Gender mainstreaming
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Gender mainstreaming is the
The concept of gender mainstreaming was first proposed at the 1985
Definition
Most definitions of gender mainstreaming conform to the UN Economic and Social Council formally defined concept:
- Mainstreaming a gender perspective is the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies or programmes, in all areas and at all levels. It is a strategy for making women's as well as men's concerns and experiences an integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political, economic and societal spheres so that women and men benefit equally and inequality is not perpetuated. The ultimate goal is to achieve gender equality.[1]
There are different approaches to gender mainstreaming:
Institutional perspective: The ways in which specific organizations adopt and implement mainstreaming policies. This will often involve an analysis of how national politics intersects with international norms and practices.[2]
Discursive perspective: Queries the ways in which mainstreaming reproduces power relations through language and issue-framing. This approach will often involve looking at documents, resolutions and peace agreements to see how they reproduce the narratives of gender in a political context.[2]
These approaches are not necessarily competing, and can be seen as complementary.
The ways in which approaches are used, however, can also reflect differing feminist theories. For example, liberal feminism is strongly invoked by mainstreaming through the binary approach of gender in strict relation to the public sphere of policymaking. Poststructuralist feminism can be seen in mainstreaming thought which seeks to displace gender difference as the sole axis of difference and to highlight the diversity of policy its ramifications.[2]
Principles
Prioritizing gender equality
Gender mainstreaming tries, among others, to ascertain a gender equality perspective across all policy areas.[3] According to Jacqui True, a Professor of politics and international relations, "[e]very policy or piece of legislation should be evaluated from the perspective of whether or not it reduces or increases gender inequalities."[3] This concept of gender equality is not limited to formal equality, it includes as well equality de facto, which is a more holistic approach to gender policy in order to tackle the interconnected causes that create an unequal relation between the sexes in all areas of life (work, politics, sexuality, culture, and violence).[4]
Lombardo notes that "[t]here should be evidence that gender equality objective and policies of special concern for women (for example, social policy) have been prioritized in the organization among competing objectives (in terms of financial and human resources, type of measures adopted, voting systems used, and so forth)."[4]
Incorporating gender into politics and decision making
Puechguirbal takes a discursive approach to argue that in order to successfully mainstream a gendered perspective in politics, language needs to be reevaluated and used to change the parameters of how women are perceived.
Historically, documents concerning international agreements, peacekeeping arrangements and legal resolutions have perpetuated stereotypes that disempower women. This can be seen through the use of language, even as simply as in the UN Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration program's (DDR) motto: 'One man, on weapon'.[2]
Reference of gender issues should be found in all
Further, according to the
Post-conflict peace-building (PCPB)
An area of policy and decision making that will particularly benefit from gender mainstreaming is post-conflict peace-building, also known as PCPB. Various feminist research has concluded that men and women experience violent conflict differently and moreover, the current policies surrounding PCPB are insufficient in addressing the disadvantaged position of women in male-dominated power structures that are further reinforced by peace-building efforts, both from the domestic and international communities. Gender mainstreaming in PCPB would emphasize the importance of gendered considerations of particular issues that disproportionally affect women in post-conflict settings. This would mean that policy reflected an acknowledgment of the many instances of wartime sexualized violence perpetrated on women, among other issues that (primarily) women face during conflict. A major focus of the effort towards gender mainstreaming in post-conflict peace-building policy is to lessen the international community's inclination towards building a return to 'normal' for the post-conflict region. Much of feminist research has found that returning to 'normal' is of little comfort for women, who were burdened by the patriarchal systems that were in place before conflict broke out. As Handrahan[8] notes, the international community involved in much of PCPB "tolerates high levels of violence against women in their own societies." Policy that prioritized gender in its applications and goals would seek to build a society where women are better off than they were before conflict broke out.[8]
Shifts in institutional culture
Gender mainstreaming can be seen as a process of organizational change.[9] Gender mainstreaming must be institutionalized through concrete steps, mechanisms, and processes in all parts of the organization.[7] According to Lombardo, this change involves three aspects: policy process, policy mechanisms; and policy actors. She explains as follows:
"1. A shift in policy process means that the process "is reorganized so that ordinary actors know how to incorporate a gender perspective" or that gender expertise is included "as normal requirement for policy-makers" (Council of Europe 1998, 165[10]).
2. A shift in policy mechanism involves (a) the adoption of horizontal cooperation on gender issues across all policy areas, levels, and departments; and (b) the use of appropriate policy tools and techniques to integrate the gender variable in all policies and to monitor and evaluate all policies from a gender perspective.
