Gender Discrimination and Quality of Life: A Perspective of the Health Care Delivery in Zuba District, Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria

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1 Kogi State University From the SelectedWorks of Confluence Journal of Environmental Studies (CJES), Kogi State University, Nigeria Summer September, 2012 Gender Discrimination and Quality of Life: A Perspective of the Health Care Delivery in Zuba District, Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria Tanimu T Zakariah Esther Englama Available at:

2 Gender Discrimination and Quality of Life: A Perspective of the Health Care Delivery in Zuba District, Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria Zakariah, T. Tanimu and Englama, Esther (Mrs) Department of Geography, Federal College of Education, Zuba Abuja Abstract The study seeks to find out the reasons for gender discrimination in health care service provision having established that gender discrimination exists in the area. The paper also examines the implications and the impact of this discrimination on the quality of life in the area. The instrument used to generate data for the study was the questionnaire two hundred questionnaire copies were administered by the researchers with the help of the research assistant. The data generated were analyzed using the mean and standard deviation, while the hypothesis was tested with student, t-test. It was discovered that women are discriminated in all facets of life in the area, including health care service provision and this has affected their productivity and is also responsible for high female mortality. It was also discovered that discrimination against women in health care provision results in low participation of women in economic activities because of ill-health. There is need for public education on the importance of gender equity in the area. Keywords: conflict, discrimination, equality, gender, health, health care, Introduction Since the 1980s issues of gender concerns have been brought to the forefront of development interventions by the UN international summits. For instance the Beijing world conference on women in 1995, called for women to be fully integrated into the system of development. This is because development can not be achieved when the needs and the welfare of women are neglected. Development is concerned with improving the welfare or quality of life of all human beings (John 1999:438). This means that all the citizens of the society must be beneficiaries of any process or programme of development. Implicit in all perspectives of development is good health, because it is basic for human well being and productivity. Good health results in improved incomes better housing, stable employment and a raised consumption of food among others. If also means that human resources can not be mobilized for development without good health. Discrimination in health care service provision is detrimental to development and good quality of life in any society. This is the concerned of this paper; it examines the reasons of gender discrimination, and its implications for the quality of life. Gender discrimination is a pervasive feature of all patriarchal societies all over the world. In this regard the World Bank report in NPC (2001:3) and maduewesi (2005:176) states that, in no region of the developing world is women equal to men in legal, social and economic rights. Obviously gender discrimination is marked in patriarchal societies like Zuba district of the FCT- Abuja where women are considered inferior and subservience and have less right to economic and social resources. The NPC (2001:3) confirms this when it stated that, gender is a social construct that establishes and differentiates statues and roles between men and women particularly in the way they contribute to, participate in, and are rewarded by the economy and the prevailing social system. Around the world gender roles and relationships are not the same or equal as men have been found to dominate the economy and most social institutions. In most societies men dominate in decision making and control of resources. Young people are therefore taught and made to grow up with the idea that a woman is inferior in power, consciences or Godly virtues and in mind to men (Hassan 2006:148). He went further to state that culturally the woman subservience to man is exemplified in the home, where she is under the control of her father or brother if yet married or the husband or his male relation as a wife. This leaves a women grappling for her health which is considered less important compared to that of a man. Good health is basic to human comfort and productivity, and this is fundamental for the realization of any development goals. In this regard Omotoso (200:116) said, the better, the state of 120

