Gender Equality Policies Research Articles

The Experience of Women Regarding Chilean Government Measures during the COVID‐19 Pandemic

This study explores the experience of ten possible beneficiaries of the measures provided by the Chilean government during the first year of the COVID‐19 pandemic through remote semi‐structured interviews. The results show a scenario of improvisation. Instead of relying on solid gender equity policies, a patchwork of focused measures was implemented, which increased uncertainty and vulnerability. As a result, women experienced sorrow and despair while facing economic constraints and care tasks mostly on their own. This article shows that care remains invisible in politics while overwhelmingly evident at home. Social care policies are urgently needed.

LIETUVOS NUOLATINĖS PRIVALOMOSIOS PRADINĖS KARO TARNYBOS KARIŲ STEREOTIPINĖS NUOSTATOS DĖL MOTERŲ KARIŲ

The present paper discusses the role of gender equality policy in the military. The aim is to find out, paying due attention to unconscious bias, whether or not soldiers enrolled in mandatory initial military service in Lithuania support any stereotypes regarding women, and if so, then what are the stereotypes they adhere to, and what are the stereotypes that women in mandatory initial military service are confronted with. The paper analyses gender equality issues in the following two important contexts: the democratic value of gender equality in military service, and the need and readiness of the military to accommodate different genders. The latter context forms a stark contrast with the former two, especially given the traditional point of view that military service is meant to ensure effective security and defence, rather than the effective implementation of gender equality. The paper analyses how stereotypical attitudes towards women as a gender support the above-mentioned tradition. Based on the results of empirical research, stereotypes have proven to be still maintained by soldiers in the target group. The dominant stereotypical attitude is that active military service may be putting women at greater risk of harassment and sexual abuse. Female soldiers in the target group are confronted with stereotypical attitudes. They link the reasons underlying the overall support of stereotypical thinking to the age of the individuals concerned, their inherited stereotypical attitudes, and their education.

The principle of promoting work-life balance for parents and carers as an integral part of gender equality policy – remarks against the background of the Work-life Balance Directive and the Polish system of labour law

The principle of promoting work-life balance for parents and carers as an integral part of gender equality policy – remarks against the background of the Work-life Balance Directive and the Polish system of labour law

Locating pitfalls in the EU gender equality policy

While the project of the European Union (EU) incorporated gender equality as one of its foundational objectives and its institutions have been mandated to integrate gender equality into all of their policy areas, the EU has fallen short of materializing these objectives. Gender inequality at the EU level is perpetuated through a process in which the EU, as a structure anchored in economic considerations, interfaces with androcentric institutions and member states. This substantially determines the policy instruments, tools and mechanisms within and outside its periphery, rendering ‘gender’ to be co-opted, secondary and subdued policy areas. While the discourse on gender equality policy has evolved through ‘equal opportunity’, ‘positive action’ and ‘gender mainstreaming’ approaches, the policies mostly focus on auxiliary benefits such as maternity leave, childcare services and part-time work, aiming to assist women in reconciling their work and life situations. These benefits do not substantially transform conventional gender roles within the family or at the social-economic and political levels, which to a large extent perpetuate gender inequality at large. This article analyses the trajectory of gender equality policy at the EU, the inherent factors and processes that constantly define and determine it and how it implicates the larger EU policy discourse. Using a feminist standpoint, the article explores the extent to which the new female leadership in the EU has prioritized and problematized gender equality with corresponding initiatives and actions, and the major challenges it may face in contemporary times in order to meet its objectives. To this end, some existing labour market and family policies are taken up as case studies. Various EU policy documents, key EIGE reports, press releases and other existing literature have been used as reference points for the analysis.