3. The range of policy actors participating in the policy-making process is broadened to include, apart from policy-makers and civil servants, gender experts and civil society."[11]
Gender budgeting
Gender budgeting encompasses activities and initiatives aiming at the preparation of budgets or the analysis of policies and budgets from a gender perspective. It can also be referred to as gender-sensitive budgeting or gender-responsive budgeting. Gender budgeting does not aim at creating separate budgets for women, or only increasing spending on women’s programmes. It is rather concerned with addressing budgetary gender inequality concerns, as for instance, how gender hierarchies influence budgets, and gender-based unpaid or low paid work.[12]
Examples
As Jacqui True says, "[m]ainstreaming was established as a global strategy for achieving
Nicaragua
Although the Nicaraguan Institute for Women claimed to "have been instrumental in mainstreaming gender equality principles and strategies into agriculture, socio-economic development, higher education, and sexual and domestic violence prevention," the United Nations General Assembly on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in 2007 raised several concerns, such as the backlog of important women's rights legislation in the country, the lack of studies on abortion, and the available funds of the Institute.[16]
Taiwan
Under the influence of the UN community, the usage of the term increased in Taiwan since 2000. Local feminist organizations have different views on gender mainstreaming. Some groups considered that the Commission on Women Rights Promotion under Executive Yuan should be expanded, while other groups, including the National Alliance of Taiwan Women's Associations, considered that gender mainstreaming is not promotion of women's rights but an assessment of all policies and requires a specific organization.[17]
Vienna, Austria
In late 2006, the city council of Vienna, capital of Austria, ordered several gender mainstreaming measures for public facilities and areas. Pictograms and information display charts feature a male silhouette holding a baby in his arms to advise passengers on the underground railway to offer seating to parents with children.[19][20]
Emergency escape paths are marked by a square table featuring a long-haired lady running in her high heel boots.[21]
A pilot
Infrastructure changes have included "unisex" playgrounds for city parks, which encourage young boys and girls to mix and redesigned streetlights to make parks and sidewalks safer for late night joggers.[24]
UN Peacekeeping Operations
The
In October 2000, the
European Union
The equality
: 28In the 1990s the European Union officially put gender mainstreaming on their agenda, "fixing the principle in treaty articles, action programs and communications, and setting up institutional bodies and mechanisms to promote the incorporation of a gender perspective into policymaking."[34] More specifically, gender mainstreaming was introduced in 1991 in the European Community as an element of the Third Action Programme on Equal Opportunities.[35] Currently, the legal basis for gender mainstreaming in European law is Article 8 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). This article states the following: "In all its activities, the Union shall aim to eliminate inequalities, and to promote equality, between men and women".
What follows is a non-exhaustive overview of current gender governance initiatives in the European Union that encourages gender mainstreaming.
For instance, since 1997 gender mainstreaming has been part of the European Employment Strategy, a concept launched by the European Council. The European Employment Strategy requires governments to adopt an approach that complies with the concept of gender mainstreaming, while deciding on employment policies.[36][37] Some concrete examples: new equal opportunities acts requiring mainstreaming (e.g., in France social partners are required to promote gender equality through collective bargaining); mainstreaming or gender assessment in individual ministries or areas of public services (e.g., in Finland and Sweden); and gender assessment of all new pieces of legislation.[38] According to Jill Rubery, a Professor of comparative employment system at Manchester School of Management, so far "the experience has been mixed: though the argument that increasing women's employment is critical to the achievement of Europe's aspirations for a higher employment rate has been widely accepted, there is a much weaker and more fragile commitment to improving the quality of work available to women."[36]
A second example is the Transnational Women's Networks.
Another gender governance actor is the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), established in May 2007. The EIGE has as mandate to "provide expertise, improve knowledge and raise visibility of equality between men and women".[33]: 53
Obviously there are many more initiatives on EU level, to name a few: Advisory Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men,[33]: 57 High Level Group on Gender Mainstreaming,[33]: 58 Inter-Service Group on Gender Equality,[33] Informal Group of Experts on Gender Equality in Development Cooperation,[33]: 61 Women in Europe for our Common Future.[39]
Criticism
Ineffective results
Maria Stratigaki, Assistant Professor at the Department of Social Policy of Panteion University, claims that the transformative effect of gender mainstreaming was minimal and its application has led to contradictory results. It opened important opportunities for specific policies in new policy areas, whereas in some other it diluted positive action. She also claims that, at least as of 2003, gender mainstreaming has failed to affect core policy areas or radically transform policy processes within the European Institutions.[41]
Some say that gender mainstreaming has not increased women's participation in decision making. As Charlesworth notes, "[i]n the most readily measurable area, the United Nations' employment of women in professional and managerial posts, progress has been glacial. In 2004, women held 37.4 percent of these positions. The annual growth rate toward the 50 percent target [...] is predicted to be 0.4 percent. On top of this slow growth, there is a considerable hierarchy based on sex. On June 30, 2004, women held 83.3 percent of positions at the lowest professional level, P-1, but just 16.7 percent at the highest staff level, Under-Secretary-General."[7] In a similar vein, concerning the European Union, Lombardo reports that as of 2003 women represented only 20 percent of the representatives of the head of state or government the member states, 10 percent of the representatives of national parliaments, 31.25 percent of the representatives of the European Parliament and so forth.[42]
True claims that mainstreaming gender does not end in simply increasing the number of women within a specific institution. It is about changing social consciousness, so that the effects of a policy for both women and men are truly analyzed before they are implemented. While it is necessary for
Poor implementation
Charlesworth remarks that "[a]lthough it has not been difficult to encourage the adoption of the vocabulary of mainstreaming, there is little evidence of monitoring or follow-up. A consistent problem for all the organizations that adopted gender mainstreaming is the translation of the commitment into action."
