Gender Roles in Waste Management: Women's Participation in Delhi

Mahatma Gandhi said that Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed." Human population are concentrating in cities due to urbanization which gives a easy & comfortable life on one hand for few while on other hand it deteriorates the environment and this can be seen in almost every city of world which leads to significant environmental and public health issues. This research paper investigates the role of gender in waste management in Delhi. We know that in Indian families and even in other countries, women are informal waste worker and play a very important role in waste management ecosystem, but their contribution is mostly overlooked in formal discussion about waste management and sustainability of environment.

In this research , we have employed a mixed approach including both quantitative as well as qualitative methods to collect data to analyse women’s experience in waste management across different socio-economic background. The Data was collected by interviewing 100 women’s involvement in the work of waste management in which they collect, sort and recycle the waste. We have focuses on women’s perspective, as research focuses to showcase the complex realities that are faced by women’s in this sector

Initial finding explores and states that the women are involved in waste management due to their financial needs, still they face several issues like no access to formal employment, no safe working conditions etc., The study also explored other dimensions such as intersection of gender, class, and caste in shaping women’s experience in this sector. The study also finds how gender, social status, and family background influence what women go through in this job.