ABSTRACT
This study examined the impact of gender discrimination on decision making with focus on Dutse local government area of Jigawa State. The study employed quantitative descriptive research method. Data were sourced basically through primary source with the aid of questionnaire. The target population of the study consist of young adult and adolescent living in school of Nursing Kano. The population of the study consist of staff of Dutse Local Government Area municipal. A sample of 50 was drawn from the population using convenience sampling technique. Data collected was analyzed using frequency distribution tables and simple percentage. From the findings, it was established that women at present have lower status than men; that women are discriminated against socially, economically, and politically; and that this state of affairs is unjustified and must be changed. It was recommended among other recommendations that to reduce the problems of gender discrimination in decision making at the local government level should be through increasing women awareness on politics, improve women’s political participation, and equal employment opportunities like the men..
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
1.2 Statement of the Problem
1.3 Aims and Objectives of the Study
1.4 Hypotheses of the Study
1.5 Significance of the Study
1.6 Scope and Limitations of the Study
1.7History of the Area of Study
1.8Definition of Terms/Concepts
1.9 Conclusion
CHAPTER TWO
2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction
2.2Gender
2.3 Women, Decision-Making and Gender Equality
2.4 Gender Discrimination on Decision Making in the Local Government
2.5 The Impact of Female Gender Discrimination in Decision Making on the local
government Administration.
2.6 Problem Associated with Gender Discrimination in Decision Making in the local
Government Administration
2.7. Solution to Gender Discrimination in Decision Making in Dutse Local Government
2.7.1Give Girls Access to Education.
2.7.2 Give Women Platforms to be in Power and Achieve Economic Success
2.8 Conclusion
CHAPTER THREE
3.0 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Research Design
3.3 Population of the Study
3.4 Sample Size and Sampling Techniques
3.5 Methods/Instruments of Data Collection
3.6 Methods of Data Analysis
3.7 Conclusion
CHAPTER FOUR
4.0 DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Section One: Personal Profile
4.3 Section Two: Responses of the Respondents
4.4 Subordinate Social Roles for Women
4.5 Alternative Ways to Reduce the Problem of Female Gender Discrimination on Decision Making
4.6 Conclusion
Chapter five
5.0 Summary, Conclusion and Recommendations
5.1 Summary/Discursion of finding
5.2 Conclusion
5.3 Recommendations
REFERENCES
APPENDIX: QUESTIONNAIRE
CHAPTER ONE
1. 0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
The question of how and why male dominance arose in human society is, in a sense, purely theoretical. It may be noted, however, that although there were and are numerous preliterate societies where the position of women is relatively high, there has never been proof of a matriarchy (a society where women as a group actually and consistently rule). What can be said is that in nearly all preliterate societies, the basic division of labor has been between men and women. Men’s work is nearly always valued above women’s work. The women’s role as child bearer and nurse kept her close to the home and to the tasks necessary for child bearing.
Because of his freedom from pregnancy and nursing and probably because of his greater physical strength, man became the trader, explorer, hunter, and fighter. Man’s mobility, his travels, his superior ability to defend the home and to face predators and enemies must have been factors in early mate dominance, despite women’s frequent provision of a major portion of family subsistence through food-gathering. Men, not tied to the hearth of child bearing, were able to engage in extra family and extra group contacts that help to build economic, political, and military systems. The male-dominated systems netted the male not only prestige and status but much of society’s economic surplus, which he used to further his domination of the family.
Ahmed (2010) observed that the position of women in development arose when it was noticed that women as a group are in any respects disadvantaged vis-à-vis men, and that the situation of women often deteriorates (relatively) as a result of development interventions. In order to understand the situation, and especially the disadvantage situation of women, we have to understand ‘gender’ the cultural pattern of differentiation between men and women. Also, it is not possible to improve the situation of women without being aware of the way gender influences women’s opportunities. It became less usual to say that ‘one should look at the role of women’ when planning activities, and more usual to say that ‘gender should be taken into account’. Rather than say ‘we want to improve the situation of women’ we could say ‘we want to make gender relations more egalitarian.
