Experience of Women of Sundarban Soma Majumder The
Experience of Women of Sundarban Soma Majumder The Researcher, Kolkata
Sundarban q Comprised of islands which are separated from the main land of West Bengal. q Road connectivity with towns is not yet developed. q Many villages in the islands are partially electrified. q Livelihood options are very limited and unsecured due to its typical geographical location. q Male members use to migrate in search of better livelihood opportunity. So women have taken up cultivation along with other daily drudgeries.
Bali island of Gosaba block – the study location q Separated by rivers from Block head quarter. q Nearest town is approximately 52 km from the island only accessible by ferry service. q No health care facility. q Families depend upon agriculture, honey collection from the forest, fishing, crab catching, fish-pin collection, apart from other manual jobs, most of which are seasonal. q Both men and women are engaged in these livelihood practices q “… Water, water, everywhere, / Nor any drop to drink. ”
Methodology q Study conducted in 4 villages. q Only married or widowed women, in the age group of 18 -70 were randomly selected. q Total 100 women were interviewed, 25 from each village. q A mobile app was developed with the questions and used during the interviews. q Educated local girls were trained for administering the app based questionnaire.
Findings
Socio Economic Status of respondents General, 36% ST, 1% OBC, 10% SC, 53% Manual Labour 16% Service Business 1% 2% 33% of the respondents reported that their households are yet to get an electricity connection. Many women of this area used to go to the jungle to bring fire-wood. Women in this region on an average wake up at around 5 am in the morning. 18% of the respondents go to the nearest canal or river to collect fishpin. Others 16% Agriculture 65% Families don't have bathroom Families 9% have bathroom 91%
Number of respondents Hardship in domestic chores Figure 2: Strenuous working conditions and the number of responses for each of them 80 60 47 59 40 20 Figure 1: Avarge duration of different daily activities 3 Working in your farm Bringing firewood 1. 5 Bringing fodder/ preparing forage 1. 5 Fetching water 1 Total duration you work in bending position Total duration of carrying any sort of weight 3 2 Total duration of walking 5 Work outside of house premises 2. 5 Work in house premises 3 0 1 2 3 Hours 4 46% of the respondents use only firewood as their cooking fuel. 5 6 0 Work in bending position Carrying weight 7 5 Walking Cooking
Hardship in domestic chores Percentage of respondents Figure 3: Distance of water collection point 43 35 28 14 10 0 Up to 100 10 15 2 101 -250 251 -500 501 -750 Distance in meter No of Respondents collect from Primary Source • Average distance of primary water source 436 meters. • Average distance of secondary water 935. 5 meters. • 90% of the respondents undertake multiple trips (2 -6) to carry water from a distance. • Those undertaking multiple trips carry an average of 20 litres of water per trip and cover an average distance of around 400 meters per trip. “While carrying water, one of the water pots rests in my waist while the other one is carried by hand. It is a hard work for me” 751 -1000 6 2 0 1001 -1500 Above 1500 No of Respondents collect from Secondary Source Trips Per Day Number of Respondents 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 10 27 31 22 6 3 Average volume of water Carried Per Trip 19 21 21 21 17 17 Average Distance from Primary Water Source 625 483 398 375 483 217
• The number of strenuous works that the women in this region undertake in the whole day causes several problems to their health. • 59 percent of the respondents suffer from one or more chronic diseases. • Among these women 51 percent have some kinds of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). • 57% were admitted to hospital at some point of time for various health problems. No of affected respondents Chronic diseases and hospitalization Chronic health problems among respondents 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 51 25 15 Musculoskeletal disorders 11 Gynaecological problems Stomach problem Other problem Type of diseases Respondents affected by different symptoms of MSDs • 7 % reported to have undergone hysterectomy operation. • Average expenditure during hospitalization has been more than 10, 000 INR. 40 19 21 Neck Pain Shoulder Pain 11 Elbows pain 19 15 47 19 Wrist pain Upper back Lower Thigh pain Knee Pain pain back pain
Respondents suffering from different ailments and hours of strenuous works they are performing Kind of disease Musculoskeletal disorders Gynaecological problems Other problems Total persons affected (the numbers include multiple responses) Avg. hours of work in bending position (in hours) Avg. hours of weight carrying (in hours) 51 3. 3 4. 1 15 36 2. 5 2. 8 4. 3 3. 7 q women working in a bending position for a longer time and carrying greater weight tend to suffer from MSD related diseases. q Basic factors responsible for these ailments are the strenuous daily chores undertaken by the rural women, especially working in bending position for a long period and carrying weight several times a day. q Rural women from backward socio-economic backgrounds are more prone to suffer from the diseases mentioned above mainly because of their involvement in strenuous domestic chores.
Thank you.
- Slides: 12