Women in post-coup Fiji: negotiating work through old and new realities

Leckie, Jacqueline

doi:10.22459/cff.01.2016.08

Cited by 3 publications

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“…In many countries, including in Fiji, women tend to be responsible for the bulk of the childrearing and household work (15) . Additionally, in traditional iTaukei culture ideas around femininity and masculinity, largely based on Christian ideals, may influence roles around food, with women as carers and nurturers being responsible for food preparing and cooking, while men have the role of head of the family and, therefore, having the first serve of meals (16) . It is important to understand the different gendered roles and responsibilities around food, along with understanding what these roles are influenced by (including culture, social systems, and religion), in order to establish effective diet interventions and food policy in Fiji to improve health equitably (17,18) .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender roles, generational changes and environmental challenges: an intersectional interpretation of perceptions on healthy diets among iTaukei women and men in Fiji

McKenzie

Waqa

Hart

et al. 2022

Public Health Nutr.

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Objective: To investigate perceptions of iTaukei Fijian women and men around diet and the ability to consume a healthy diet. Design: Six focus groups conducted with women and men, separately. Six to 10 women and men participated in each group. Discussions were recorded, transcribed, translated, and thematically analysed. Themes were mapped to an intersectionality framework to aid interpretation. Setting: Four villages in Viti Levu, Fiji. Participants: Twenty-two women and 24 men. Results: Seven overarching themes were identified, including generational changes in food behaviour, strong gendered beliefs around food and food provision, cultural and religious obligations around food, the impact of environment change on ability to consume a healthy diet, perceptions of the importance of food, food preferences and knowledge. Participants across focus groups identified that it was the “duty” of women to prepare food for their families. However, some women reflected on this responsibility being unbalanced with many women now in the formal workforce. Changes between generations in food preferences and practices were highlighted, with a perception that previous generations were healthier. Power dynamics and external factors, such as environmental changes, were identified by women and men as crucial influences on their ability to eat a healthy diet. Conclusion: Embedded traditional perceptions of gendered roles related to nutrition were misaligned with other societal and environmental changes. Given factors other than gender, such as power dynamics and environmental factors were identified as influencing diet, viewing nutrition-related issues through an intersectional lens is important to inform equitable food policy in Fiji.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender roles, generational changes and environmental challenges: an intersectional interpretation of perceptions on healthy diets among iTaukei women and men in Fiji

McKenzie

Waqa

Hart

et al. 2022

Public Health Nutr.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…But male-dominated hierarchies are common regardless of ethnicity, which has compromised women's roles in Fiji society. Leckie (2000) states that the legacies of colonial practices reinforced ethnic and gender stereotypes through ideology and traditional discourses moulding women's identities in the past. iTaukei culture places considerable emphasis on communal values, respect for the authority of chiefs, who are predominantly male, and the precedence of men over women (Asian Development Bank, 2006).…”

Section: Situating Women In Fiji: the Gendered Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Leckie (2000) suggests that while economic pressures and political discrimination in the post-coup period saw an increase in women's subordination across all ethnicities, there were also strong visible actions by women to redress gender inequality concerns at the national level. Women became more proactive through established community structures such as religious groups, women's village committees, service organisations, trade unions and new feminist movements to confront worsening economic realities (see also Leckie, 2002;George, 2012;Mishra, 2012).…”

Section: Responding To Political Transitionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Reassertion of ethnic politics after the coups in Fiji saw the prominence of more indigenous women's groups than Indian women's groups in the political space. Leckie (2000) argues that these are not easily quantified allegiances, as women sharing such identities may still have diametrically opposed views on the coups. This was evident in the fractures felt by members of FWRM, as indigenous Fijian members struggled to accommodate questions of indigenous political identity with the organisation's firm commitment towards democracy and women's human rights (George, 2012).…”

Section: Responding To Political Transitionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Women increasingly work in civil service roles, they are active participants in Fiji's civil society, and they are involved in NGOs as well as more traditional community women's groups and church groups. As Leckie (2000) notes, the public sector continues to attract many well-educated women, mostly in nursing, teaching and clerical jobs. Increasing numbers of women are now able to transgress and negotiate traditional gender roles, with achievements in education and employment (Chattier, 2013).…”

Section: Pathways To Change-women In Education and Paid Employmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Women in the House (of Parliament) in Fiji: What’s Gender Got to Do with It?

Chattier

2015

The Round Table

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Women in Fiji have made steady, albeit slow, progress in terms of parliamentary representation, with women now holding 14% of seats in the lower house of parliament. Some of the progress has occurred as a result of improvements associated with increased socio-economic development, such as education, female employment and incremental changes in women's standing in Fiji society. Much of this change, however, has been due to women's movements and civil society activism becoming more astute to concerns of gender equality and lobbying for women's political participation. In a country that witnessed four political coups, women have had to create their own path into the public sphere. Despite progress, with an increasing number of women in the 2014 parliament, patriarchy is still a major force hindering women's political advancement in Fiji. This paper argues that a combination of cultural stereotyping and persistent gendered norms contribute to masculinisation of the political realm and eulogise women's role in the private sphere. But gender intersecting with ethnicity, age and class create differential levels of political agency for different groups of women in Fiji.

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Who participates in ‘participatory design’ of WASH infrastructure: a mixed-methods process evaluation

Mink,

Salinger,

Francis

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Inclusive participation is critical for community-based water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) interventions, especially in complex environments such as urban informal settlements. We conducted a mixed-methods, theory-driven process evaluation to evaluate participation, barriers to participation, and participant satisfaction within the Revitalising Informal Settlements and their Environments (RISE) trial in Makassar, Indonesia and Suva, Fiji (ACTRN12618000633280;https://www.anzctr.org.au/).RISE conducted participatory design activities, including community-level design workshops and household visits, to co-design WASH infrastructure. Household surveys, conducted with women and men after RISE participatory design in Makassar (N=320) and Suva (N=503), captured self-reported participation in RISE activities and satisfaction with influence over RISE decision-making. We used multivariable regression models to assess socio-demographic predictors of participation and satisfaction. Qualitative data were also collected after participatory design and analyzed thematically.Most respondents from Makassar (89%) and Suva (75%) participated in at least one RISE co-design activity. Statistically significant predictors of participation included gender, age, and marital status in Makassar and disability status and education in Suva. Most participants in Makassar (66%) and Suva (70%) were satisfied with their level of influence over RISE decision-making. In Makassar, no significant predictors of satisfaction were identified. In Suva, significant predictors of satisfaction included gender, religion, and marital status, with women wantingmoreinfluence and religious minorities and unmarried participants wantinglessinfluence over decisions. Qualitative data showed that most participants felt satisfied by RISE’s inclusive and participatory design, although some residents reported distrust with RISE and feeling excluded from activities by community representatives.While RISE participatory design activities achieved good reach and satisfaction overall, we identified specific gender and social inequities in participation and influence over decision-making. We recommend that WASH interventions reflect on the quality of their engagement with communities and local organizations in order to identify and appropriately include groups of interest.

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Women in post-coup Fiji: negotiating work through old and new realities

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

Gender roles, generational changes and environmental challenges: an intersectional interpretation of perceptions on healthy diets among iTaukei women and men in Fiji

Gender roles, generational changes and environmental challenges: an intersectional interpretation of perceptions on healthy diets among iTaukei women and men in Fiji

Women in the House (of Parliament) in Fiji: What’s Gender Got to Do with It?

Who participates in ‘participatory design’ of WASH infrastructure: a mixed-methods process evaluation

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