Gender is about women and men. But the inequality in gender relations can often be addressed by strengthening the position of women and fulfilling their needs. This is because the inequality almost always means that women are worse off.
Literally, the meaning of discrimination is an unfavorable treatment to anyone based on sex, race and so on. It is considered as an obstacle for the achievement of the objectives of equality, development and peace. Discrimination is recognized as a form of inequality and issue for women around the world. It affects the capacity of women to participate freely and fully in society and in turn brings psychological harmful consequences. Half of the population of the world consists of women, whose large portion is still discriminated in different phase of life directly or indirectly, though there are some differences in each country, religion, society or ethnicity.
Gender discrimination in the world can be seen in different religions, countries and communities. As indicated by Waltke, ancient Jewish prayed every morning saying “Thank you Lord that I was not born a woman; Christian boys are taken to the special room of the church but the girls are not during the name giving ceremony; women are not supposed to be priest or father in temples and church. The situation of the gender discrimination has been worsened with the development of science and technology as it predicts the sex of a fetus before it turns to a baby. In 1978 and 1983, seventy eight thousand of fetuses were aborted in Mumbai, as they were known as female fetus, (Bastola, 2007).
As a male dominated society, Nigeria is not an exceptional in discriminating women. Discrimination against women in Nigeria is related to the traditional culture and deeply rooted in the society; that establishes the hierarchical relationship between male and female. Discrimination has been a cultural tradition that is accepted by women and applied by men as social value. Nigeria is a religious and male dominated society where women are considered as secondary to men. Preference of son birth is more common almost in every community. Gender based discrimination in different forms starts right after the birth and it continues throughout the life cycle.
There are different sets of behaviors for boys and girls to perform. Such discrimination has helped to establish the hierarchical relationship between men and women in the society and also helped to create many rigid gender norms that restrict women’s opportunities and stifle their development in the private and public sphere.
Scholars have reported different types of discrimination against women and it is different according to ethnicity.Some societies are considered most vulnerable group as they often practice early age marriage. The girls families are forced to get marry at early age without their consent (Luitel, 1992).
Similarly, women are not allowed to move and talk freely which sometime turns into violent. It was reported that woman was beaten and also put a paste of chili powder and garlic inside her vagina for speaking with two boys (The Kathmandu Post, 2007). Adhikari (2007) also reported that newly married brides do not eat meal as they want since they are not supposed to move in a day time if they eat as they want they might have to go outside for defecate and men will see their face.
Educational discrimination between men and women is also seen in Nepal. Adult literacy and average schooling years of women in Nepal is very low comparing to men (HMG/N, 2002). People often think that there is no need of education for girls. Pandey (2006) reported that more women's (40%) against men's (30%) attitude toward the need of education for girls is negative that resulted higher percentage of boys (50%) got the opportunity to study in boarding school against the girls (10%).
Women in some communities, especially Madheshi still think that girls need to spend time for household chores after marriage and do not prefer to send girl child for higher education. Some women in Madheshi community got the opportunity for higher education and job as well but they could not continue it after marriage since there was pressure from the husband and mother -in-law to quit the job as they need to move and interact with different people, (Mandal, 2007).
Discrimination in decision making for family, property right in the form of less expense in education, food and health care for girl child than boys is old practice in rural areas of Nepal (Bhadra 2002). Women in rural area are considered as relatively uneducated and rarely involved in formal meetings and planning phase.
Women are discriminated to make decisions in formal meetings and also to involve in political participation due to illiteracy, (Pandey, 2006). Women are excluded in planning and decision making process of the community forestry due to lack of education and awareness (Shrestha, 2004). Besides education, workloads also make women less available in attending meetings. Household responsibilities make women less available for the extra meeting or social events where information is exchanged, (Bhattarai, 2006).
