Barriers to women’s participation in Lagos State, Nigeria, landfill waste picking

Studies have investigated some gendered issues in informal recycling and waste picking and noted the inequalities between men and women over access to the control of recyclable waste materials. However, nothing is known about the nature of issues informing these gender-based discrimination and their underlying causes, especially in the Global South context of Lagos State, Nigeria. To fill these gaps, thirty-eight (38) In-depth interviews involving twenty-six (26) women & twelve (12) men, and two (2) key informant interviews involving waste pickers executives were conducted at 2 purposively selected 2 landfill sites in Lagos. We explored the lived experiences of women waste pickers in the landfill context, with a focus on how being women influenced their working interrelationships and outcomes with their male counterparts. The findings show that gender-based barriers at landfill sites are caused by structural factors, significantly amounting to gendered working rules. They precisely are gender waste division, population disparity, equal picking frames, physical violence, normalisation of gender roles, and capitalist investment. We argue that women would not be able to compete and thrive in unregulated, male-dominated, and physically demanding workspaces.