Benefits for entire families
[ By Rita Trautmann ]
The rural areas of Colon Province in Honduras are typical of the Central American regions predominantly defined by agriculture. There are few opportunities to earn a living, land is scarce and the infrastructure is poor. Many people move away – particularly men do so, but women too. The potential for violence is high because of conflicts with powerful landlords, tensions between ethnic groups and the expanding drug trade. All of this is accompanied by conspicuous machismo, and with domestic violence.
In Colon, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) as well as local authorities consider the advancement of women an urgent matter. Measures taken include the creation of opportunities for them to earn a living and to improve their economic and social standing. There are two dimensions to this strategy: first, information is provided on issues such as women’s rights, family planning as well as domestic and sexualised violence; second, business is promoted, for instance by establishing women’s cooperatives or the provision of training in business matters. Both dimensions blend well, and men are thus usually excluded from the process from the outset. However, their attitudes and behaviour must change, if women are ever to become able to participate in business life on an equal footing.
Needs of working mothers
Consider the example of Maria S., 46 years old, she lives from the proceeds of her agricultural production and her job as a dressmaker. For a few years, she held a key position in a women’s cooperative which generates a modest income through the sale of agricultural products at local and regional markets. This money is not enough for a living, but it is an important additional income.
However, Maria also has to provide for six children and her husband. Thanks to the fact that two daughters contribute to the family budget, there is enough money to get by and for the children to get a mid-level school education. Maria’s husband has an income of his own, but he only contributes to the household kitty occasionally, after having taken care of his personal needs.
Maria’s case illustrates the problems working women typically face. So far, projects to economically promote women have not addressed these hurdles. Of course, women like projects that offer them some education and scope for development, beyond the control of men. The flipside is that they need great organisational talent as well as a reliable social network in order to cope with all of their tasks. Childcare and the preparation of meals are still exclusively women’s chores. In the household, stereotypical gender roles are replicated from childhood. Sons are hardly expected to lend a helping hand, and fathers definitely do not offer any assistance.
Therefore, the working hours in Maria’s cooperative are organised around mealtimes. Female relatives (be it sisters, mothers or often the eldest daughters) take on the responsibility of looking after young children while the members work. Nevertheless, many men say that they support the cooperative – after all, they let their wives take on commitments. Unsurprisingly, they rather let their wives earn cash than allow them to take part in projects that might strengthen women’s social standing. In a similar vein, men tend to complain that their wives earn too little, given that they devote so much time to the cooperative.
Several factors determine how long a woman can work for the cooperative, including the number of children she has, their age, her other jobs and – not least – the support of her family. Many women will stay overburdened until men change their attitude towards gender roles in the home. Women still cannot participate in public life to the same extent as men do. Because of simple time constraints, women with small children are unable to take on influential honorary posts, in local politics for example. Similarly, continuing education is out of the question.
The perception of gender roles in Latin American public life has changed substantially in recent years. Women have made it into areas which were previously the exclusive domains of men. Today, it is accepted that women are politically relevant. For example, local councils have elected female members, and women also hold important positions in NGOs.
Nevertheless, many men cling to traditional ideas. According to the customary view, the man is the breadwinner, the authority in the family and the one who plays a part in public life. However, a man’s role as provider is challenged once his wife becomes economically active. Moreover, many men feel frustrated because of their exclusion from opportunities to further education, financial support and technical advice. Many men express an interest in taking part in development programmes, which are, so far, reserved for women. The fact that they are not able to take part in women’s cooperatives makes them envious, and insecure about their own position.
Many men react jealously – and even violently – to what they perceive as a loss of status. Most want to control “their” wife. According to figures from a local women’s organisation, Colon has the highest provincial rate of domestic violence in Honduras. No doubt, the drug trade and widespread feelings of despair are relevant in this context, but changing gender roles matter too.
It is undisputed that the advancement of women is necessary – not least because many men are today unable to fulfil the traditional role of provider. Women simply have to earn money. However, developmental efforts should also involve men. Programmes for women alone could not change gender roles sufficiently. Ultimately, it is of little use if only women gain new insights in issues such as family planning or budgeting. Men must be involved as well.
Disagreements often arise over domestic finances. If a woman has a paid job, that does not automatically mean she is in control of how her income is used. Men often try to impose their will, and that is particularly true of those that do not fulfil their traditional roles. Consequently, women’s growing involvement in business life does not mean that they are necessarily better off in financial terms themselves. Traditional rural women neither have money for their personal needs, nor do they enjoy any leisure time.
On the other hand, men who feel forced out of their provider role often no longer see themselves under any duty to contribute to household budgets. They either spend the money they earn as they please, or they stop making money altogether.
Male mobility
The husbands of some women in Maria’s cooperative leave their villages for the short or long term to work elsewhere, but they do not make any regular contribution to the family budgets. Their wives cover all day-to-day expenses, left to run their households on their own. They are also the ones to decide about their children’s education.
The more women earn, the more it can be assumed that men will reduce their financial contribution to household budgets, spending “their” money on luxury items such as televisions instead, or perhaps entertaining girlfriends wherever they work. Many women have adjusted to having to cope without their husbands, and that fact allows their husbands even greater mobility.
Economic support targeted solely at women cannot but exacerbate this trend. While it may enable women to manage in a difficult socio-economic situation, it does not contribute to meaningfully improving that situation in the first place. Of course, support programmes can only go so far in terms of tackling complex phenomena such as the disintegration of the family as an institution, labour migration or destructive gender roles. However, an income-generating project in Colon gives an example of how to deal with these problems.
Both men and women of the Garifuna, an Afro-American community, make traditional handicrafts. That activity requires knowledge and skill. APROSA (Asociacion de Profesionales de Sangrelaya – Association of Professionals from Sangrelaya) is a local NGO supported by the German Development Service (DED). It offered handicrafts training over several months. Men, children and some women took part. Afterwards, several participants began to produce handicrafts domestically. With APROSA support, they sold the items they had made in the region and at the national level.
Because of the time constraints they suffer from, the few women who were trained continued this craft only part-time – if at all. Nonetheless, they found that the project had lessened their burdens. Young, unmarried men in particular have been able to contribute to the family income thanks to their new skills. Some young people help to secure their families’ livelihoods, while continuing their school education in town nonetheless. The APROSA project certainly made sense from the perspective of promoting women.
Proper gender mainstreaming
Sadly, not all donor organisations share this view. Women’s cooperatives remain an attractive option for many donors, and particularly so for organisations which are funded by donations. After all, it is politically correct to support a women’s cooperative. The local NGOs in Colon are aware of this fact, and many organisations headed by men accordingly emphasise gender-related aspects. However, the resulting projects mostly do not really contribute to empowering women. At best, they create a few earning opportunities.
Financial support for families (provided it is designed in women-friendly way) would presumably achieve more than merely promoting women. One would hope that donors and contributors really get involved in gender mainstreaming, rather than in exclusively “empowering women”. The mainstreaming approach would lead to better results.
The attitude to gender roles has changed in Colon. It is no longer unusual for women to participate actively in politics or business. As is the case in Germany, however, women in higher professional positions tend to have fewer children than is the national average. Women will continue to have limited opportunities, as long as caring for children and housework stay “women’s tasks”. Relieving women of some of their responsibilities in these areas is essential if men and women are realistically to have equal opportunities.