Embodied intersections: Gender, water and sanitation in Cameroon

Abstract

A cornerstone of feminist thinking, intersectionality offers a critical analytical tool for exploring how gender intersects with other social structures of power. However, this leaves intersectionality grounded firmly in social analysis. Becoming increasingly salient are the complex political and material relations between social, technological and ecological systems (Linton & Budds 2014). Intersectionality-centering the entanglement of difference-offers an opportunity to explore the interplay between social relations and difference in the physical world (Thompson 2016). Drawing on participatory visual research with women and men across four communities in Cameroon, we elaborate how gendered social relations intersect with the material dimensions of water and sanitation. Given gendered and age-based divisions of labor, women and girls play a primary role in household water management. This paper centers women's concerns about everyday water access, use and control to elaborate how intersectional social dynamics in relation to water also intersect with water in the physical world. Expanding intersectional thinking beyond the social realm, we also demonstrate how gendered intersections shape and are shaped by material and physical dimensions of water. This suggests that theorizing about social difference alone risks missing the role of environmental factors within different groups' experiences of power, privilege and oppression.

Children and young people living through the monsoon: watery entanglements and fluid inequalities

“…The monsoon disrupted routines and income sources of the most vulnerable families. Despite the nuances of gendered watery relations, the power of water to have an impact on landforms (Thompson, Gaskin, and Agbor 2017) was acutely felt by all of our participants, from the changes it ignited in the physical properties of mud, to the washing away of entire segments of roads and hillsides.…”

“…(PA51,Female,26;participant's parent) With the relocation to gaothans many participants expressed an improvement in living conditions. Particularly, in relation to water provision which had a direct impact on female participants, as the watery chores were primarily the role of women and girls (as per Thompson, Gaskin, and Agbor 2017). However, the relocation strategy also meant that housing inequalities widened.…”

Water, Sanitation, and Women’s Empowerment: A systematic review and qualitative metasynthesis

“…(n = 38) Aguilar 2005; 49 Aihara 2016; 178 Andajani-Sutahjo 2015; 179 Arku 2010b; 180 Assaad 1994; 64 Baker 2017; 181 Bisung 2018; 182 Chew 2019; 183 Chipeta 2009; 72 Collins 2018; 184 (n = 34) Abu 2019; 62 Bisung 2016; 156 Boosey 2014; 197 Bora 2016; 198 Caruso 2017b; 170 Connolly 2013*; 199 Datta 2020; 200 Hall 2018; 201 Hirve 2015; 158 Jewitt 2014; 202 Joshi (n = 42) Abrahams 2006; 219 Alam 2017*; 220 Anyarayor 2019; 221 Bapat 2003; 154 Belur 2017*; 157 Bhatt 2019; 116 Camenga 2019; 222 Carolini 2012; 223 Caruso O'Reilly 2010; 48 Pardeshi 2009; 125 Rajaraman 2013; 236 Reddy 2019; 213 Rheinländer 2018*; 174 Routray 2015*; 168 Routray 2017a; 126 Sahoo 2015; 175 Schmitt 2017*; 214 Scorgie 2015*; 237 Senior 2014; 238 Shiras 2018; 161 Silva 2020; 215 Sommer 2015a; 239 Tegegne 2014*; 277 Thompson 2017; 217 Thuita 2017;…”

“…99,130,157,171,176,189,193,201,207,208,212,213,215,232,[238][239][240] Women used less preferred locations and sources for sanitation 116,156,159,183,205,211,215,221,226,234,241,242,256 and water due to cost, distance, or access limitations. 56,72,76,84,151,156,163,166,180,184,185,191,194,196,203,211,215,217…”

“…General harassment, including taunting, teasing, name calling, and throwing things at women or girls is more frequently observed in sanitation 124,154,160,161,167,173,176,249 than water research. 154,185 Sexual harassment, including verbal harassment, peeping, flashing, and male masturbation is also more frequently documented in sanitation [157][158][159][160]175,176,200,203,212,217,219 than water research. 130,200,217,245 Women doing manual scavenging reported verbal abuse.…”