CHAPTER 13 Women in and Inclusive Growth

Source: Photobucket.com/images/purdah (2014) Introduction is a religious and social practice of physical segregation (پرده ,Pardah or Purdah (curtain of the sexes. Specifically, the purdah system prevents men from seeing women to whom they are not filially related and or associated by matrimony. In effect, only close family members of the male gender and women were permitted to see them without the . The restriction may take two arrangements. Either the use of clothing to cover the face and most part of the body or physically segregating the women by using curtains and even wall within a building (Asha, 2008). In the rural part of northern India, the Ghoonghat, which is a form of restriction imposed on some married Hindu women is practiced. They are disallowed from being seen by older male in-laws. The Purdah system is also practiced by some devout Muslims especially in the northern part of Nigeria. Entrances to such abodes are marked ‘Ba shiga’ (do not enter), in the Hausa language. This practice is prevalent mainly in Islamic countries and amongst Muslims who require a woman never to leave home unless accompanied by a male relative. Some Hindus also prohibit women from meeting with all males outside of the immediate family. The commencement of seclusion varies. For Muslims, it begins at puberty while for Hindus, seclusion starts after marriage (Papanek, 1973).

The restriction of the female restricts her of social and personal access to partaking in economic activities. In other societies, the practice is confined to significant religious celebrations. The usual veil in use is the or Yashmak. In some cases, the eyes may not be exposed. In other climes, the full face is left open to varying degrees. The origin of common belief that the introduction of Purdah is by the Islamic religion is incorrect. According to Asha (2008), this segregation practice was common amongst various groups in the Middle East such as Druze, Christian, and Jewish communities, long before the advent of . Ahmed (1989) also gave instances where the veil and curtailment of women’s mobility was practiced in the Babylonia, Arabia peninsular before Islam and Persian. The significant contribution of Islam is in adding religious flavour to already existing local practices of the time.

Rationale for Purdah Haque (2010) identified several reasons for observing purdah which in addition to being complex, also vary according to the region, class, culture and nationality, economic, psychological (detachment from public sphere to gain respect, status symbol, protection from the public gaze) and fashion. The initial need to protect women from harassment was the need advanced by some scholars. They argued that the segregation was late utilised to subjugate them (Ahmed, 1989 and Asha, 2008). The idea was to reinforce traditional culture, redefine the traditional roles of the women in the domestic sphere and protect their honour. In the opinion of White (1977), Purdah is a means of perpetuating the perceived differences between the sexes which makes the male out as being self-reliant and aggressive whilst the female gender is considered to be in need of protection because they are weak and irresponsible. Arnett (2001) however expresses the contrary view that Purdah is a symbol of honour, respect, and dignity which, provides the avenue for women to be judged by beyond the physical attraction. The impact of globalization and return of Muslim women from the diaspora has scribed to as being influential for resurgence of the practice of purdah amongst Pakistani women. (Afary, 1998). From a feminist perspective, Hosseini (1996) submits that the motivation for the revival of purdah as tool of empowerment. Indeed, the raison d'être for keeping Purdah is multifarious.

Implications of Purdah The seclusion of women to the household is also considered to be an expression of higher socioeconomic status and prestige since women are not utilised for the demeaning manual labour outside the comfort of the home. In some instances, a direct consequence of Purdah might ensures that a family male member accompanies woman outside the home (Afray 1997). The institutional restrictions imposed on women is ensnared with several implications transcending the political, social and economic spheres. These are discussed in turns.

Political-Economy of Purdah As earlier discussed in the previous section, the social and mobility restrictions imposed on women under Purdah may constrain the involvement of women in open political engagements. These restrictions as found out by Shaheed (1986) form an almost insurmountable bulwark and deterrent for women participation in the political arena. This means that their right to vote and be voted for is constrained. Politics is the ultimate source of economic power and the government in a developing country is the greatest custodian and dispenser of economic resources. These constraints are inimical to the political rights of women which is therefore deleterious to their rights and economic wellbeing. This limited involvement in life outside the home front and participation in community level decision-making exercise, result in the formulation of policies that are inadequate to cater for the needs and rights of women. The policy-making imbalance therefore strengthens gender several disparities in thematic areas including access to education, employment opportunities, healthcare, justice and property ownership (Jalal, 1991; Singh, 2004).

