Women As Poverty-managers: The Case Of Women In Eyyubiye Slum Area

• In Event: 411 - Section on Inequality, Poverty, and Mobility Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 05. Gender, Poverty, Inequality, and Mobility.

Abstract

Eyyubiye is a slum area in the southeastern city of Şanlıurfa with its own characteristics such as being dominantly of Arabic origin and inhabitants to have connection with rural area and its culture. Despite the changing face and development of the province during the recent years, the province still shares the main characteristics of slums such as being separated from city culturally and physically, having concentrated poverty and drug use and weak connections with the city centre. Eyyubiye has significant problems regarding poverty and its peculiar culture and women are marked as more vulnerable to these disadvantaged conditions. The paper aims to investigate the role of women in handling with poverty to develop Eyyubiye and their lives there. Our study finds that women have significant problems in the province but they are far from being mere passive victims. They have their own methods to fight with poverty and inequality, to protect their family and friends and to improve their life conditions. The specific problems and disadvantages besides the good potential of women should be considered together to understand the development opportunities and possibility of the province to have a better understanding on poverty, women poverty and city development. Additionally, in order to improve people’s life conditions in Eyyubiye, the inhabitants should have better opportunities for education and professional job. Therefore, potential of the inhabitants of Eyyubiye and other disadvantaged places to endeavor for a better life should be investigated and understood to help their development.

Author

• Tuba Duman, Social Sciences University of Ankara