Conventionally, across all societies and traditions, the position of women has been largely seen in relationship to their roles as mothers, housewives, and caretakers of the households. However, although their role is usually seen in manner, they have also been actively involved in production activities in most societies. Nevertheless, it has been the case that women have conventionally occupied subordinate position vis-à-vis their male counterparts, and it is this very particular position that has generated demand for change in order to improve the position of women in societies.
Discrimination exists in many professional and non-professional jobs, it prevent the women from being dominant, for instance, an airline pilot rather than stewardess, or a chef rather than a waitress. The combination of socialization, marital constraints, and discrimination in other areas amply explains the “mystery” of why millions of women “prefer” to take lousy jobs with low wages.
In addition to direct discrimination in employment, another reason for the higher unemployment of women is the segregation of jobs, which very much narrows the range of their job opportunities. Women are much more likely to be unemployed than men. Because of sexism, they are the last hired and first fired. Employers and government leaders, who are males, have power to discriminate; and they assume that males are good, qualified workers, while women are not.
Now, several questions may be asked and answered. The first is why the average wage of women is much lower than that of men? A large part of the answer is that women are mainly in the low-wage areas. Why are they in the low-wage areas? Part of the reason for this is because they are discriminated against in the other areas; another part of the reason is that their own sexist conditioning tells them that these low-wage areas are the proper places for them to be. They are in these areas because it is much, much harder for them to move into the better paying areas. Discrimination, sexist conditioning, and family circumstances all work to keep women in traditional female jobs.
A related question is: why do employers segregate women into these particular areas? The key to answering this is to recognize that, in the competitive sectors, employers are forced by low profits to economies in every way. Even though they may be as prejudice as employers in the monopoly sector, they must still hire women if they can pay them lower wages. In fact, when they discover out of necessity that women can do the jobs as well as men, but will work for lower wages, they scramble to hire women rather than men in order that they can make higher profits.
The main purpose of the study is to document the perceived discrimination practiced in male dominated society. Moreover, the study attempts to see the differences in the perception of married and unmarried women in the discrimination and also explain the factors responsible for it in various aspects.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
One of the major problems militating against gender discrimination on decision making is the system of patriarchy in all societies of the world. The males always dominate the females in all spheres of life.
Another problem militating against gender discrimination is women political power and leadership. The males dominated most of the key positions in leadership leaving the females with subordinate position, which attributes to the females not taking any decision with regards to their demands.
The socio-cultural aspect of our society is one of the factors responsible for gender discrimination on decision making. The males and females have some specified social roles to play leaving the females with subordinate roles.
1.4 Aims and Objectives of the Study
The main aim of this study is to investigate how gender discrimination affects decision making in the local government. Specifically, the broad objectives of this study are concerned with the following:
i. To find out the extent of patriarchal system and how it affects decision making.
ii. To find out the factors that lead to gender discrimination on decision making.
iii. To find out the socio-cultural factors responsible for gender discrimination on decision making in our society.
iv. To examine the extent of women political power and leadership and how it affects decision making in the local government.
v. To highlight as well as suggest solutions to identified factors that lead to gender discrimination on decision making in our society.
1.5 Hypotheses of the Study
Hypothesis may be defined as a tentative proposition suggested as a solution to a problem. It is therefore, a starting assumption based on the observation of facts for, it is a statement of assumption which the researcher is expected to test during the analysis of data based on the responses obtained from the respondents. The following hypotheses were formulated and tested in the course of the study.
i. Gender discrimination leads to poor decision making in the local government.
ii. Patriarchal system leads to gender discrimination and affects decision making.
iii. Socio-cultural factors are responsible for gender discrimination on decision making in our society.
iv. Lack of women political power and leadership affects decision making in the local government.
v. Societal disintegration and illiteracy are factors responsible for gender discrimination on decision making in our society.