Socio-Economic Implications of Purdah The physical social and restriction of women results in the lack of a strong social network amongst the womenfolk. This accentuates the vulnerability of women with respect to her husband and in-laws (Koenig, Ahmed, Hossain & Mozumder, 2003). The restriction on women's mobility in the opinion of Haque (2010), limits their ability to access family planning services and health care, with consequential implication for diminished economic capacity. On the economic front, the restriction of women places constraints, very severely, on their ability to be gainfully employed (Hashemi, Schuler, and Riley, 1996). The other implication of this is that the women are economically unproductive. The men are therefore firmly placed in the position of breadwinners. Compelling poverty and economic hardship have led to some level of restrictions. Where the society is imbued with wealth, the complete restriction of the fair gender would not be possible (Haque, 2010). Hashemi et al. (1996) find that because of the greater financial pressures, women from the lower socioeconomic backgrounds tend to work and earn income. They are therefore less inclined to comply with the restrictive requirements of Purdah. In fact, in some cases due to economic pressure, some of the economically vulnerables simply ignore the Purdah norms. Indeed, Kabeer (1990) reports that rural based women in Bangladesh take up labour assignments where available, and if need be, they migrate in search of survival by working in the sex trade. It is not yet Uhuru, some other studies report the continued significance of the Purdah institution which often prohibit women from taking advantage of economic and social prospects. For these economic and socially challenged class of people, the choice to partake in the workforce, are daily beleaguered by the pressures they face in conforming to the ethno-religious injunctions. Given this state of affairs, the next section seeks to examine the avenues open to the disadvantaged womenfolk in overcoming the restrictions of the Purdah without seriously compromising the tenets of their social and religious settings. This is presented next.

Inclusive Growth Model Inclusive growth emphasis on both the pattern and pace of growth simultaneously, which are interlinked and therefore must be addressed together. It is trite in economic literature that a speedy pace of growth is a necessary condition if significant poverty reduction / alleviation is to be achieved (Bourguignon, 2003). However, for long run sustainability of this growth, Dollar and Kraay (2002) posit that such growth should encompass the broad spectrum of the society, and be across sectors. In addition, it should encompass majority of the nation’s labour force. As explained by the Indian Planning Commission (2007), inclusive growth is the process of incorporating economic agents hitherto excluded in the design and implementation of the development process. It focuses on both the pace and pattern of growth.

Herein comes the relevance of this growth model in providing some equality in levelling the playing field for the women folks. The coast is also enlarged with respect to the enlargement in the opportunities, investment provision and productive employment. Economic inclusiveness as defined by Levine (2011) is the degree to which opportunities in the economic spheres are determined by initiative and ideas, individual skill, rather than by political influence, familial wealth and social connections.

The concept of inclusive growth therefore requires structural transformation of the economy at the firm, and macro levels. The macro dimension required the reorganisation of the components of the GDP in order to make for a broad-based but balanced and economic development and growth (Aghion & Howitt, 1998; Aghion, Bloom, Blundell, Griffith, & Howitt, 2005; and Romer, 1990, 1994). The position of Imbs and Wacziarg (2003) is that the joint achievement of significant growth in the GDP and reduction is poverty is impossible. However, the World Bank (2008) recommends as panacea for inclusive growth, the structural and inclusive growth to cover all and sundry. The case in point is in Zambia where the economy in over a decade grew rapidly but did not record significant reduction in poverty. In 2004, a study by Kraay found that over 70 percent and 97 percent of the changes in the reduction in poverty respectively are explained by the growth in the average incomes of the people. This is broadly supported by The World Bank, Commission on Growth and Development (2008) which reported that the growth in productivity growth, accounts for wage raise across firms both for the employees and self-employed. On the micro level, the structural transformation promotes the capacity of the individuals by affording him the opportunity to harness available resources in the economy. On the side of labour supply, the individual skill is enhanced. This in turn provides new productive and employment opportunities on labour demand side. A heuristic approach by Hausmann, Rodrik, and Velasco (2005) deployed the “Keynes- Ramsey Rule” also known as the “Euler Equation” and identified the critical constraint to growth. The largest shadow price in their calculation is expected to be the largest in order to raise the positive welfare effect. The return to capital may however be low as a result of the fact that there may insufficient collateral and complementary investment in social and economic infrastructure, human capacity utilization, corruption, poor property rights etc. Market failures may also account for the sub-optimality. The Purdah system manifests these problems. The escape route seems to be via the financial intermediaries which, is presented in the following section.

Financial Inclusion In order to bring in the women in Purdah into the productive economic basket, we shall review the intermediation role of both the conventional and Islamic financial systems.

Conventional Financial System Indeed, Demirgüç-Kunt and Levine in 2009, submit that financial system provides incentives for business education and start-ups. Indeed, finance, they continued, determines the realization of one's economic aspirations and therefore plays a critical role in the shaping the gap between the poor and rich in addition to the level of inter-generational persistence. The reality of the conventional Nigerian banking system is that it is beset with debilitating constraints to the poor including the women in Purdah, which, stand in the way of financial inclusion. The conventional banks take interest (Riba) which is forbidden by Shariah - the Islamic code. Other limitations include poor banking infrastructure, for the most part in rural areas include financial illiteracy, lack of suitable product structure of banks and micro-financial institutions (MFIs), improper documentation and high amount initial deposits required to open and operate accounts. Indeed, as a part of the strategy competition and cost effectiveness, major banks have as their focal point, large ticket of loans instead of providing services for small sizes of loan. In effect, a major section of people is prevented from accessing loan services needed for capacity building, production and/or or service provision. There are two major constraints for the women in Purdah with regards to conventional financial system. First is the limitation of physical access to financial services. As earlier mentioned, a Muslim woman is required never to leave home unless accompanied by a male relative. In Saudi Arabia for example, a woman is not allowed to drive a car. The other general constriction is the need for compliance with the Shariah. Therefore, the Islamic financial system which provides a veritable avenue for integrating the women in Purdah into the financial network is discussed next.

