Gender and Caribbean Development

Development has been looked at from a feminist or

gender perspective since the 1970s .
It is only since the late eighties however that gender
has become to be considered in what we may describe
as the mainstream of development policy studies and
thinking.
Gender as an issue, gender as a tool of analysis, and
Gender and Development as an entire framework of
development theory and practice, are increasingly part
of the mainstream discourse on development.
The term gender, in its current usage, refers to the
complex social construction of mens and womens
identities. Ones

Table 1:Gender-related development index (GDI) for selected

CARICOM countries
Country GDI

Share
ofearn
ed
income
(%) f

Share of
earned
income(
%) m

Life
expectan
cy
(years)
1992
f

Life
expectan
cy
(years)
1992
m

Adult
litera
cy
rate
(%)
1990
f

Adult
litera
cy
rate
(%)
1990
m

gross
enrolme
nt
ratio
(%)
1992
f

gross
enrolme
nt
ratio
(%)
1992
m

HDI
rank
minu
s
GDI
rank

Barbad
os

0.87
8

39.4

60.6

77.9

72.9

96.3

97.8

73.1

74.8

10

Bahama 0.82
s
8

28.3

71.7

77.9

68.7

97.7

98.4

76.8

71.8

-4

Trinida
d&
Tobago

0.78
6

24.7

75.3

74.0

69.3

96.4

98.5

67.8

67.9

-4

Jamaica 0.71
0

38.6

61.4

75.8

71.4

87.9

79.4

64.6

64.5

14

Surina
me

0.69
9

24.3

75.7

72.8

67.8

89.9

94.6

72.5

69.2

Guyana 0.58
4

21.2

78.8

68.0

62.4

96.8

98.3

68.2

68.1

Table2: Gender empowerment measure

(GEM) for selected CARICOM countries
GEM
Rank

12Barb
ados
14Bah
amas
15Trini
dad
&Toba
go
25Guy
ana
55Beliz
e
64Suri
name

GE
M

Seats
held
in
parliam
ent
(%
women
)
1994

0.54 14.3
5
0.53 10.8
3
0.53 17.7
3

0.46 20.0
1
0.36 7.9
9
0.38 5.9
4

Adminis
trators
and
manage
rs
(%
women)
1992

Earned
incom
e
share
(%
wome
n)

32.6

Profes
sional
and
techni
cal
worker
s
(%
wome
n)
1992
52.3

26.3

56.9

28.3

22.5

54.7

24.7

39.4

12.8

47.5

21.2

12.6

51.9

21.1

21.5

69.9

24.3

Table 3: Number of murders committed by

way of domestic violence (Trinidad and
Tobago)
Year

No of murders
committed

Number
solved

Women

Childre
n

Total

1990

1991

1992

12

18

17

1993

12

15

15

1994

1995

10

18

18

1996

Total

41

39

80

79

Gender Equality
What is Gender Equality?
Gender mainstreaming is one of
the methods used to work
towards achieving the goal of
gender equality.
It is a strategy for making
women's as well as men's
concerns and experiences an
integral dimension of the design,
implementation, monitoring and
evaluation of policies and
programmes in all political,
economic, and societal spheres so
that women and men benefit
equally and inequality is not
perpetuated

Governments committed to
promote gender equality by:
Ensuring equal access of women
to productive assets and
resources, including land, credit
and technology;
Eliminating all forms of
discrimination and violence
against women and the girl child,
including by ending impunity;
Promoting increased
representation of women in
Government decision-making
bodies, and ensuring their equal
opportunity to participate fully in
the political process.