Knowledge Centre

The Unseen Backbone: Why Gender Equality is Essential for Sustainable Climate Action

Women worldwide clock in a phenomenal 1,640 hours of unpaid work every day. In India alone, unpaid domestic work contributes 7.2% to the country’s GDP. This is primarily because women everywhere face patriarchal controls and unequal burdens of work. But the situation is even bleaker for rural women.

The Harsh Reality of Rural Women

A stark 27% of rural girls in India are married away before they reach 18 years of age. Access to higher education remains a distant dream for most due to a non-favorable environment at home, longer and unaffordable distances to commute daily, and sexual harassment on roads and in public transport. They also lack access to technology and/or the inability to use it, so much so that basic mobile phone ownership is skewed, with only 47% of women owning one compared to 91% of men.

Beyond Stereotypes: Women in Agriculture

Like most arenas, women play a crucial role in agriculture and other farm-based livelihoods, contributing more than men in many cases. However, gender stereotypes like men as farmers and women’s inability to understand technology restrict the latter. The inequity extends to finance, as formal credit remains inaccessible to them. Micro-finance groups provide some support but have many limitations.

The Burden of Unseen Labor

These challenges come at a heavy cost, especially in depleting natural resources and uncertainty in agriculture. The burden on women’s health is immense, with walking for water and fuelwood and carrying them manually.

The numbers reflect the situation’s starkness. Although 73% of rural women workers are engaged in agriculture, only about 14% are operational holders (Agriculture Census, 2015–16). Because of deep-rooted patriarchy and lesser returns due to inadequate efficient technologies, they continue to bear the brunt of hardship. Agriculture is already uncertain, further aggravated by a crisis.

Climate Change and the Widening Gap

A UN report says climate change is widening the income gap for rural women. The report Unjust Climate analyses India as one of the world’s most exposed regions to drought, heat stress, and extreme precipitation. Adding to this, female-headed households lose 8% more of their income due to heat stress and 3% more due to floods, compared to male-headed households, further increasing the unpaid workload on poor women

A Call for Change

Women are integral contributors to regional development, but has the latter benefited them appropriately? The answer is a resounding no. Women continue to do unpaid labour, keeping households running and caring for their families. Their work is considered private and hence unpaid. Discrimination and policies place a disproportionate burden on women for care and domestic responsibilities, limit their rights to land, prevent them from making decisions over their labour.

Policymakers must see this critically and develop women-friendly policies and programs that benefit them. Along with addressing practical needs, strategic issues need to be addressed through mass-based campaigns against differential treatment, which includes violence against women.