists. Social scientists have only recently become involved in the debate, while natural scientists have been researching the topic for much longer. Consequently, the mainstream discourse on climate change continues to be about large-scale economic instruments and complex computer models. More recently, social scientists have pointed out the limitations of techno-centric approaches and put forward alternative frameworks such as sustainable development, climate justice, human rights, and environmental ethics for conceptualizing and operationalizing the sociocultural dimensions of climate change. They have also explored and documented some of the positive and negative consequences of adopting “green” technologies to respond to the climate crisis. However, issues related to gender equity have remained under-studied even in the work of social scientists. This chapter and the three chapters that follow (Chaps.  17– 19) are a modest contribution toward addressing this knowledge gap through empirical research conducted in Peru, South Sudan, and Nigeria to understand the gendered implications and outcomes of the development and expansion of renewable energy technologies. We hope that this research will highlight the need to engage more critically and proactively with gender and other social inequalities while designing and disseminating such technologies.

Keywords: social inequality, gender equity, green economy, climate justice, gender inequity

Topics: Environment, Climate Change, Gender, Infrastructure, Energy Regions: Africa, East Africa, West Africa, Americas, South America Countries: Nigeria, Peru, South Sudan

Year: 2015

Gender and Climate Change in Latin America: An Analysis of Vulnerability, Adaptation and Resilience Based on Household Surveys: Gender and Climate Change in Latin America

Citation:

Andersen, Lykke E., Dorte Verner, and Manfred Wiebelt. 2017. “Gender and Climate Change in Latin America: An Analysis of Vulnerability, Adaptation and Resilience Based on Household Surveys: Gender and Climate Change in Latin America.” Journal of International Development 29 (7): 857–76. 

Authors: Lykke E. Andersen, Dorte Verner, Manfred Wiebelt

Abstract:

This paper analyses gender differences in vulnerability and resilience to shocks, including climate change and climate variability, for Peru, Brazil and Mexico, which together account for more than half the population in Latin America. Vulnerability and resilience indicators are measured by a combination of the level of household incomes per capita and the degree of diversification of these incomes. Thus, households which simultaneously have incomes which are below the national poverty line and which are poorly diversified (Diversification Index below 0.5) are classified as highly vulnerable, whereas households which have highly diversified incomes above the poverty line are classified as highly resilient. The analysis shows that female headed households in all three countries tend to be less vulnerable and more resilient than male headed households, despite the fact that the former usually have lower education levels.

Keywords: Brazil, external shocks, livelihood diversification, mexico, Peru, resilience, vulnerability

Topics: Economies, Poverty, Education, Environment, Climate Change, Gender, Households Regions: Americas, North America, South America Countries: Brazil, Mexico, Peru

Year: 2017

Surviving Juntas (Together): Lessons of Resilience of Indigenous Quechua Women in the Aftermath of Conflict in Peru

Citation:

Suarez, Eliana Barrios. 2015. “Surviving Juntas (Together): Lessons of Resilience of Indigenous Quechua Women in the Aftermath of Conflict in Peru.” Intervention 13 (1): 6-18.

Author: Eliana Barrios Suarez

Abstract:

Research into survivors of war has largely focused on suffering, rather than on the resilience, of survivors. This paper presents a cross-sectional survey that examined the factors contributing to the resilience of indigenous Quechua women (n = 151) in the aftermath of Peruvian armed conflict (1980-2000). Regular participation in civic associations, and the migratory status of returnees after the conflict, were associated with higher resilience. In contrast, low levels of education, unpaid occupations and experience of sexual violence during the conflict were all associated with lower resilience. These findings suggest that social policies that revitalise civic society and reduce gender inequalities within education and employment are crucial to enhance women's resilience in post war zones. In this study, the resilience of Quechua women, in particular their association with political activism, offers an unambiguous example of courage and active resistance to extreme adversity.

Keywords: Peru, Quechua women, resilience

Topics: Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Indigenous, Political Participation, Post-Conflict Regions: Americas, South America Countries: Peru

Year: 2015

Acceso de mujeres indígenas a la tierra, el território y los recursos naturales em América Latina y el Caribe

Citation:

Velásquez Nimatuj, Irma A. 2018. Acceso de mujeres indígenas a la tierra, el território y los recursos naturales em América Latina y el Caribe. Guatemala: Oficina Regional de ONU Mujeres para las Américas y el Caribe; La Paz: Fondo para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indígenas de América Latina y el Caribe (FILAC).

Author: Irma A. Velásquez Nimatuj

Abstract:

SPANISH ABSTRACT:
El “Acceso de las mujeres indígenas a la tierra, el territorio y los recursos naturales en América Latina y el Caribe”, elaborado por la Antropóloga Maya K’ichee’, Doctora y Maestra en Antropología Social Irma A. Velásquez Nimatuj, ofrece una panorámica regional sobre la temática junto con casos de estudio y recomendaciones clave. Su elaboración se enmarca en el trabajo de colaboración entre la Oficina Regional de ONU Mujeres para las Américas y el Caribe, y el Fondo para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indígenas de América Latina y el Caribe (FILAC), para promover el pleno ejercicio de los derechos de las mujeres indígenas.
El documento ofrece, en primer lugar, un análisis sobre los significados que tienen la tierra, el territorio y los recursos naturales para las mujeres indígenas, seguido de una descripción del estado actual y el marco legal internacional y de derechos de las mujeres indígenas. En segundo lugar describe once casos de estudio de acceso a la tierra, territorios y recursos naturales de las mujeres nasa yuwe (páez) de Colombia, las mujeres mapuches de Chile, las mujeres zapatistas de Chiapas, México, las mujeres indígenas de Paraguay, las mujeres maya-q´eqchi´ de Lote Ocho de Guatemala, las mujeres miskitas de la Costa Atlántica de Nicaragua, las mujeres térraba (teribe o broran) de Costa Rica, el proyecto “mujeres indígenas y gobernanza de la tierra” de ONAMIAP de Perú, las mujeres gunas o kuna de Panamá, las mujeres guaraníes del Chaco boliviano, y las mujeres garífunas de la Costa Caribeña de Honduras. Seguidamente ofrece una descripción sobre los retos que enfrentan las mujeres indígenas para gozar de sus derechos de acceso a la tierra, territorios y recursos naturales, así como una serie de buenas prácticas y recomendaciones. 

