nuevas TRENZAS informs
January 2013 N° 6
The new profile of young rural women in Nicaragua Ligia Gómez, Hloreley Osorio, Paula Acosta, Rolando Buitrago and Ana Avilés Instituto de Investigación y Desarrollo Nitlapan
Over the last two decades, young rural women have experienced many changes: not only in regard to transformations taking place in rural areas, but also due to changes in both the gender and generational gaps. Nuevas Trenzas1 program aims at producing knowledge about young rural women in Nicaragua and disseminate it with the objective of facilitating the design of public policies and development interventions for addressing the problem this collective face. What inequality gaps do young rural women face? Young rural women are a collective marked by ‘intersecting inequalities’, that is to say, by the existence of different gaps that intersect, generating a situation of disadvantage in relation to other groups. We consider four gaps that determine the situation of young rural women in the region: • Gender gap: separates young rural women from rural men belonging to the same generation. • Area of residency gap: separates young rural women from their urban contemporaries. • Generational gap: separates young rural women from their rural mothers and grandmothers. • Poverty gap: within the group of young rural women, it distinguishes those who live in a poor household from those who live in a non-poor household. • Ethnic gap: within the group of young rural women, there are differences between indigenous women and non-indigenous women. These gaps directly affect young rural women’s ‘ability to do’. This ‘ability to do’ may be broken into the following competencies: technical competence (managing the necessary skills to do something), legal competence (existence of a legal framework that allows doing something), and subjective competence (the subject’s capability for perceiving herself with the ability to do something). This, ultimately, affects young rural women’s possibilities of having an autonomous life strategy. Which inequality gaps do young rural women face? Nicaragua’s total population adds up to 5,124,891 inhabitants, of which 50.8 percent are women. Women represent 48.6 percent of the rural population and 23 percent of the young rural population. For this study’s quantitative component, two locations with significant concentration of indigenous population in different areas of Nicaragua were selected: San Lucas (Madriz) y Rama Cay (Blue Fields).
1
New Braids, in English.
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100% 90% 80% 70%
47.5%
49.2%
77.0%
50.1%
50.0%
51.4%
Men
60% 50%
Source:
40%
50.8%
30%
50.0%
48.6%
52.5%
48.9%
23.0%
20%
Women
INIDE, Censos de población y vivienda 2005
10%
You
ng r
ura l
po pu la t io n
po pu lat ion ura l no us r Ind ige
no us po pu la t io n l In dig e Tot a
Ru ral
po pu la t io n
N= po pu la t io n Urb an
Tot a
lp op ula tio n
N=
0%
Among the main findings the following fields standout: Participation in communal activities: social participation of young rural women is increasing. They are part of foreign civil organizations and civil organizations for development whose work focuses, mainly, on education and health as well as on political participation. However, they seldom occupy positions of responsibility. Self-sufficiency and opportunities: most rural women work in the informal sector. On the other hand, very few work in the agricultural sector, in which most women are unemployed due to the sector’s preference for male labor. This lack of opportunities for generating income results in the reduction of women’s autonomy and empowerment. Likewise, their livelihoods are also scarce and poor; therefore, they maintain a situation similar to that of their mothers. In this context, national and international migration appears as an appealing option for diminishing poverty within family dynamics. Assessing the role of men: lyoung rural women are not aware of the economic and social contribution resulting from their participation in non-remunerated agricultural and domestic activities. Therefore, they grant greater value to the work the men carry out as laborers, in detriment of the role they play in caring for the family and the children. Gender relations: roles regarding household chores distributions among couples comprising young rural women are changing. This means that rural men are getting more involved in looking after the children when women have to run certain errands. Education: young rural women have less education, they are more likely to co-habit with their partners and have more children. Most of them finish elementary school, but it is impossible for them to reach higher academic qualifications because of transportation expenses and the early start of their reproductive lives. In this sense, the relationship between schooling, civil status and fecundity can be confirmed. Health services and education: it is hard for women to access health services. Among the factors that difficult and intensify this situation is the lack of transportation and specialized services. This leads, in turn, to the use of midwifes when giving birth. Access to social infrastructure for water and housing: in this area, a difficulty for accessing public services is registered. Here, the difficulty of young rural women for accessing potable water stands out. On the other hand, it is considered that the housing quality is inadequate given the overcrowded situation in comparison to urban areas.
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Conclusions The different gaps show that young rural women are in a situation of disadvantage in the economic field in respect to men, as well as in reproductive life. They show hard livelihoods in comparison to urban areas: less access to services, less relationship with the State and less academic achievements. In comparison to prior generations, the number of children women have has decreased, but life strategies are still the same as those of women over 35 years of age. It was confirmed that it is harder for young rural women to access potable water and electricity, as well as that they have attained less academic achievements than non-indigenous rural women. The poverty gap is big in all of the analyzed fields. Regarding their expectations they mention that they would like to have the same rights and opportunities as men to work in the communities. They do not want to live in a context of violence and drugs. They want to continue studying or learn a trade to help the community and enhance their economies. They want their children to study, so that they will be able to defend themselves and succeed, something for which they count on the support of their partners.
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