Social-democratic imaginaries of transformations in conservative gender regimes

Social-democratic gender regimes are imagined in social politics and feminist scholarship in reference to Swedish social democracy. The mainstreaming of gender equality through all policy domains, but especially state provided social care sets Sweden apart as a model for gender equality policy in Europe and the world. Through an examination of the transformation of the German gender regime, this article questions whether state provided social care is the only or even the best possible way to shift unpaid care labor from women in the domestic sphere to public provision. In Germany and other conservative gender regimes, state financed and densely regulated welfare markets are carving a pathway to change which neither depends on state provision or competitive markets. The article utilizes institutional methodologies for studying change to analyze German welfare market policy impacts on the conservative gendered division of labor, to explore the alternative feminist imaginaries that may lead to more disruptive change, and how these changes might constitute a different variety of social-democratic gender regime. Through an original empirical analysis of recent policies to shift early child care, elder care, and domestic labor to paid work, the analysis shows that the German conservative gender regime is in transformation, though by layering new forms of paid care labor on to the unpaid (and underpaid) labor of women in the home. The same policies however, open the door for ‘real utopian’ alternatives, and a different logic of social democratic gender regime in Germany, rooted less in state provision as in Sweden, and more in local and mutualistic arrangements of caring and cooperation.

The advancement of gender equality policies in developing countries on the background of current global challenge

Today, gender equality is affected by global phenomena, and there is a need for gender equality policies to reflect the new environment, taking into account all the variables that can affect policy-related decision-making. At the same time, it is of great interest what measures are taken by countries to respond to the new challenges, what is the position of the international community and what is being done to overcome obstacles to the implementation of gender equality policies, as well as what is proving to be good practice, that could be adopted by other countries in similar situations, with the help of the relevant international organisations, bearing in mind the different levels of development of countries. In the context of the unfavourable climate for gender equality, due to two years of pandemic, many researchers have presented evidence to the scientific community that the pre-pandemic challenges to gender equality have worsened. The policies needed to restore the favourable path towards the fifth Sustainable Development Goal, which has been a topic of great importance for researchers, international organisations, but also for national governments.

Theorizing the penal state: The darkside of gender regimes in the case of Spain

The goal of this article is to contribute to ongoing efforts to strengthen gender regimes theory by proposing a new sub domain within the institutional domain of violence that brings in the penal state – any part of formal politico-administrative structures that arrests and incarcerates women. Based on interdisciplinary research on gender, crime and punishment that shows the importance of understanding the penal state for women's rights and gender equality, the operational definition of the penality sub domain is proposed and developed in a case study of prison reform and gender equality policy in Spain. The concept development case study not only helps to define and empirically identify the seven dimensions of the new sub domain. It also provides the opportunity to make a larger theoretical reflection of what penality issues mean for the application of gender regimes theory more broadly speaking and future comparative studies of gender equality, prisons and gender regimes.

Implementation of an effective system for monitoring the application of gender equality policy: Experience from European Union countries

The European Union has been pursuing the policy aimed at achieving equality between women and men for a long time. The adoption of the Law "On Ensuring Equal Rights and Opportunities for Women and Men" is an important step forward. However, the aspects of the control of compliance with the legislation in the field of gender policy remain poorly advanced and need to be adapted following the experience of developed European countries. The aim of this article was to outline the legislative mechanism for ensuring equal rights and opportunities for women and men, and to compare it with European legislative experience and practice. During the research, the methods of analysis and synthesis, deduction and induction and comparative analysis were used. As a result of the research, the mechanism for ensuring equal rights and opportunities in Ukraine was determined; the bodies, institutions and organizations empowered in the specified area were described along with the main aspects of gender equality legislation in Ukraine. It is concluded that government officials can use the results obtained during the research to improve some legislative aspects of control over gender policy implementation.

Nourishing the Nexus: A Feminist Analysis of Gender, Nutrition and Agri-food Development Policies and Practices.

This article applies feminist critiques to investigate how agri-food and nutritional development policy and interventions address gender inequality. Based on the analysis presented of global policies and examples of project experiences from Haiti, Benin, Ghana, and Tanzania, we find that the widespread emphasis on gender equality in policy and practice generally ascribes to a gender narrative that includes static, homogenized conceptualizations of food provisioning and marketing. These narratives tend to translate to interventions that instrumentalize women's labor by funding their income generating activities and care responsibilities for other benefits like household food and nutrition security without addressing underlying structures that cause their vulnerability, such as disproportionate work burdens, land access challenges, among many others. We argue that policy and interventions must prioritize locally contextualized social norms and environmental conditions, and consider further the way wider policies and development assistance shape social dynamics to address the structural causes of gender and intersecting inequalities.

