The Intersection of Food Insecurity and Reproductive Justice in India

Abstract

Reproductive justice (RJ) is a social movement and framework for addressing structural barriers to the realisation of the rights to: 1) have a child; 2) not have a child; 3) parent children with dignity and safe and healthy environments; and 4) bodily autonomy. Previous work has theorised food insecurity—difficulties accessing enough safe and nutritious food to support a healthy life—is a threat to RJ. In this paper, we provide empirical evidence in support of this claim by analysing primary semi-structured interview data collected in December 2022-March 2023 from women in n=87 households in the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Goa. Using iterative thematic analysis informed by a RJ framework, we articulate multitudinous ways food insecurity threatens RJ rights. For example, many women reported self-sacrificing strategies for managing household food insecurity, e.g. neglecting their healthcare needs, taking on heavy manual labour, and reducing their own food consumption to ensure other household members’ consumption. Because access to healthcare and adequate nutrition are essential for fecundity and health, neglecting these needs threatens the right to have a child, to not have a child, and to control one’s own body. We explore many such pathways through which food insecurity threatens all four RJ rights, including exposure to domestic abuse and, linked to this, food as a tool of coercive control; creating impossible spending trade-offs between costs for food and other essentials (e.g. energy costs, adequate housing, medical treatment); and sacrifices in quality, quantity, and diversity of food items consumed.

Presenters

Jasmine Fledderjohann
Professor in Sociology and Social Justice, Lancaster University, United Kingdom

Details

Presentation Type

Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

Theme

Food, Politics, and Cultures

KEYWORDS

Reproductive Justice, Food Insecurity, Qualitative Data, India