Reviewing the Essentials: Key Definitions

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Session 1.3

• Reviewing the Essentials Key Definitions

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Key Definitions

• Gender
• Gender Equality
• Gender Mainstreaming
• Gender Balance
• Empowerment
• GBV
• SEA

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Defining Gender

• social differences between males and females that
  are learned
• though deeply rooted in every culture, are
  changeable over time
• have wide variations both within and between
  cultures
• determines the roles, responsibilities,
  opportunities, privileges, expectations, and
  limitations for males and for females in any
  culture.

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Gender 3 Key Elements

• 1. Social construction of difference
• between men and women
• between different categories of men and of women
  (age, economic status, etc)
• between individuals and the expectations of those
  around them

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Gender 3 Key Elements

• 2. Power relations
• Decision-making and political power
• Access to and control over economic resources
• Invisible power

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Gender 3 Key Elements

• 3. Subject to variation in time and space
• Gender order isnt the same everywhere and
  cant be assumed
• Gender order isnt fixed or inevitable
• Neither men nor women can be said to have
  exclusive, essential characteristics

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Gender Equality

• equal rights, responsibilities and
  opportunities of women and men and girls and
  boys will not depend on whether they are born
  male or female
• the interests, needs and priorities of both
  women and men are taken into consideration
• should concern and fully engage men as well as
  women
• a human rights issue and a precondition for,
  and indicator of, sustainable development

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Gender Mainstreaming

• ensuring that gender perspectives and attention
  to the goal of gender equality are central to all
  activities
• policy development, research,
  advocacy/dialogue, legislation, resource
  allocation, and planning, implementation and
  monitoring of programmes and projects

9
Gender Balance

• Refers to the number of women versus men employed
  by agencies (international and national staff)
• and in programmes initiated by these agencies.

10
Empowerment

• Implies a shift in the power relations that cause
  a particular social group to suffer low social
  status or systemic injustice.
• Implies that the subordinated party has the
  resources and agency to claim rights and change
  oppressive circumstances.

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Empowerment Addressing Practical and Strategic
Needs

• Practical Needs
• Focus on the immediate condition of women and men
• Strategic Needs
• Focus on resolving gender-based inequities

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Gender-based Violence

• Gender-based violence is an umbrella term for any
  harmful act that is perpetrated against a
  persons will, and that is based on socially
  ascribed (gender) differences between males and
  females.

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Understanding why the term GBV has been used
historically to refer to violence against women
and girls

• While men may certainly be exposed to violence as
  a result of their socially determined gender
  roles and norms, the violence they experienceor
  even perpetrate against other menrarely if ever
  contributes to or confirms the overall
  subjugation of men as an entire subgroup of
  people within the prevailing global context of
  patriarchy, men are the power brokers in terms of
  gender, and women are the subsidiaries.
• According to the UN Declaration on the
  Elimination of Violence Against Women (1993)
• Violence against women is a manifestation of
  historically unequal power relations between men
  and women, which have led to domination over and
  discrimination against women by men and to the
  prevention of the full advancement of women.

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According to the World Economic Forums 2005
Study on the Global Gender Gap.

• The reality is that no country in the world, no
  matter how advanced, has achieved true gender
  equality, as measured by comparable
  decision-making power, equal opportunity for
  education and advancement, and equal
  participation and status in all walks of human
  endeavor.

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Sexual Exploitation and Abuse

• Used in reference to sexual exploitation and
  abuse perpetrated by personnel of humanitarian
  organizations, including both civilian staff an
  uniformed peacekeeping personnel