Hindering progress
Stratigaki claims that positive action was sidelined after the launch of gender mainstreaming as a result of the specific way gender mainstreaming was used by the opponents of gender equality. According to Stratigaki, "[a]lmost all analyses of [gender mainstreaming] agree that it is a strategy which complements but does not replace previous gender specific equality policies like equal treatment legislation and positive action." However, she states too that "in a hostile gender equality policy environments (i.e. patriarchal structures of institutional organisations or the prevalence of policy objectives contrary to gender equality etc.), [gender mainstreaming] may be conceived and applied as an alternative to positive action and used to downplay the final overall objective of gender equality.[41]
True is of the opinion that in practice, attempts to mainstream gender within international institutions have led to the marginalization and increasing invisibility of gender in each policy area. Anne-Marie Goetz, a Clinical Professor at
Other criticism
As differences are silenced, the kind of feminism that is likely to be mainstreamed could be a western or middle class brand of feminism. When mainstreaming decisions within international organizations are made by elites can undermine the input of local women's groups.[47]: 72
When gender mainstreaming policies are drafted without consulting sections of the women's movement (i.e., women's rights civil society groups), they lack ground level-expertise. Policy decisions related to gender that are made without consulting sections of the women's movement do not demonstrate a clear political willingness to addressing gender inequality. When institutions reach out to the women's rights movement, it demonstrates transparency, inclusiveness, accountability and the implementation process is more likely to be monitored with diligence.[48] For example, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), as an attempt at mainstreaming gender into development, were formed with minimal consultation with women's groups. The MDGs have led to a considerable amount of theoretically discourse about the goals but less analysis about how they will be implemented.[47]: 78
True highlights the tendency for gender mainstreaming to become a guise under which women are used as economic subjects.[2] Women are framed in terms of advancing economic growth, as opposed to the inherent normative ideal for women and men to hold equal positions of power in society.
See also
References
- ^ United Nations. "Report of the Economic and Social Council for 1997". A/52/3.18 September 1997.
- ^ a b c d e Shepard, Laura J. (2015). Gender Matters in Global Politics: A Feminist Introduction to International Relations. New York: Routledge.
- ^ a b True, Jacqui, Mainstreaming Gender in Global Public Policy, International Feminist Journal of Politics, 2010, 371
- ^ a b c Lombardo, E., (2005) "Integrating or Setting the Agenda? Gender Mainstreaming in the European Constitution-Making Process", Social Politics 12(3): 417
- ^ Lombardo, E., (2005) "Integrating or Setting the Agenda? Gender Mainstreaming in the European Constitution-Making Process", Social Politics 12(3): 417
- ^ a b Beijing Platform for Action, G. 181
- ^ a b c d e Charlesworth, H., (2005) "Not waving but Drowning: Gender Mainstreaming and Human Rights in the United Nations", 18 Harvard Human Rights Journal 1.
- ^ S2CID 145460388.
- ISBN 9781443835121.
- ^ Council of Europe. 1998. Gender Mainstreaming: Conceptual Framework, Methodology and Presentation of Good Practices: Final Report of Activities of the Group of Specialists on Mainstreaming. EG-S-MS. Strasbourg: Council of Europe
- ^ Lombardo, E., (2005) "Integrating or Setting the Agenda? Gender Mainstreaming in the European Constitution-Making Process", Social Politics 12(3): 417-18
- ISBN 978-92-3-100069-0.
- ^ True, Jacqui, Mainstreaming Gender in Global Public Policy, International Feminist Journal of Politics, 2010, 369
- S2CID 144886074.
- ^ a b Isbester, Katherine (2001). Still Fighting: The Nicaraguan Women's movement, 1977-2000. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh press.
- ^ a b General Assembly, United Nations. "Nicaraguan Institute for women Instrumental in Mainstream Gender Equality Strategies, Anti-Discrimination".
- ^ Lin, Fang-Mei. "性別主流化在台灣:從國際發展到在地化實踐". 第一屆性別研究與公共政策學術研討會, Taipei:Shih Hsin University. April 13, 2005.
