Gender, Sexuality & Advocacy

www.letgirlslead.org © 2014 Public Health Institute

Why does Gender Matter?

•Gender describes the social roles and relations between men and women in society

•Gender changes with time and is different in other cultures, depending on the context

•Gender affects all aspects of life: economic, political, and social—at all levels: family, community, and nation

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Why does Gender Matter?

•Gender prescribes what we expect men and women to do, and how we expect them to act

•Gender is about how power is used and shared

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Why does Sexuality Matter?

•Every human being has a sexuality, and sexuality has many different forms

•Sexuality defines the kind of relationships we seek and how we establish our circles of friends and family

•Sexuality determines how we are seen, treated, and judged by our employers, employees, peers, and family

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Why does Sexuality Matter?

•Sexualities that are not sanctioned by society are punished or silenced

•Healthy sexuality = healthy person!

Discuss in Pairs:• What options did our

grandmothers and grandfathers have regarding their education, getting a job, type of job, age of marriage, whether they married, whether they had children, number of children, etc.?

• What options do you and your siblings have regarding your education, getting a job, type of job, age of marriage, etc.?

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Discuss in Pairs:

• Are there any differences? What has changed?Compare what a women can expect in a Guatemalan or Honduran culture vs. an European or American culture

• What do Esther’s and Alex’s stories teach us about sex, gender, and sexuality?

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Gender in Advocacy

Gender is linked to time and context—it can changeGender is linked to time and context—it can change Gender determines what is expected, allowed, and Gender determines what is expected, allowed, and

valued in a woman or a man, a boy or a girl, within a valued in a woman or a man, a boy or a girl, within a given contextgiven context

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Gender in Advocacy

There are differences and inequalities between young men and women, which often put women at a disadvantage regarding:

•The responsibilities they are given•The activities they perform•Access to and control over resources•Decision-making opportunities

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Impact of Gender and Sexuality Power Inequalities

• Underrepresentation of adolescent girls in schools and educational attainment

• Higher rates of adolescent girls held back and dropping out of school

• Social attitudes that undervalue education for women

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Impact of Gender and Sexuality Power Inequalities

•Girls bear a disproportionate burden of household duties at the expense of their education

•Trans women experience violence and abuse on a regular basis

•The suicide rate of LGBTIQ youth is nearly 50% higher than that of heterosexual youth

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“The only one discriminated against should be VIOLENCE”

Impact of Gender Power Inequalities• Lack of, or limited access to, reproductive rights• Increasing number of HIV infection in young and

adolescent women.• High incidence of HIV and AIDS among sexual minorities

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Impact of Gender Power Inequalities

• Extremely limited employment opportunities for trans women

• LGBTIQ youth who face discrimination from health workers, schools, and their families and larger communities

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“proud to be trans”

Impact of Gender Power Impact of Gender Power InequalitiesInequalities

Early marriages and unwanted Early marriages and unwanted pregnanciespregnancies

Lack of vocational skills in teenage Lack of vocational skills in teenage girlsgirls

Teenage girls’ vulnerability to Teenage girls’ vulnerability to violence, including sexual abuseviolence, including sexual abuse

Subjection of teenage girls to Subjection of teenage girls to harmful cultural practicesharmful cultural practices

Subjection to child trafficking and Subjection to child trafficking and child laborchild labor

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Why Gender-Based Advocacy?

To ensure equal rights, responsibilities, and opportunities for adolescent boys and girls

Equality does not mean that men and women are the same, but that …

Responsibilities and opportunities for adolescent boys and girls do not depend on whether they were born male or

female

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What Does Gender-Based Advocacy Do?

It fights the causes of gender inequality, such as:•The low status of women and sexual/gender minorities•Laws that put women and sexual and gender minorities at disadvantage•Patriarchal attitudes

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What Does Gender-Based Advocacy Entail?

Bringing people’s perceptions, experience, knowledge, and interests towards building policies, planning, and decision makingAchieving the realization of human rights and social justice for all, regardless of age, gender, or sexual orientationEnsuring the effective achievement of other social and economic goals

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•Assessing the implications for all genders, ages, and sexual orientations of every planned action, including laws, policies, and programs, at all levels and in all areas

•Ensuring that the interests, needs, and priorities of men and women both adolescent and adult are taken into consideration in any action aimed at influencing policies

What Does Gender-Based What Does Gender-Based Advocacy Advocacy

Entail?Entail?

Elements of Gender-Based Advocacy

Observing how gender affects everybody’s lives, roles, and opportunities

Helping guide the design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of all social and political programs

Making sure young men and women benefit equally and that inequality does not prevail

Elements of Gender-Based Advocacy

The ultimate goal is to achieve gender equality

Advocacy is not a matter of women’s or adolescent girls’ rights, but should appeal to and involve everybody, regardless of gender identity or age

A gender analysis may need to intersect with other social indicators, such as class, age, and religion, to address issues of multiple forms of discrimination

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Elements of Gender-Based Advocacy

•Disaggregated data (qualitative and quantitative) is essential to identify strategies to eliminate inequalities

•Different tendencies, patterns, and levels of participation

•Underlying causes for the observed differences in data

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Elements of Gender-Based Advocacy

•Considering gender factors when conducting a situation analysis

•Ensuring a policy of information on gender matters (at the macro level)

•Ensuring that when policies are implemented, gender considerations are made

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Questions for Reflection

•Who, what, whom?•Who does what?•Who owns what?•Why is it so?•Where does it happen: at home/in private, or in public?

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Best Practices

• Include specific gender goals in an intervention

•Base strategies on a gender analysis

•Gender analysis need not stand alone

• Incorporate gender analysis in other stages such as situation profiling, as needed

Best Practices

•Move beyond gender parity to equality in participation

•Partner with others to ensure a holistic approach

• Incorporate participative approaches in analysis, formulation of strategies, and action

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Common Challenges

• Lack of gender-disaggregated data• Lack of gender-based information• Limited political will• Cultural resistance• Misconceptions: gender is synonymous with women

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More to come!

www.letgirlslead.org © 2014

Public Health Institute