The Gendered Struggle for Scarce Funding Resources among Women Flea Market Owners in Chinhoyi, Zimbabwe

Abstract

This study phenomenologically looked at women’s access to funding in flea market businesses located in Chinhoyi, Zimbabwe. It involved 16 semi-structured interviews with purposively sampled women and men involved in the flea market business. The data collected was analysed using phenomenological analysis. The study used the women empowerment framework as its lens. The findings revealed that women were exposed to a lack of funding, discrimination, and predatory funding practices that hindered their socioeconomic freedom and development. This was despite the existence of laws and policies meant to protect them. Many of them despaired that gender equality in funding was no longer achievable. Others feared speaking out for fear of conflicting with society. The greatest risk this created was the normalization of gender inequality in funding from both the male and female perspectives. The author concluded that women were mostly disempowered along all five levels of empowerment, i.e. welfare, access, conscientization, participation and control in their businesses. Therefore, the author recommended that the Government should be lobbied to actively implement international and regional instruments that protect women from discrimination while upholding their rights to social and economic equality and freedom. Also, a more active civic sector is needed to champion women’s access to funding and economic opportunities. The study provides a framework that could be applied to better manage women’s access to funding and to reverse the developing gender inequality normalization risks as well as direct and indirect discrimination in funding. Keywords: Gendered Struggle, Funding Resources, Women Flea Market Owners, Zimbabwe