Poor Women Case Study

2. There are a smaller range of options for poor women than for poor men
The range of options for poor women is less than the range of options for poor men. Both poor men and women are constrained by low skill levels, but poor men have greater mobility and security. For example, a poor man can go to deeper parts of the neighbouring forest to collect fuel wood but a woman cannot. There is also still a widespread perception that many jobs are 'men's jobs', and therefore not appropriate for women. It is relatively unusual for a woman with a family of her own to have access to the range of migration opportunities available to men or to younger women.

3. Security and safety of poor women and adolescent girls
Rural ideas of the appropriateness for women of different modes of transport, distances travelled, and types of journeys undertaken are changing. Although the overwhelming picture is of increasing mobility and visibility for women and girls, there is an important caveat to this story. Women and
The most common concern was that the size of the stipend was not sufficient to meet the costs associated with education – particularly supplementary private tuition. Again and again, stories were recounted of girls from the poorest families who dropped out of school in grade nine, just as they should have been preparing for the grade 10 Secondary School Certificate (SSC). It is at this critical juncture in secondary school that the need for supplementary private tuition is most apparent, and there was widespread tendency for girls (and perhaps for boys) to drop out at this stage. While there is inherent value in school attendance for its own sake, if girls are to have more control over their own lives, more options for the future, and to take advantage of their education, they need to be provided with the opportunity to complete grades 10 and