Intersecting Inequalities: Unveiling Water Insecurity through an Intersectional Lens

Authors: Shivani Singhal, Ankush, Rachael Maysels, Likimyelesh Nigussie, Sau-Mei Neo, Carolina Salcedo Portilla, Diana Marcela Ruíz Ordóñez, Julián Zúñiga-Barragán

Intro:

The intersectionality framework offers a valuable perspective for analysing how water insecurities are experienced and addressed across different social categories. It allows us to explore the multifaceted nature of vulnerability and how intersecting social identities—such as race, gender, class, and ability—shape individuals’ access to and control over water resources.

Water issues are deeply embedded in socio-political and cultural contexts, which means that water insecurity cannot be fully understood without considering the complex interplay of these factors. Water is situated within a broader network of technologies, laws, customs, and institutions, each influencing how water is perceived and managed. An intersectional approach highlights how these factors intersect with social categories to create varying experiences of water access and management.

For example, socio-political inequalities often lead to differential impacts of water scarcity and pollution, where marginalised communities might face greater challenges compared to more privileged groups. The intersectionality lens helps reveal how these disparities are not just about access to water but are also tied to broader structural inequalities and power dynamics (Mann 2011).

As a result, an emerging challenge in the Hub's work is the complexity of understanding water (in)security, which spans multiple sectors and geographies. This complexity means that the relative insecurity faced by a particular actor or stakeholder cannot be fully understood in isolation. At the Hub, we have consistently sought to ask more nuanced questions about who has "access" to water and who has "control," as well as how we can reform existing water systems to promote social inclusion and intersectional equality (Narayanaswamy et al. 2023). By adopting an intersectional lens, through four case studies, the Water Hub's Early Career Researchers aim to address these complexities in Colombia, Ethiopia, India and Malaysia. We investigate how overlapping forms of oppression—such as systemic racism, gender inequality, and economic disadvantage—affect water security. This approach seeks to move beyond traditional, single-axis analyses to encompass a more holistic view of how water insecurities manifest and are managed (Harrington et al. 2023).

Overall, intersectionality enriches our understanding of water security by revealing how social inequalities are intertwined with environmental issues. It calls for a more inclusive analysis that considers how different forms of oppression intersect, influencing water access, control, and governance.