Topics: Gender, Women, Rights, Land Rights Regions: Americas, Caribbean countries, Central America, South America Countries: Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru

Year: 2018

Cleansing the Caliphate: Insurgent Violence against Sexual Minorities

Citation:

Tschantret, Joshua. 2018. "Cleansing the Caliphate: Insurgent Violence against Sexual Minorities." International Studies Quarterly 62 (2): 260-73.

Author: Joshua Tschantret

Abstract:

Why do insurgents target certain groups for extermination? Despite a great deal of attention to the targeting of civilian ethnic minorities, comparatively little scholarship exists on insurgent violence against sexual minorities (lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transsexual individuals). This article maintains that the decision to target sexual minorities follows three distinct logics: two strategic and one ideological. First, insurgents face an incentive to outbid rivals by targeting sexual minorities when homophobic violence is politically and socially legitimated. Second, territorial control creates an incentive for insurgents to signal their ability to selectively punish, which they can accomplish through homophobic violence. Third, revolutionary ideologies provide legitimation for exclusionary violence in the pursuit of transforming society. Statistical analysis of insurgent violence against sexual minorities from 1985 to 2015 lends strong support for these arguments. Process tracing of the spread of violence against sexual minorities in Iraq and Syria clarifies the strategic causal mechanisms. When progovernment militias targeted perceived homosexuals with impunity, antigay violence was adopted by insurgent groups seeking to legitimize their claims to power; violence then quickly spread to competing insurgents. Two additional cases from Latin America demonstrate that ideology plays an important role in influencing which groups embrace homophobic violence even under these strategic constraints.

Topics: Armed Conflict, Conflict, LGBTQ, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militias, Sexuality, Violence Regions: MENA, Americas, South America, Asia, Middle East Countries: Colombia, Iraq, Peru, Syria

Year: 2018

Connecting to Economic Opportunity: the Role of Public Transport in Promoting Women’s Employment in Lima

Citation:

Martinez, Daniel F., Oscar A. Mitnik, Edgar Salgado, Lynn Scholl, and Patricia Yañez-Pagans. 2020. “Connecting to Economic Opportunity: the Role of Public Transport in Promoting Women’s Employment in Lima.” Journal of Economics, Race, and Policy 3 (March): 1–23.

Authors: Daniel Martinez, Oscar A. Mitnik, Edgar Salgado, Lynn Scholl, Patricia Yañez-Pagans

Abstract:

Limited access to safe transportation is one of the greatest challenges to labor force participation faced by women in developing countries. This paper quantifies the causal impacts of improved urban transport systems in women’s employment outcomes, looking at Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and elevated light rail investments in the metropolitan region of Lima, Perú. We find large gains in employment and earnings per hour among women, and not for men, due to these investments. Most of the gains arise on the extensive margin, with more women being employed, but employment does not appear to be of higher quality than that for comparison groups. We find also evidence of an increase in the use of public transport. Results are robust to alternative specifications and we do not find evidence that they are driven by neighborhood composition changes or reorganization of economic activity. Overall, these findings suggest that infrastructure investments that make it faster and safer for women to use public transport can generate important labor market impacts for women who reside in the area of influence of the improved infrastructure.

Topics: Economies, Gender, Gendered Power Relations, Infrastructure, Transportation, Urban Planning, Livelihoods Regions: Americas, South America Countries: Peru

Year: 2020

Public Transport from a Gender Perspective: Insecurity and Victimization in Latin America. The Case of Lima and Asuncion Metropolitan Areas

Citation:

Jaitman, Laura. 2020. “Public Transport from a Gender Perspective: Insecurity and Victimization in Latin America. The Case of Lima and Asuncion Metropolitan Areas.” Journal of Economics, Race, and Policy 3: 24–40.

Author: Laura Jaitman

Abstract:

Lack of security is the main concern of citizens in the region. Crime and violence distort the allocation of resources by governments and businesses and alter citizens’ routines. This is particularly the case for women. This paper measures women’s perceptions of insecurity and victimization on public transport in the Asuncion (Paraguay) and Lima (Peru) metropolitan areas and analyzes their influence on mobility patterns. An innovative methodology, which considers both users and nonusers of public transport in a representative sample from those metropolitan areas, is used. The paper concludes that both women’s perceptions and experiences of insecurity when using public transport, especially in the Lima metropolitan area, are among the worst in Latin America. This is associated with lower public transportation use; therefore, it limits women’s transport options, directly affecting their mobility and causing economic and time loss. About 30% of women in Lima and 6% of women in Asuncion area reported being victims of crime on public transport systems, while 79% in Lima and 24% in Asuncion have witnessed episodes of violence against women on public transport in the past 12 months. More than one third of women have suffered sexual offenses on public transport at some point in their lives. More than 80% of women do not report these crimes. Policies to enhance women’s security on public transport are analyzed as they are key to promoting gender equality. 

Topics: Gender, Gender-Based Violence, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Infrastructure, Transportation, Security, Sexual Violence, SV against Women, Violence Regions: Americas, South America Countries: Paraguay, Peru

Year: 2020

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