Country-level gender inequality is associated with structural differences in the brains of women and men

Gender inequality across the world has been associated with a higher risk to mental health problems and lower academic achievement in women compared to men. We also know that the brain is shaped by nurturing and adverse socio-environmental experiences. Therefore, unequal exposure to harsher conditions for women compared to men in gender-unequal countries might be reflected in differences in their brain structure, and this could be the neural mechanism partly explaining women's worse outcomes in gender-unequal countries. We examined this through a random-effects meta-analysis on cortical thickness and surface area differences between adult healthy men and women, including a meta-regression in which country-level gender inequality acted as an explanatory variable for the observed differences. A total of 139 samples from 29 different countries, totaling 7,876 MRI scans, were included. Thickness of the right hemisphere, and particularly the right caudal anterior cingulate, right medial orbitofrontal, and left lateral occipital cortex, presented no differences or even thicker regional cortices in women compared to men in gender-equal countries, reversing to thinner cortices in countries with greater gender inequality. These results point to the potentially hazardous effect of gender inequality on women's brains and provide initial evidence for neuroscience-informed policies for gender equality.

Lesbian and heterosexual Spanish and Swedish couples: Division of labor and life‐satisfaction

AbstractObjectiveTo compare the distribution of housework and childcare and satisfaction with work‐life balance resources among female same‐sex and different‐sex parenting couples in Spain and Sweden, and their association with life satisfaction.BackgroundSame‐sex couples have generally reported higher levels of co‐responsibility than their different‐sex counterparts in terms of housework and childcare. It has yet to be determined whether these differences are maintained in countries with different public gender equality and family policies.MethodStructured interviews were held with 154 mothers who lived with their partner and had children under 13 years of age: 89 from Spain (65 with different‐sex partners and 24 with same‐sex partners) and 65 from Sweden (27 with different‐sex partners and 38 with same‐sex partners). Interviews focused on the distribution within the couple of housework and childcare, problems related to work‐life balance, satisfaction with work‐life balance resources and life satisfaction.ResultsDifferences were observed in the division of labor between same‐sex and different‐sex couples in Spain but not in Sweden. Spanish different‐sex couples reported a less equal distribution of housework and childcare than their Swedish counterparts. Same‐sex couples were as equal in their division of labor in Spain as in Sweden. Satisfaction with housework distribution and personal time availability positively predicted life satisfaction, whereas problems related to work‐life balance negatively predicted it.ConclusionFemale same‐sex couples, in the microsystem, and public gender equality policies in the macro‐system, are encouraging a process of “de‐gendering” of family labor, promoting co‐responsibility in couples, and thereby fostering their psychological well‐being.

Exploring the gendered tourism entrepreneurial ecosystem in Barcelona and responses required: a feminist ethic of care

Barcelona is an attractive location in Spain for tourism entrepreneurship; however, women are significantly under-represented. This study adopts a locally based perspective and a feminist ethic of care theoretical lens to give voice to tourism women entrepreneurs and members of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Barcelona. The aim of our analysis is to understand the culture of the entrepreneurial ecosystem and seeks to answer the following research question: How does an entrepreneurial ecosystem that operates in a tourism entrepreneurship context characterized by gendered barriers, find support through gender equity resources and policies? To address this question, we have applied feminist theory to analyze the semi-structured interviews with female entrepreneurs and individuals committed to Barcelona’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Our analysis revealed three main gender equity-related issues i.) Hunting and caring: The Gender Entrepreneurship Division; ii.) Social Conditioning and gender norms: Reinforcing Gender Inequities and iii.) Entrepreneuring and the Motherhood Penalty. Our findings draw attention to gender biases and opportunities to enhance equity in the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Barcelona by employing an ethic of care and committing to diversification. We offer a theoretical framework to understand and respond to gender inequities to enhance the success of women tourism entrepreneurs.