3 Tanimu & Englama, : health of a country the better it is to mobilize, develop and utilize the minds, energies and resources of the people for the task of development. Good health care has implication for the quality of life as it is that guarantees the family happiness, stability and productivity. No wonder the world health organization (WHO) in NPC (2003: 124) defines health as a state of complete physical, mental, social well being of an individual, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. There is need to provide affordable good health care services to both men and women, since their well being is important for the achievement of development. Quality of life is the scarification with one s life and identity, having dreams that are realistic, and hopes and aspirations based on the reality of one s circumstance. It also means having mutual respect and domestic harmony (Barbara et al (1999: 33) a good quality of life therefore entails that the citizens of a society are satisfied and comfortable because they live a good life. Several studies have revealed that there is obvious gender discrimination in the provision of health care services in must parts of Africa. For instance Alphonsus (2006: 157) reported that in Benin City gender discrimination has resulted in imbalanced allocation of resources including food, money and health care attention between male and female. Akani (2009: 10) also reported that as fall outs of discrimination women have suffered deprivation and pain from little or no access to education, lack of economic empowerment, lack of decision-making power at family level even in matters pertaining to their health, while Daniel (2003;6) reported that in Kumasi women productive and reproductive roles are intricately dependent on their health. But in Zuba District there is no any study available so that these views can be put in their proper perspectives. This is the crux of the problem, consequently the following questions have been posed:i. What are the reasons for gender discrimination in the area? ii. What are the impacts of gender discrimination on the health care provision in the area? iii. what are the implication of health care discrimination for the quality of life Therefore, the aim of the study is to examine the causes or reasons for gender discrimination in Zuba district and the implications for the quality of life. More specifically the study seeks to: i. identify reasons for gender discrimination ii. find out the impact of this discrimination on health care provision iii. determine the implication of discrimination on health care provision for the quality of life Study Area:Zuba district of the FCT Abuja has Koro as a predominant tribe, but because of the creation of the FCT other tribes from other parts of the country have moved into the area. It is located at the northern side of the FCT, so it is considered the northern gate into the FCT- Abuja. 121

4 Materials and Methods The sample is made up of 100 men and 100 women making a total of 200 respondents that were randomly selected from ten settlements within the study area. It means in each settlement the respondents were made up of 10 men and 10 women. It was a 5- point Likert scale of strongly agreed (SA) _ 5, agreed (A) = $, undecided (UN) = 3, disagreed (D) 2 and strongly disagreed (SD) = 1 point. The respondents were requested to tick the option that best represents their opinion. The instrument was given to four principal and chief lecturers who examined the relevancy, clarity of the language and the adequacy of the questions. The questionnaire method was used to collect the data. 200 copies of the questionnaire were administered with the help of a research assistant, who read and interpreted the questions to respondents who could not read. Data for the study were analyzed using the mean and standard deviation. A mean of 2.50 was taken as a cutoff point for accepting an item, while 2.49 and below was taken as a point for rejecting an item. The student t- test was used to test the hypothesis. Results and Discussion: The results are presented according to the research questions, in table 1, 2 and 3. Table 1: Reasons for gender discrimination S/No Items X SD Decision 1. Cultural norms Accept 2. Religious beliefs Accept 3. Traditional practices Accept 4. Social factors Accept 5. Economic factors Accept 6. Men love for power Accept 7. Ideological than culture Rejected 8. Poor educational attainment Accept X = mean, SD = Standard Deviation The table 1 above reveals that all the items have mean above 2.50 except item 7. It means that all the items except item 7 were perceived as accepted, the reasons for gender discrimination. Table 1: Reveals that the causes for gender discrimination in roles and control of resources in the area include cultural norms which prohibit women from doing certain things or eating certain foods. Other causes of discrimination against women include religious beliefs, major religions; Christianity and Islam teach that man was created first and a woman later out of man. Young people therefore grow up with this idea believing that man is supreme and the woman created out of man is inferior Traditional beliefs also reinforces this as women are seen and regarded traditionally as help mate to men (Obodoegbulam 2008: 124) No wonder in most societies in Africa the birth of a girl is not celebrated like that of a boy. Other reasons for gender discrimination are social and economic factors. Men dominate in decision making that influence the social and economic life of women. Table 2: Impacts of gender discrimination on health care provision in the family: S/No Items X SD Decision 1. It results to child-sex preference Accept 2. It result to boys being giving the best health care at Accept the expense of girls 3. Boys are well nourished while girls are not Accept 4. It results to female high morbidity and mortality Accept 5. It results to men taking decisions for the family Accept 6. It results to women low participation in economic, social and political activities Accept 122

