Opportunities for gender equality in fisheries and coastal resource management in South and Southeast Asia

Coastal communities in South and Southeast Asia are strongly tied to marine and coastal resources that are vital for their food security and livelihoods. Meanwhile, pervasive expansion of the global economy is leading to rapid changes in coastal and marine resources, specifically through overfishing and hasty coastal development. Such rapid changes produce severe consequences for different groups of women and men in local communities that are at the front line in terms of experiencing the hardships of marine resource depletion and coastline degradation. Furthermore, these hardships often lead to changes in gender roles and rights.

However, gendered experiences in fisheries and coastal resource management are often overlooked. To close some of these knowledge gaps, current work from the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) explored drivers of inequality and the constraints imposed on different groups of women in various coastal contexts of South and Southeast Asia.