1.5 Significance of the Study
The study attempts to assess the impact of gender discrimination on decision – making in Dutse Local Government Area. It also identified the roles of females and examined the involvement of female in decision making. The findings of the study will help the management of the local government and others to initiate improvement in their service by involving female to partake in some decision makings. The study is also significant because of its importance and relevant in academic field of study. It also helps students during their study as secondary data. It also encourages women to get involved in some decision making at the local government level. The findings of the study will assist to enlighten the public on the role of female in decision making.
It will be of immense value to academicians and students who may want to carry out further research work in related area. It will add to the existing knowledge and compliment the work of other authors in this field of study.
It is expected that this study will provide a basis for students or researchers to carry out further research in the area of the study. The presentation will especially outline the prevailing phenomenon in our study; and will expose what the members of the society have done to arrest the situation. Finally, the research will call on the attention of the government to outline and suggest possible solutions.
1.6 Scope and Limitations of the Study
This research will focus its attention within the area of the study, which is an assessment of the impact of gender discrimination on decision – making in Dutse Local Government Area of Jigawa State.
This research study was limited to Dutse Township. The researcher would have loved to cover the entire local government, but due to financial and time constraints, the selection of Dutse town was based on the culture, religion and norms they share in the whole local government area. This study was, therefore, limited only to Dutse Township, it is expected that it would properly contribute accurately; and relevant data would be derived most clearly to reflect the situation in Jigawa State. In the course of the study, a lot of problems were encountered notable among them were financial, collating of data, and transportation.
In the course of obtaining data for the research work, the researcher encountered some difficulties. Most people approached were not willing to give out information required. However, despite these hitches/challenges, the researcher considers the research work a huge success.
In addition to this, the researcher fined it difficult to assess all the necessary information needed due to lack of proper documentation and record from the management of the local government with regards to female gender discrimination in decision making. The researcher requires financial capacity as the researcher need a lot of money to undertake the study which usually is inadequate as student is concern. Other limitations include inadequate textbooks in the school library as well as inadequate time for the supervisor. The supervisor has additional responsibilities as the Director of the College.
1.7 History of the Area of Study
Dutse is among one of the most important towns in Hausa land with a long history that dates back to the Islamic jihad of Shehu Usman Danfodio. Like many northern parts of Nigeria, traditional chain of the inhabitants of the area known as “Dutse Gadawar” come as a result of hunting expedition. The town is situated between latitude 114°-116°N and longitude 90°-45°E. One may find it different to give a functional analysis of all developments that took place in the area in the period of 1452 to 2015. Dutse was affected by growing influence of the Borno empire through Nigeria in 1600. It was in recoerd that the Fulani rulers in Dutse were Salihi and Musa of the 1807 to 1919 when Salihi and Musa paid a courtesy visit to Shehu Dafodio. It was at that time they met Suleiman and Ibrahim Dabo both from Kano for the installation of Suleiman.
It was the wish and interest of Danfodio that he appointed Salihi and Musa Independent Rulers and Flag Bearers for Dutse. The situation continues in the stage that is the élan continue to pass the ruling system among them. As centuries and years came and pass, another historical event took place in the year 1981 when Dutse obtained its emirate status by the civilian administration under the leadership of the executive governor of old Kano State, late Alh. Mohammad Abubakar Rimi. As a result of that, the ruling district head of Dutse by that time was Alh. Abdullahi Maikano and was appointed to be the first class emir of Dutse. The emirate was later dissolved as a result of change of administration.
After the creation of Jigawa State on the 2nd August-1991 by the former military head of state general Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, Dutse was named as the capital of the state CornilOlayinka Sule was the first Sole Administration of the State.
Dutse emirate council has the following districts, Kiyawa, Birnin Kudu, Gwaram, Miga, Jahun, Bamaina, and Dutse. As the Capital of Jigawa State, itcomprises of eleven words, namely, Kachi, Kudai, Limawa, MadobiDandubus, Dure, Abaya, Chamo, JigawarTsadaSakwaya and Karnaya words.
