Gender, Poverty & Global Health Midterm

Front 1

Sex

Back 1

Biological characteristics (chromosomes, hormones, reproductive organs, genitalia) that define humans as female or male.

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Gender

Back 2

A social construct that refers to relations between the sexes, based on their relative roles. It encompasses the economic, political, and socio-cultural attributes, constraints, and opportunities associated with being male or female. Gender varies across cultures and is dynamic and open to change over time.

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Gender equity

Back 3

The process of being fair to women and men. To ensure fairness, measures must be taken to compensate for cumulative economic, social, and political disadvantages that prevent women and men from operating on a level playing field.

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Gender gap

Back 4

Refers to a difference in status of males and females. It is measured by comparing sex-disaggregated indicators (educational achievement, health outcomes, income/wealth indices, and levels of political participation)

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Gender-based violence

Back 5

Violence directed at individuals based on their biological sex, gender identity, or perceived adherence to culturally-defined expectations of what it means to be a woman and man, girl and boy. Includes physical, sexual, and psychological abuse, threats, coercion, arbitrary deprivation of liberty, and economic deprivation (public or private).

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Female empowerment

Back 6

When women and girls acquire the power to act freely, exercise their rights, and fulfill their potential as full and equal members of society. While empowerment often comes from within, and individuals empower themselves, cultures, societies, and institutions create conditions that facilitate or undermine the possibilities for empowerment.

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Agency

Back 7

The ability to make decisions about one's own life and act on them to achieve a desired outcome, free of violence, retribution, or fear.

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Gender mainstreaming

Back 8

The process of incorporating a gender perspective into organizational policies, strategies, and administrative functions, as well as into the institutional culture of an organization. This process at the organizational level ideally results in meaningful gender integration.

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Gender integration

Back 9

The ongoing process of identifying and then addressing inequalities during strategy and project design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation.

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Potential challenges to gender mainstreaming

Back 10

- More concrete evidence is needed for benefits

- Measuring cultural change is a challenge

- Funding and resources for gender mainstreaming are often insufficient

- Change is often met with resistance

- Sometimes viewed as a proprietary issue

- Heavy demand on gender experts

- Org. leadership thinks "we do gender already"

- Staff turnover can deplete support/capacity

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How to succeed at gender mainstreaming

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- Build strong rationale for why it's important

- Promote broad participation/inclusivity by drawing in staff from throughout the org.

- Establish a common language

- Promote regular, open communication

- Gain support of senior leadership

- Treat local staff/constituencies as a potential asset rather than an obstacle

- Make GM a responsibility

- Establish clear reporting requirements

- Focus on highlighting the positive rather than the negative

- Employ training effectively

- Make org. gender equality a self-fulfilling prophecy

- Use external experts

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How to do gender analysis

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- Identify relevant gender analysis questions

- Determine what resources to consult

- Document the answers and why they present a barrier or opportunity for the project

- Decide whether gender gaps exist and if they are relevant to the project design

- Discuss how the relevant gaps will be addressed in the project

- Decide on indicators

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Responding to a gender gap

Back 13

- Determine what is necessary to reduce or close the gender gap or to address the gender-based constraint that will affect project outcomes

- Decide if project should respond directly to the gender gap and/or the root cause(s)

- Consider project resources, costs and benefits, magnitude of change(s) sought

- BE SPECIFIC AND REALISTIC

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Gender blind

Back 14

The absence of any proactive consideration of the larger gender environment and specific gender roles affecting program/policy beneficiaries. GB projects/policies would give no consideration to how gender norms and unequal power relations affect the achievement of objectives, or how objectives impact gender.

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Gender aware

Back 15

Explicit recognition of local gender differences, norms, and relations and their importance to health outcomes in project design, implementation, and evaluation. This recognition derives from the analysis or assessment of gender differences, norms, and relations in order to address gender equity in health outcomes.

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Gender exploitative

Back 16

Approaches to project design, implementation, and evaluation that take advantage of rigid gender norms and existing imbalances in power to achieve the health program objectives.

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Gender accommodating

Back 17

An approach that acknowledges the role of gender norms and inequities and seeks to develop actions that adjust to and often compensate for them. While such projects do not actively seek to change the norms and inequities, they strive to limit any harmful impact on gender relations.

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Gender transformative

Back 18

Actively strives to examine, question, and change rigid gender norms and imbalance of power as a means of reaching health as well as gender equity objectives.

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Why are we talking about gender when race and class are also important?

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- It's not an either/or situation (we should care about all of them, because they're all important to health)

- Gender/race/class intersect, important to look at all components to fully solve inequality and address gaps

- Gender can be discussed in the context of race and class, it's useful to view race/class with a gendered lens (identifying gaps within races/classes)

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Where do men and boys fit into the picture?

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- Traditional gender norms hurt men/boys too

- Attempting to live outside of the gender and sexual norms related to sexuality results in stigma, discrimination and violence

- looking at power imbalances within genders, ignoring men/boys ignores half of the power dynamics

- Interested not just how women/girls are inhibited but how men/boys can contribute to the conversation and how both are affected by socialization

- In traditional relationships when men are heads of households, it is necessary to enlist their help

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How do we measure women's empowerment?