Islamic Financial System Islamic banks are similar to conventional banks. However, fundamental differences exist between the two models. Islamic banks operate in accordance with the rules of Shariah, the legal code of Islam through the sharing of risk. For the financial system to promote justice, which is one of the props of Islamic finance, Chapra (2008) identifies three conditions to wit: Firstly, the financial system should be strong and stable. Secondly, the financier must bear part of the project risk with the entrepreneur. Finally, the quota bank lending available to the poor should be increased. The essence of these is to facilitate the elimination of poverty, the expansion of employment and self-employment opportunities. Dangorawa (2008) explains that benevolence (Ishan) and social justice (adl) are the philosophical underpinnings of the Islamic financial system. The conventional banking practices are infused with these principles in the practice of practices. Islamic microfinance. These values are also in consonance with the requirements of the woman in Purdah which engenders improvement in the living standard of the poor (Onakoya and Onakoya, 2013). Also, there are many ethical financial Islamic products which provide the low-income earners, the poor and women in Purdah start-up capital and the expansion of their businesses The experience in other climes including the Middle East countries attest to relevance of microfinance in generating employment, raising in real wages and reducing poverty (Awojobi and Bein, 2011). The relevance of Islamic financial system to the women in Purdah is that it allows them to enter into the financial network without breaching the religious injunctions. This has become prevalent in Muslim nations. Specifically, two confluence of finance have developed; Islamic finance and Micro-finance Islamic microfinance represents the confluence of the two fast growing sub sectors: Microfinance and Islamic finance. The unmet need of the vulnerable are satisfied with this financing genre, which unleash the pent –up opportunities for the Purdah-poor who have hitherto shunned financial products considered to be ‘haram’ (CGAP, 2013). In the 1980’s, the establishment of the novel Grameen bank method, a lucrative, group insured avenue to the poor. This was a wide departure from the government micro-financing programmes fraught with high default rate. Muhammad (2010) in concert supports the use of micro-credits as a veritable instrument for fighting poverty and filling the credit gap resulting from the strictures of the conventional banks which considers the poor as high risk customers. The model of microfinance advocated by Hassan and Ashraf (2010) provides Zakat and Awaqf funds for poverty alleviation with the objective of supporting the poorest groups with micro loans. The model is a five-prong approach to create a Zakah fund, which covers default losses arising from small and micro enterprises. The other legs of the model are the provision of Qardhasan loans to reduce vulnerability of the non-poor from becoming poor due to external shocks through a system of micro-insurance which as a strategy for inclusiveness, builds and enhances the households productive capacity. The last focus is the creation of mutual guarantee funds to pay for accidents and losses of property.

Conclusion and Policy Implications In order to enhance greater degree of economic inclusiveness of women in Purdah, all the stakeholders have roles to play. The government is enjoined to promote Private and Public Partnerships (PPP). This can be done by issuing of Sukuks for financing transport, health and education in other to enhance the opportunities driven by individual ideas, entrepreneurship and skills. In addition, it is recommended that dedicated risk management, regulatory and corporate governance frameworks are established for the emerging Islamic financial industry in order to ensure its sustainability. The Islamic financial products other including Endowments,, Micro-Takaful and Zaqat can be integrated into the conventional system by operators of the financial system. This will enhance financial inclusion. Furthermore, there is the need for the promotion of technological and institutional innovations especially mobile banking services which allow the women in Purdah to have access and usage to banking services without leaving their homes. Entrepreneurial women in Purdah create homemade goods, while others re-sell used or wholesale items. The envisioned service and production should be those capable of being produced in the home including roofing tiles, insulated housing panels, flower pots, weaving, spinning, aquaculture and provision of professional advisory services. With proper funding of the right products, combined with efficient organization and time management skills, the woman in Purdah can be as successful as others. Furthermore, home-based businesses allow women in Purdah entrepreneurs to make a living while saving on commuting costs and childcare. Selling products from home can be profitable if there is high demand for the product. The manifest cost of renting office and or shops is obviated. In order to ensure the effectiveness of policy interventions, gender-disaggregated data are required. Such audited data are critical for directing resources towards women’s development. Technology also has a critical role to play with telecommuting, internet advertising and on-line sales. Cooperative societies made up of these restricted women can create joint websites from which customers can shop. They can, using the facilities of mobile financial transaction platforms now being provided by the financial institutions get customers to pay on line. Since religion and societal ethos are at the base of Purdah, the importance of the clergy in educating the male folks and the women in Purdah on the need for them to become part of the economic basket in order to increase the economic growth and development of the country.

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