Gender shapes the differential identities of women and men, their norms, roles and responsibilities. It influences people’s (unequal) access to resources and decision making. It influences people’s agency.
Fisheries is generally considered a male domain. Women’s roles in fisheries—along the whole value chain, in sustaining the fishing families and community, in protecting natural resources and local food security—are often glossed over and remain invisible. In the fisheries sector, women face persistent gender-based discrimination and marginalization, differentially defined by the diverse social context.
Women are overrepresented in vulnerable categories of employment in fisheries. They generally lack tenure security; access to productive assets and market opportunities; decent work conditions; and they have limited access to services like healthcare, child care, credits, insurance, legal aid and capacity building. They are exposed to sexual violence, prejudices and other forms of harassment. Each and every crisis impacts them disproportionately.
Women are poorly represented in fisheries’ associations, cooperatives and unions. They rarely have a say in the decisions that govern their fisheries and other matters that affect their life and livelihood. Mainstream policies and programmes remain gender-blind or biased. Lack of data undermines women’s role in fisheries.
For ICSF, since its inception in 1986, valorizing and strengthening women’s roles in fisheries and within organizations has always been a priority. For this it has undertaken research, training, advocacy and publication of the Gender in Fisheries Newsletter Yemaya. ICSF played a pioneering role in this. Its ‘Women in Fisheries’ work has been highlighting the patriarchal practices in fisheries and how these directly relate to the unsustainable exploitation of nature, to poverty and to food insecurity. It has questioned the nature of fisheries development itself, highlighting a ‘feminist perspective’ for an alternative that is in harmony with the ecosystem and respects life and livelihoods and the human rights of all people. For more information read ICSF’s Gender Policy
Special Session 7: Shared Experiences of Women in Fisheries
The 25 Minute film (compiled by ICSF) shows a change that has occurred over a decade in different countries across the world — truthful appreciation of women’s role in fisheries. Despite differences in society, culture, politics and economics, their involvement in the sector follows a similar arc the world over. The film is an effort to understand and identify the main factors over the past decade that have shaped their role, both positively and negatively. It highlights invisible voices from the South Pacific Islands, Asia, Africa, Latin America and Caribbean region during GAF 8 at Kochi. For more: https://www.gafconference.org//
Asia Workshop: IYAFA 2022-Celebrating Sustainable and Equitable Small-scale Fisheries Need for gender equality in fisheries
Women play a large role in fisheries, but often their roles and contributions are invisible or not recognized. Women do fish (both on boats and without boats), sort fish, sell fish, process fish and cook fish for home consumptions. However, often women are not seen as “real” fishers and are excluded from fisheries organizations, do not have/ have less access than men to resources such as technology, loans, insurance and information. Women have responsibilities for household work and childcare that limits what they can do in fisheries. They often have less decision making power in the household and society. Some people might feel that women are not discriminated against, but the problem is that they are not even “discriminated”, since they are not even recognized as fishers and only seen as carrying out their duties to support the family... For more: https://www.icsf.net/resources/asia-workshop-iyafa-2022-celebrating-sustainable-and-equitable-small-scale-fisheries/
The newly-released document ‘ICSF’s Journey with Women in Fisheries’ marks a milestone not only in the history of the International Collective in Support of Fisheries (ICSF), an organization that has...
This has led to a constant demand by women’s-rights’ activists and organizations to address market related issues of women vendors. This study, aims to provide insights into the challenges faced...
This workshop was a platform to analyze issues facing women fish vendors in Mumbai and to discuss, based on their proposals, strategies that may be adopted to secure their livelihoods. ...
The 5000 odd women who free-dive to collect seaweed in the Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park off the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu find themselves struggling for their...
ICSF organized this workshop during 1-3 February 2010 in Navi Mumbai, India to discuss and analyze the role of women in fisheries, and reflect on issues facing women in fishing...
Active discussion, debate and analysis formed the basis of the “Shared Agenda” agreed on by workshop participants. This captured their “dreams for the future” as well as the “agenda for...
Women fishworkers play critical roles within the fisheries and fishing communities. They contribute in significant ways to the food security needs of a diverse range of consumers. This booklet attempts...
As far as Masifundise Development Trust and Coastal Links – the two South Aricabased fishers’ organizations involved in the meet – are concerned, the workshop helped build their leadership capacity...
The present paper is intended to be a background paper for the workshop titled “Recasting the net: Defining a gender agenda for sustaining life and livelihoods in fisheries”. This review...
These case studies were commissioned by the International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF), in preparation for the national workshop organized in February 2010, India https://www.icsf.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/930.ICSF029.pdf
The 2022 edition of The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture coincides with the launch of the Decade of Action to deliver the Global Goals, the United Nations Decade of...
USAID Sustainable Fish Asia (SUFIA) Local Capacity Development (LCD) Activity launched and distributed communication and knowledge products to promote gender equality and social inclusion in fisheries management and marine conservation...
Fisheries and aquaculture contribute to food security and livelihoods of millions of people in Asia. Both women and men are engaged in fisheries and aquaculture. In the past ten years,...
In the Saloum Delta in Senegal, 4,800 women fishers are carrying forward a climate and energy transition in the face of rising water levels, soil salinisation, industrial overfishing and the...
This video provides an introduction to conducting gender-specific research in Southeast Asia’s fisheries. While the video features communities and workplaces in Southern Mindanao, Philippines, it represents many of the gender...
The role that women play in fisheries around the world is receiving increasing international attention yet the contributions by women to fisheries catches continues to be overlooked by society, industry...
This video provides an overview of women’s role in the fishing industry in Southeast Asia. While the video features communities and workplaces in Southern Mindanao, Philippines, it represents many of...
This 31st issue of the Pacific Community’s Women in Fisheries Information Bulletin includes eighteen original articles from Fiji, Indonesia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Marshall Islands and Solomon Islands....
The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture aims to provide objective, reliable and up-to-date information to a wide audience – policymakers, managers, scientists, stakeholders and indeed everyone interested in the...
While the law of the sea has been traditionally portrayed as a technical, gender-neutral set of rules, of concern to States rather than humans, authors in this volume persuasively argue...