Women Vendors In Port Of Spain.

An important activity in unorganized sectors is street vending which is taken up by . Women street vendors are a result of poverty, broken families, insufficient husband's income and divorced or separation from their husbands. they sometimes lack skill and work in very poor economic conditions. in comparison to other trades, street vending is one of the easiest to enter  for poor migrants and lower income groups within the city. When compared with male street vendors, women face a lot more problems than men since they are generally affected by women targeted crimes such as rapes, sexual harassment and public teasing making street vending not an easy task for them. Women play multiple roles as a mother, housewife and worker. Poor working conditions, low and irregular income, poor working and living conditions and lack of capital and assets are all interconnecting factors that pulls women into the vicious circle of poverty.

Liberalization polices have adverse effects on poor women lives. Although it creates opportunities, they are faced with very poor conditions. Together with this is the increasing casualization and their lack of interest and access to skills and technology.

Street vendors are exposed to a variety of safety and health issues due to poor social protection and their working conditions. On average, women vendors earn less than men vendors. Women vendors suffer from urinary tract infections as well as kidney ailments due to the lack of toilets. None are put in placed because public vendors are regarded as a nuisance since they are accused of depriving pedestrians of their space which has been linked to anti-social activities as well as causing traffic. The media as well as municipal authorities and housing societies have all targeted vendors at frequent intervals. since the role of vendors are not recognized, a combination of problems have arises such as constant eviction threats, fines and harassment by traffic policemen.