Urban Development and Women in India: Context and Contour
Posted: 22 Jun 2017
Date Written: June 21, 2017
Abstract
The present century is an era of fast growing cities. While the big cities are the centres of brisk trade and voluminous business, they are also becoming the homes for the poorest. Urban poverty makes women the main victims of discrimination and alienation. Women not only encounter the harsh reality of informal-sector jobs, inadequate government services, and poor sanitation, they also face the added threats of sexual violence and insecurity of land and housing rights and facilities. Women in developing countries bear the brunt of often-violent evictions of informal urban settlements and are twice as vulnerable to sexual violence as men. They are also more likely to become infected with HIV/AIDS, especially amidst a global financial crisis that increases economic need and riskier sexual behaviour. At the same time women are also incredibly resilient. They build communities and corporates; they lobby local government for services and take initiative to improve their daily realities even where the state fails. There is an upsurge in their conscious about their rights. They claim women’s rights to the city – and in doing so, improve conditions for the most disadvantaged communities of developing nations. It is here that the real urban innovation takes shape. Thus, women in India in general and urban women in particular are at the crossroads of their destiny.
Mainstream development discourse now recognises the role of women in development. Therefore, both in governance and development policies and projects there is a new approach to urban growth – urban development with gender equity. This is what MDGs as well as political reforms for higher representation of women visualise. Decentralised democracy needs to be more inclusive too. We feel that ‘women in development’ and ‘development of women’ requires their full empowerment. Our paper, therefore, discusses concepts, issues and strategies for a proactive and productive role of women in urban development to overcome overt/covert pressures of work and family and making gender budgeting a powerful tool of empowerment and urban development. In the context of gender dynamics, we also review the policies and schemes for ensuring secure and equal opportunities for women in the urban sector.
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