Addressing gender inequities in the Fishing Sector

It has become clear that the challenges women face in fishing and fisheries needs to be
addressed at various levels. There’s a need to challenge unequal gender relations
within and outside the household, and within organisations. There’s also a need to seek
recognition for the paid and unpaid labour of women that goes towards sustaining
fisheries and fishing communities, and to ensure that women’s roles in the fisheries
sector don’t remain ‘invisible’. Women also need to have an increased right to
participate in decision-making processes with respect to fisheries planning and
management. WOFNET believes that addressing gender inequities by improving
women’s incomes and educational levels, as well as their access to information and
decision-making processes, will enhance women’s capabilities and ability to contribute
to fishing and fisheries with clear benefits on a number of levels for households, as well
as society in general.