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- operationalized differently depending on context

- "empowerment" is intangible

- often consider 4 powers: "power within," "power with," "power to," and "power over"

- possible proxies: decision-making power, mobility, control over resources, autonomy, rights, education level, whether/not they are able to work, leave home, open bank accounts, refuse sex, etc.

Front 22

Doesn't gender integration mean we're imposing a Western understanding of gender on other cultures? Is it our place to interfere?

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- Depends on how it's done - it CAN be an imposition if it is not culturally competent

- Gender equality is not a Western idea, many other cultures prize the contributions of women

- Fundamental human rights should be available to women too

- Gender integration (definition) should be culturally-sensitive, empowerment looks different in different settings

- Should not be about interference but engaging in thoughtful dialogue and consideration of needs

Front 23

What incentive do I have to mainstream gender into my organization? Do you have an example of where it has made a difference?

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- Gender mainstreaming (definition)
- An inclusive work environment benefits everyone
- Important to have divergent perspectives included in leadership (and at every level) to avoid groupthink
- Beneficial to the economy
- Exhibiting gender equal as a priority attracts people who value that sort of thing (self-fulfilling prophecy)
Example: Mainstreaming a gender perspective in the peace-building sector has been instrumental in making personnel aware of the ways in which armed conflict affects women and girls differently and that post-conflict reconstruction and peace-building is more effective and long-lasting if gender analysis takes place from the outset.

Front 24

Why should I focus on integrating gender into my project when I barely have the resources to focus on X health outcome?

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- Gender affects power, which affects access to resources and exposure to risk, which in term impacts health

- Not an either/or issue but both/and

- Integrating gender and addressing power imbalances will make your other programs more effective

Front 25

Gender inequality is such a large, seemingly un-changeable reality. Shouldn't we be focusing on more proximate determinants to health?

Back 25

- Gender norms change all the time, they are not unchangeable

- It is not an either/or situation

- Addressing proximate determinants is not fully possible without addressing gender

- Your gender can be a barrier or facilitator

- Gender is a root cause, addressing it will have an impact on everything

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I can maybe see how gender norms are relevant to health disparities, but how are they relevant to other development sectors?

Back 26

- Talk about flipped classroom (gender in agriculture, gender in energy, etc.)

- Poverty, education

Front 27

Aren't family planning and other programs for women and girls gender-integrated by their very nature?

Back 27

- Need to focus on socio-cultural barriers too, and consider impact program has on reinforcing or transforming social norms (not just serving women/girls)

- Just b/c it's they are the target doesn't mean that they have the decision-making power

- Women may not have the ability to make decisions about family planning

- Family planning isn't just about women/girls

Front 28

I understand why being aware of gender inequalities is important, but aren't there times when trying to transform norms isn't the answer? Shouldn't we be taking more of a gender accommodating approach to achieve our health and development outcomes?

Back 28

- If you don't transform the norms, you will still have to deal with the downstream consequences

- Practical approach vs. "idealistic" approach

- Discuss gender continuum

- Not either/or, but both/and

- Can't do nothing until norms are transformed, so should be accommodating in the meantime

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Because of cultural norms around sexuality, it seems impossible to deal with LGBTQ issues in many parts of the developing world. How does gender integration help with that?

Back 29

- Gender integration (definition) involves identifying inequalities and addressing them

- Gender integrated programs would address the needs/gaps and challenges of this population

-- also address stigma/discrimination from falling outside social norms

- Consider the broadest form of gender/gender identity

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Social inclusion

Back 30

The process of improving the terms for individuals and groups to take part in society.

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Gender identity

Back 31

Personal sense of one's gender - may or may not align with norms attached to birth-assigned gender

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Gender expression

Back 32

Manifestation of one's gender identity. How a person behaves, appears or presents with regard to societal expectations of gender. One's gender expression may not necessarily match one's gender identity.

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Dimensions of sexuality

Back 33

- Sensuality

- Intimacy

- Sexual orientation

- Sexual/reproductive health

- Sexual behaviors and practices

- Power and agency (influenced by gender/sexual norms/inequalities)

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Sexual behaviors and practices

Back 34

Who does what with which body parts, items, and/or partners

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Sensuality

Back 35

Awareness and feeling with one's own body and other bodies, especially the body of a sexual partner. Sensuality enables us to feel good about how our bodies look and feel and what they can do.

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Intimacy

Back 36

The ability and need to be close to another human being and accept closeness in return. Aspects of sensuality can include sharing, caring, emotional risk-taking, and vulnerability.

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Sexual orientation

Back 37

Whether a person's primary attraction is to the opposite sex, the same sex, or both sexes.

Front 38

Sexual and reproductive health

Back 38

One's capacity to reproduce, and the behaviors and attitudes that support sexual health and enjoyment.