Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality in Urban Areas: New Threats and Potentials in Nigeria

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume V, Issue VI, June 2021 | ISSN 2454–6186

Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality in Urban Areas: New Threats and Potentials in Nigeria

Stephen Sunday OJO¹, Martina Alexander POJWAN^2
1Department of Sociology, Federal University, Gashua Yobe State Nigeria
²Department of Social Development, Isa Mustapha Agwai I Polytechnic, Lafia Nasarawa State Nigeria

Abstract: Urban settings currently provide the main arena for shaping gender relations. The process of urbanization provides both advantages and disadvantages for gender equality and the empowerment of women. In turn, gender relations are often critical in shaping the urbanization process itself, affecting decisions as to who migrates to cities, as well as how the household unit, family roles and local community organizations will be structured in the urban context. Urban conditions are frequently more difficult for women and children, especially among the poor, exposing them to new forms of exploitation and discrimination, in addition to greater environmental risks. Urban settings can, however, also present new opportunities for gender equality. This paper addresses some of these contradictory trends with respect to several interrelated issues and concludes that a gender-sensitive approach to urban governance would increase women’s participation in the development of human settlements and improve the performance of cities in taking advantage of the urban potentials for social improvement.

Keywords: women empowerment, gender equality, urban areas, threats, potentials

I. INTRODUCTION

Currently, the numbers of urban and rural dwellers in the world are almost evenly split, with slightly more concentrating in urban areas. However, the share of urban dwellers is expected to rise to 70% by 2050 (UN-Habitat, 2009). Almost all of this growth will take place in developing countries. Cities are often engines of economic growth and social advancement, but rapid urbanization in most of the developing world has also resulted in stark inequalities between the rich and the poor, women and men, environmental degradations and growing numbers of slum dwellers. While urbanization offers many benefits, the ugly face of urbanization is urban poverty, which often has the most severe impact on women and girls. The world’s 828 million slum dwellers suffer in varying degrees from poor sanitation, inadequate access to clean water, crime, unemployment, threats of evictions, overcrowding and poor quality housing. Women in cities often suffer disproportionately, not only because they are, on average, poorer than men but often also because they experience greater difficulty in accessing resources and services tailored to their needs, and decision-making opportunities.

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