5 Table 2 above shows that all the items have mean above 2.50 and were therefore accepted. Table 2 also reveals that this discrimination against women in the provision of health care services do result in the preference of boys as they are given the best medical care than girls, in terms of feeding the boy is given enough to eat while the girl is given very little. In fact culturally women eat the reminance from men s plates. In this case therefore it is very common to see boys been well nourished than girls. It is also discovered that because of the discrimination women have high morbidity and mortality. In most cases women are left to cater for themselves medically. Of course this is because men do consider it less important to spend the family income on women health care. This has also resulted in low participation of women in social, economic and political activities. Table 3: Mean and SD of respondents on the implications of gender discrimination in health care on the quality of life. S/No Items X SD Decision 1. It affects the family happiness and stability Accept 2. It affects the family income as it dwindles Accept 3. Family can not break through the shackles of poverty Accept 4. It has negative impact on productivity of family labour Accept 5. Women participation in development activities is low Accept 6. Women status and the value of their efforts in development are down graded Accept X = Mean, SD = Standard Deviation Table 3 above also shows all the items have mean above 2.50 and this means all the items on the impact of gender discrimination in health care service provision are accepted. Table 3 shows that gender discrimination in health care has implications for the quality of life. One of these implications is that it affects the family happiness and stability. As the death or even the ill-health of a woman affects every family member s happiness and it also distabilises the family, Secondly, eventually it affects the family incomes, which is now spent to cater for the sick one. Thirdly it also affects the well being and productivity of the family. The better the state of health of every member of the society, the better it is to mobilize, develop and utilize the minds, energies and resources for the task of development (Omotoso, 2006:116). Table 4: t-test on the difference between the educated and uneducated in gender discrimination in health care. Variables No X SD T-cal T-crit Decision Educated Accepted Uneducated Table 4 has the calculated t-value of 4.61 compared with the table t-value at 0.05 alpha level with 2.6, df, 1.98 the hypothesis is accepted, i.e there is no significant difference between the educated and uneducated in gender discrimination in health care provision. Table 4 shows that there is no significant difference between the educated and illiterate in gender discrimination in health care provision. This may be due to the ideological and cultural conception that men 123

6 are made to grow up with, that women are inferior, subservience and are help mate to them. The education of these men therefore does not change their perception of women in the society. Conclusion Gender discrimination in health care provision exists in the area and is due to cultural norms, religious beliefs, and economic factors. This has greatly affected the productivity and the capacity of the society to break through the shackles of poverty since about half of the population is not adequately catered for. This has resulted in high female morbidity and mortality. Women should be given equal rights to health care if we must develop. Recommendations For the achievement of gender equity and comfortable life in the society the following recommendation are made:- Gender discrimination or stereo types should be eliminated. This can be done through public enlightenment, that gender equity is the main factor that will bring transformation in the society. Women should be given equal rights to health care, education and to owe economic recourses. There should be political will and commitment to the course of empowering women politically and economically. In this regard women should be encouraged to participate in politics and should be given equal political appointments with men. There should be expansion in information, counselling and communication programmes on sex education and reproductive health care to both men and women. Finally there should be collaborative efforts and partnership between men and women in the process of development References Akani, N.A (2009) Gender equality, human-health and sustainable development. Journal of International Gender studies number 4. June. Alphousus, N.O (2006) Gender inequalities in rates of under fire Hospitalization and mortality in Benin City. international journal of Gender and Health Studies. Vol.4 No 1&2. Daniel B. (2003) water scarcity and women s health in the Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana. International Journal of Gender and Health Studies Vol. 1 No.1, August. Hassan, R.K (2006) Patriarchy and Sexism in African literary and Cultural thought: An inquiry into the women question in African. International Journal of Gender and Health Studies. vol 4, No. le2. John, W (1999) Population: An introduction to concept and Issues. USA: woods worth publishing company. Maduesi, E.J (2005) Benchmarks Global Trends in education. Benin city: dasyiva influence enterprises. NPC (2001) Gender and Sustainable Development Abuja: NPC. Obodoegbulam, A.O (2009) cultural issues in gender and sustainable development. International Journal Of Gender Studies Omotoso, O. (2006) Health and owned poverty in Ekiti state, Nigeria. International Journal of Gender and Health Studies Vol. 4, No le2. 124

EMPOWERMENT OF RURAL WOMEN FOR FOOD SECURITY AND NUTRITION

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