New survey seeks to fill 'knowledge gap' in rural women's wellbeing

New Zealand's rural and farming women face unique challenges in the countryside, but researchers say little is understood around their health and wellbeing needs, compared to both urban and male counterparts.

Rural wāhine and female farmers were being encouraged to share their experiences anonymously in a new online survey run by Lincoln and Massey Universities.

Researchers sought to plug a knowledge gap in academic research.

Nicky Stanley-Clarke, an associate professor in social work at Massey University, started looking into farmer wellbeing during the 2016 dairy downturn, to understand its impact on the wider household.

She said not a lot was known formally about the wellbeing needs of our rural wāhine, whose experiences and challenges differed to their male counterparts.

"Overseas they call it this 'triple burden' which is about doing farming, caring and looking after household chores," she said.

"But here in Aotearoa New Zealand we know this will often will include some off-farm paid work and many community roles.

"So we want to know more about this to find ot what supports their wellbeing, so the good things, but also what challenges their wellbeing."

Stanley-Clarke said rural women balanced numerous roles and responsibilities, and their vital contribution to agriculture was sometimes under-recognised.

"Often, research and attention focuses on male farmers," she said.

She said this had created a blind spot in understanding the pressures facing rural women.

Last month, Rural Women New Zealand president Heather Sorensen told Nine to Noon there were many initiatives to help male farmers with their mental health, but far less for women.

Rural and farming women were represented by sector groups like Rural Women New Zealand, Dairy Women's Network, and Agri-Women's Development Trust, but also others like Federated Farmers, Young Farmers, Farmstrong and others.

Stanley-Clarke said organisations like these were trying to address some of these issues.

"They're doing some wonderful work in this space, but there's very little, in fact we can't find any other academic research or current research which tells us about the wellbeing needs of women in farming."

She said anecdotally, they understood many women faced sexism and loneliness due to geographical isolation, as well as feeling overwhelmed.

"Mums generally and farming women in particular prioritise themselves often last."

Stanley-Clark and colleague Jorie Knook of Lincoln University worked previously on rural health programmes Wellmates and SafeMates.

The online survey was expected to tak