- ^ "Taiwan's Women's Organizations" (PDF). APEC Women Leaders Network. APEC Women Leaders Network. Retrieved 2015-11-15.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Prabha Khosla, Vienna, Austria – A Model City for Gender Mainstreaming
- ^ Bauer, Ursula. Mainstreaming in Vienna. How the Gender Perspective Can Raise the Quality of Life in a Big City, Kvinder, Køn & Forskning 70 nr. 2-4, 2009, 66
- ^ Bell, Bethany (2007-01-23). "Gender Change for Vienna Signs". BBC News. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
- ^ "Kindergartens - ways to implement gender mainstreaming". wien.at. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
- ^ Viktória, Soós. "How Is Vienna 'Gender Mainstreaming'?" (PDF). Retrieved 16 July 2015.
- ^ Foran, Claire (2013-09-16). "How to Design a City for Women". The Atlantic - Cities. Retrieved 2013-09-19.
- ^ United Nations, Fourth World Conference on Women. "Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action" (PDF). Retrieved September 26, 2013.
- ^ United Nations General Assembly. "E/1997/66". Archived from the original on 2013-10-01.
- ^ "United Nations Official Document". www.un.org.
- ^ True, Jacqui, Mainstreaming Gender in Global Public Policy, International Feminist Journal of Politics, 2010, 373
- ^ Resolution 1325, 2
- ^ Resolution 1325, 4
- ^ United Nations. "Women in Peacekeeping". Retrieved September 26, 2013.
- ^ Lang, S., 2009, Assessing Advocacy: European Transnational Women's Networks and Gender Mainstreaming, 9
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Calvo, D. (2013). What is the problem of gender? Mainstreaming gender in migration and development policies in the European Union (PDF) (Doctoral Dissertation). Gothenburg: Department of Sociology and Work Science.
- ^ Lang, S., 2009, Assessing Advocacy: European Transnational Women's Networks and Gender Mainstreaming, 2
- ^ Pollack, Mark A. and Hafner-Burton, Emilie. 2000. Gender Mainstreaming in the European Union, Harvard Jean Monnet Working Paper 2/000, 9
- ^ a b Rubery, Jill, 2005, Reflections on Gender Mainstreaming: An Example of Feminist Economics in Action?, Feminist Economics 11(3), November 2005, 1
- ^ Woodward, Alison E. 2008. Too late for gender mainstreaming? Taking stock in Brussels Journal of European Social Policy (2008) 18 (3): 4
- ^ Rubery, Jill, 2005, Reflections on Gender Mainstreaming: An Example of Feminist Economics in Action?, Feminist Economics 11(3), November 2005, 9-10
- ^ a b c d e Lang, S., 2009, Assessing Advocacy: European Transnational Women's Networks and Gender Mainstreaming, 12
- ^ European Women's Lobby. 2005a. Contribution from the European Women's Lobby to the Green Paper on an EU Approach to Managing Economic Migration, COM(2005)811 final, 6
- ^ a b Stratigaki, M., (2005) "Gender Mainstreaming vs Positive Action. An Ongoing Conflict in EU Gender Equality Policy", European Journal of Women's Studies 12 (2): 165-186.
- ^ Lombardo, E., (2005) "Integrating or Setting the Agenda? Gender Mainstreaming in the European Constitution-Making Process", Social Politics 12(3): 422
- ^ "True, J. (2010) "Mainstreaming Gender in International Relations". Gender Matters in Global Politics (New York: Routledge) L.J. Shepherd (Ed.) 194"
- ^ "'Having it all' looks very different for women stuck in low-paid jobs | Gail Dines | Comment is free". theguardian.com. 2014-04-23. Retrieved 2014-06-05.
- ^ True, Jacqui (2010). Laura J. Shepherd, ed. Gender Mainstreaming in International Institutions. New York: Routledge. p. 196
- ^ True, Jacqui (2010). Laura J. Shepherd, ed. Mainstreaming Gender in International Institutions. New York: Routledge. p. 198
- ^ S2CID 56810635.
- ^ True, Jacqui (2010). Laura J. Shepherd, ed. Mainstreaming Gender in International Institutions. New York: Routledge. p. 192.
External links
- WomenWatch, the United Nations Internet Gateway on Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women
- Women's Empowerment, the United Nations Development Programme's gateway on women's empowerment and gender equality
- Active work for Gender Equality[permanent dead link], SALAR's booklet "Active work for Gender Equality – a challenge for municipalities and county councils""
- EIGE, the European Institute for Gender Equality official website
- The European Community of Practice on Gender Mainstreaming, The European Commission's learning network on Gender Mainstreaming within the European Social Fund (ESF)""
- Libguide on Gender Regional Agenda