Deepening SDG 5 monitoring from an intersectional lens
Author: Ranjani K. Murthy*, May 26 2022 - Examining the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) tracker for SDG 5 after a field visit and interviews with women/girls and men/boys from economically and socially discriminated groups in the states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, India, I felt the urgent need to strengthen monitoring mechanisms for tracking SDG 5 from a gender and intersectionality lens - without which it may not be possible to track which women are achieving targets and which women are not. Further, stereotypes about women and girls of certain communities can be broken. I illustrate my arguments taking examples from India, but they can be extended to monitoring SDG 5 from an intersectional lens elsewhere, too.
To give an example, Indicator 5.1.1 concerns whether or not legal frameworks are in place to promote, enforce and monitor equality and non-discrimination on the basis of sex. However, for women and girls from the bottom decile, Scheduled Castes (SC)i, Scheduled Tribes (ST) and people living with disability whom I met, non-discrimination on the basis of these identities was as important as discrimination on the basis of sex/gender. Furthermore, sometimes they experienced unique intersectional reasons for discrimination, such as "marriage" of SC women to Goddess Yellamma (and then being forced into sex work), kidnapping of ST girls living in remote areas when they go to school, forced hysterectomy on girls with disability by parents, etc. In other countries, too, racial and gender discrimination needs to be monitored together.
Indicator 5.2.1 is the proportion of ever-partnered women and girls aged 15 years and older subjected to physical, sexual or psychological violence by a current or former intimate partner in the previous 12 months, by form of violence and by age. Using an intersectional lens to monitoring can break several myths. There is a common perception amongst Hindus (the dominant community in India) that Muslim women (minority in India) are "backward" when compared to Hindus. Statistics from India suggest that intimate partner violence (physical, sexual and psychological) is lower amongst Muslims, whose sex ratio at birth is higher when compared to that of Hindus.
Indicator 5.3.1 is the proportion of women aged 20-24 years who were married or in a union before age 15 and before age 18, respectively. In some of the tribal communities in India, it is not uncommon for girls and boys above 15 to live together, and try out the relationship, but under the eyes of adults. This is not the practice amongst non-tribal communities. As long as they adopt contraception to avoid teenage pregnancy, there is a need to rethink whether cultural imperialism is being imposed through targets. Yet another is that false cases of child marriage are put reported by parents of dominant castes when their daughter runs away/marries a person against their wishes (often from some other community). The numbers on child/early marriage have to be adjusted accordingly.
Indicator 5.4.1 is the proportion of time spent on unpaid domestic and care work, by sex, age and location. The proportion of time spent on unpaid domestic and care work varies not just by sex, age and location, but also by economic standing, caste, gender identity, ethnicity, etc. Women from the top economic decile in India spend much less time on domestic and care work than those in the bottom. SC women usually belong to the bottom economic strata, and they are not only constrained by lesser access to water, clean cooking fuel and toilets in their hamlet, but they are not allowed to access water points, roads to collect cooking fuel, etc. in the dominant caste habitat. Transgender women are another group that is discriminated against, leading to greater domestic work. Similarly, ST women's workload is immense, and they tend to live in remote areas and have lesser access to basic facilities. Thus, inequalities in access to water, clean fuel and sanitation can be a good indicator of discrimination, too (Indicator 5.1.1).
Indicator 5.5.1 is the proportion of seats held by women in (a) national parliaments and (b) local governments. These data again can be disaggregated further by caste, ethnicity, religion, etc. As there is reservation among local governments to elevate SCs and STs to positions of power, these categories of intersectional data may be available. This observation equally applies to Indicator 5.5.2 on the proportion of women in managerial positions. Hierarchies of race, caste, class, abilities and marital status can persist, even when women occupy positions of power.
Indicator 5.6.1 is the proportion of women aged 15-49 years who make their own informed decisions regarding sexual relations, contraceptive use and reproductive health care. In India, and perhaps globally, the questions in the demographic health survey are being modified to reflect this indicator. Yet in India, and several other countries, sexual relations outside marriage are frowned upon for women. Sexuality of people of diverse sexual orientation is again frown upon. There is a need to capture this diversity and discrimination through studies that adopt purposive sampling and mixed methods.
Indicator 5.A.1 is the proportion of (a) total agricultural population with ownership or secure rights over agricultural land, by sex, and (b) share of women among owners or rights-bearers of agricultural land, by type of tenure. This indicator stands out, as it captures not only share of women amongst owners, but proportion of the agricultural population who are owners. The Agricultural Census of India provides disaggregated data across sex, caste, ethnicity and headship and can be used to monitor progress through a gender and intersectional lens.
To sum up, the objective of gender equality and women's empowerment can never be achieved unless the most oppressed women are reached and access and outcome parity is achieved across intersecting identities. Elimination of intersectional discrimination faced by women of particular identities is essential. The monitoring of SDG 5 has to change accordingly.
* The author would like to acknowledge the contribution of Kier Olsen DeVries in editing this blog. i SC and ST are recognised by the Indian Constitution as the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups. SC is the official name given in India to the lowest caste, considered "untouchable" in orthodox Hindu scriptures and practice. Some of the SC refer to themselves as Dalits, or oppressed. According to the 2011 Census, they constitute 16.6% of the population. ST are an indigenous people officially regarded as socially disadvantaged. ST constitute 8.6% of the population (Source: United Nations in India).
Image credit: "Adivasi (Indigenous) Girl Gathering Water - Chittagong Hill Tracts - Bangladesh" by Adam Jones, Ph.D. - Global Photo Archive, licensed under CC BY 2.0
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