The direction of gender equality policy in Britain post-Brexit: towards a masculinised Westminster model

ABSTRACT This article examines gender equality policy in Britain, pre-and post-Brexit. Through a gendered analysis of European Union (EU) directives over forty years, we examine which policies have been key to Britain’s gender equality agenda. We find that the EU’s gender equality framework has been particularly integral to the advancement of ‘class-based’ policies, which seek to ameliorate inequalities that arise from the sexual division of labour. Taken together, we argue that the impact of Brexit risks directly rolling back these class-based gains. This is as a result of a shift away from a more consensual style of policymaking at the supranational level, towards a top-down, adversarial and masculinised Westminster Model, which marginalises women from decision-making fora. As it stands, advancements in gender equality policies are unlikely to be regained in the current political climate due to the absence of the stimulus of the EU for domestic gender equality reform.

Role of Gender Equality on Leadership and Governance in Somalia

Purpose: The study sought to analyze the role of gender equality in leadership and governance in Somalia
 Materials and Methods: The study adopted a desktop methodology. Desk research refers to secondary data or that which can be collected without fieldwork. Desk research is basically involved in collecting data from existing resources hence it is often considered a low cost technique as compared to field research, as the main cost is involved in executive’s time, telephone charges and directories. Thus, the study relied on already published studies, reports and statistics. This secondary data was easily accessed through the online journals and library.
 Findings: The results show Gender equality in leadership and governance is an important aspect of a successful and sustainable society. This is because gender inequality in leadership and governance can lead to a number of negative outcomes, including decreased economic growth and increased poverty.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Practices and Policies: The social constructionist theory, feminist theory and resource theory may be used to anchor future studies in the leadership and governance sector. The study results will also benefit other stakeholders such as the policy makers as well as researchers and scholars from different parts of the world. The top management of gender equality sector in the country will also use the study findings to improve leadership and governance performance in all their activities and programs. The study recommends that the adoption of effective gender equality policies in the leadership and governance will help to improve efficiency in their major operations and activities.

Can social inclusion policies promote financial inclusion?

PurposeThis study aims to examine whether social inclusion policies promote financial inclusion. Three social inclusion policies were analyzed: gender equality policies, environmental sustainability policies and social protection (SP) policies.Design/methodology/approachThe study used the panel fixed effect regression methodology to analyze data from 48 low- and medium-income countries.FindingsThe results show that social inclusion policies do not have a significant effect on financial inclusion. Also, the older population is less likely to own an account at a formal financial institution in low- and medium-income countries that have strong environmental sustainability policies and institutions. The implication of the finding is that the policies and institutions established to promote environmental sustainability can discourage the older population from keeping the population's wealth in formal financial institutions in the country.Practical implicationsPolicy makers should consider how social and environmental policies and programs can be designed to promote financial inclusion for older individuals in the individuals' countries.Originality/valueThe financial inclusion literature has not considered the role of social inclusion policies in promoting financial inclusion for individuals, businesses and the excluded groups in a country.

Upaya Memulihkan Hak-hak Perempuan: FIAP Kanada dalam Upaya Penurunan Gender-Based Violence di Afghanistan

Canada as a country highly committed to promoting gender equality and women's empowerment, launched the Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP) in 2017 under the leadership of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP) is a feminist-based foreign policy that focuses on gender equality and women's empowerment. In this case, FIAP's foreign policy is considered to be the best solution for Canada to overcome existing poverty and inequality. Afghanistan is one of the target countries for receiving Canadian FIAP assistance. Given the high percentage of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) phenomena and discrimination in Afghanistan, Canada is also trying to help reduce the level of GBV and discrimination in Afghanistan through the FIAP policy program. With this the author is interested in identifying various forms of cooperation carried out by Canada and Afghanistan in efforts to combat gender-based violence in Afghanistan, as well as explaining how a feminist perspective views Canadian FIAP policies. The scope of this research is during the period of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government from 2018 to 2020. This research uses qualitative methods to explain how feminist-based foreign policies can affect the level of reduction of gender-based violence, and uses congruent methods as an analytical technique. The theory of liberal feminism, Gender-Based Violence, the concept of Gender Equality, Gender Mainstreaming, and Feminist Foreign Policy will be used in this research as a knife of analysis. The results of the study show that with the Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP) as a manifestation of liberal feminism, Canada will promote gender equality and empower women through various existing programs and policies so that it can have an impact on reducing the level of gender-based violence in Afghanistan.

