About the Book

It is now a truism that tackling poverty requires paying special attention to women, and to increasing their opportunities to improve their livelihoods. In rural areas, that means access to markets and services, and to the transport needed to reach them. Yet, as this unique investigation of the relationship between gender and rural transport graphically shows, transport policy makers and providers have paid almost no attention to gender equity, and gender researchers in development have seldom examined the crucially important role which transport plays in women's lives. The International Forum for Rural Transport and Development has now remedied this lacuna. It commissioned research at local level across some 15 countries in Asia and Africa. This volume assembles these studies with a view to understanding how gender affects men and women's differential access to, and need for, transport; and what steps can be taken at community, provider and policy levels in order to improve the situation. This book presents fascinating information about the different forms of rural transport in diverse settings; the social roles transport plays; the uneven gender-influenced access to it; and the impacts which poverty, culture and gender-insensitive provision have on women's lives so far as transport is concerned. It highlights the views of women, often ignored and yet so important, for solutions to what can only be described as women's mobility poverty.

Balancing the Load

Balancing the Load

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