Dutse is a historical town and situated southeast of Kano city. Wards that were located beside the rocks and hills surrounded Dutse town. Due to the rocky and hilly nature of the area, it was not possible for Dutse town to be located at one place, and thus brought about the scattering of the wards. This was why people were at loggerheads of which one is actually the Dutse town.
Dutse town was the combination of 27 wards, which were derived from 3 districts, namely, Limawa, Kachi and Galamawa. Due to some unknown reasons, some of this ward were no more in existence.
The political set-up was similar with that of Hausa land. Leadership was based on the town elders, ward heads, village heads and district heads. The ward of Guru is the heart of leadership.The predominant of Dutse town was Islam, and any non-muslim was a migrant.
The different activities of Dutse town were based on different occupations, ranging from pot making, local textile, dyeing, farming, animal rearing, hide and skin, and mercantile. Dutse town had two major historical markets, one at Limawa and the other Mandawari market.
The social interaction and interpersonal relationships of the people of Dutse was based on mutual understanding. They regard everyone including a visitor with high esteem. They respect their elders and their leaders. They had extended family system.
The modern development of Dutse started in 1970 when the former Military Administrator of Kano State under police commissioner, Alhaji Audu Bako, started the construction of road from KwanarHuguma to Kiyawa. The road construction firm built it’s offices and quarters at a place near Dutse town, which was later called Yadi (Yard) indicating the settlement of the construction firm. This new settlement started developing in 1973, and consisted of businessmen and places of pleasure.
In 1976, the Federal Government announced the creation of Dutse Local Government Area, and Dutse town as the headquarters. The settlement of the LocalGovernment Headquarters was situated at the new settlement (i.e. Yadi), due to the fact that Garu ward could not accommodate the Headquaters.
In 1981, Alhaji Abdullahi Maikano was i8nstalled as a first class Emir of Dutse. In 1983, he was removed as first class Emir, and Alhaji Muhammadu Sunusi was installed as the District Head of Dutse (i.e. Hakimin Dutse).
In 1991, the Federal Government announced the creation of additional nine States in the Federation. Jigawa State was the only newly created State with its capital at Dutse. It was due to this state creation, that Dutse regained her status of a first calss Emir, and Alhaji Muhammad Sunusi was installed as a first class Emir of Dutse. After his death in 1995, his son, Alhaji Nuhu Muhammadu Sunusi took over the throne.
1.8 Definition of Terms/Concepts
In order to understand the topic, the following definitions of terms and concepts are given below.
1.8.1 Gender
Gender is the cultural pattern of differentiation between men and women. It is stressed that the pattern of differentiation between men and women will be different depending on the culture, but that all cultures do have such a pattern. The differentiation is reflected in the different roles and tasks of men and women, their different degrees of access to resources, and their different identities. Moreover, differentiation is almost never a neutral inequality, but also ‘inequity’ in the sense that women as a group has fewer options, less power, status and access to resources than men.
Gender differences are differences between men and women which are socially rather than biologically determined. Sex identifies the biological differences between men and women, gender identifies the social relationship. It, therefore, refers not to women or men but the relationship between them, and the way in which this is socially constructed.
Gender is defined as the relations between men and women, both perceptual and material. Gender is not determine biologically, as a results of sexual characteristics of either men or women, but is constructed socially.
1.8.2 Discrimination
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, edited by Paul Procter, gave the meaning of discrimination as, “treating different things or people in different ways”. Discriminate against (i.e. to treat someone as worse than others).
1.8.3 Gender Discrimination
Gender discrimination describes the situation in which people are treated differently simply because they are male or female, rather than on the basis of their individual skills or capacity.
1.8.4 Decision-Making
Decision-making is the process of identifying and selecting a course of action to solve a specific problem: it involves the selection of a course of action from among two or more possible alternatives in order to arrive at a solution for a giving problem.
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