Women's marginalization and its implication for the low-income upland communities project, Occidental Mindoro, Philippines

The study revealed that domestic violence is the most dramatic and dangerous form of women's marginalization in the study areas. Other identified indicators of womens' marginalization include a) unstable sources of household income, b) low level of literacy, c) gender-stereotyped roles training, d) poor health and nutritional status, e) poor housing condition, f) men's access and control over resources and benefits, g) limited availability of income-generating activities, h) limited decision-making on certain issues, and i) labor displacement. The study also showed that women's marginalization has direct and indirect effects on Mangyan [natives] women in terms of change in physical look (rapid ageing), psychological hardships, and health problems. These effects in turn had great implications for women's productivity in the household they live in, thereby affecting their participation in any development endeavors. Similarly, LIUCP [low-income upland communities project] as a CBRM [community-based resource management] project has implications for improving the status of women through the different constructed infrastructures like farm-to-market roads, which facilitated Hanunuo [natives] women's selling and buying activities. LIUCP also provided training programs, facilitated income-generating activities and installed water system in both communities. The study also revealed that women's power in discerning their needs and aspirations was assessed to be strong for the Hanunuos compared with the Irayas [natives], especially in initiating their own organization, which they know would help them in their entrepreneurship and income-generating activities. In terms of assessing the gender-sensitivity of CBRM policy agenda, it was revealed that some policies have gender issues, which should be addressed first to achieve sustainable development. With regard to LIUCP's policy agenda, it was found out that the Project is silent in integrating concerns for women through the establishment of women's organization. In an attempt to test the applicability of DENR's [Department of Environment and Natural Resources] approach to mainstream GAD [Gender and Development] concerns in the LIUCP sites, it was found out that the tools used could generate sex-disaggregated information effectively especially for generally illiterate participants. It is however too early to comment on the effectiveness of the tools as means to mainstream and integrate gender concern