Achieving Legitimacy Through Gender Equality Policies

The academic literature has shown some positive effects of gender equality policies’ development on the companies’ performance. However, often companies are not promoting this type of policies. This research analyzes the effect of corporate gender equality policies from an institutional perspective. Using a structural equation model, based on 150 questionnaires, the results have empirically demonstrated that gender equality policies positively influence four dimensions of organizational legitimacy: pragmatic, moral, regulatory, and cognitive. These results extend our knowledge of the effect of corporate social responsibility policies on organizational legitimacy, underlying that gender equality strategies are very useful for improving organizational legitimacy. Furthermore, these results provide new strategic arguments for managers to manage the organizational change and to develop gender equality policies and foster the decrease of the gender gap.

Differences in influenza vaccination by gender identity and state-level gender equity policies: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2015–2019

BackgroundIt is estimated that there are one million transgender and over 340,000 gender non-conforming people in the United States, many of whom face significant health disparities including access to healthcare. Although previous studies have reported greater vaccine uptake in women compared to men, national-level estimates of influenza vaccine uptake among transgender and non-binary people are unknown. This study aims to characterize differences in influenza vaccine uptake by gender identity and examine associations between vaccination status and state-level gender equity policies. MethodsWe used cross-sectional data from adults participating in the 2015–2019 United States Behavioral Risk Factors Surveillance System surveys. Weighted prevalence differences (PDs) and associated confidence intervals (CIs) of being unvaccinated against influenza by self-reported gender identity were estimated using generalized linear regression models. ResultsCompared to cisgender women (unvaccinated prevalence = 57.3%), the prevalence of being unvaccinated was significantly higher among cisgender men (64.4%; PD = 7.0 per 100, 95% CI: 6.7–7.4), transgender women (65.4%; PD = 8.1 per 100, 95% CI 4.0–12.2), transgender men (64.6%; PD = 7.3 per 100, 95% CI: 2.7–11.8), and gender non-conforming individuals (64.6%; PD = 7.2 per 100, 95% CI: 1.3–13.2). This pattern was similar among individuals living in states with protective versus restrictive gender equity policies. ConclusionsOur results identified a disparity in influenza vaccine uptake among individuals across the gender spectrum. To improve vaccine equity, future research should explore barriers to and facilitators of vaccine uptake by gender identity, which could inform policies and health promotion interventions to improve uptake co-designed and implemented with the transgender and non-binary communities.

Gender and leadership positions: understanding women's experiences and challenges in patriarchal societies in Northern Ghana

PurposeWomen are rarely seen in positions of leadership in patriarchal societies, which is unsurprising. Following gender equity policies, few women have been able to break through the gender equity barrier and assume leadership positions in schools. Few research investigations have delved into the experiences and challenges that women encounter in positions of leadership in patriarchal societies in government schools in Northern Ghana. The study seeks to comprehend the experiences and challenges that women confront in positions of leadership in patriarchal societies in Northern Ghana.Design/methodology/approachThe study aimed to gain a better understanding of the experiences and challenges that women encounter in educational leadership roles in patriarchal societies in Northern Ghana. To achieve the study's objectives, a quantitative research approach and a social survey design were used, as well as descriptive and inferential statistics.FindingsThe findings of the study revealed that in patriarchal societies in Northern Ghana, women experience conventional gender roles that conflict with roles, cultural values, gender stereotyping, family responsibilities and cultural beliefs and perceptions of women and attitudes and low expectations of women's managerial skills discourage women from taking on leadership positions in men-dominated societies.Research limitations/implicationsThere is a need to shift the gender position and question the negative cultural convictions of cultural and patriarchal societies. Equal opportunities for men and women necessitate equal access to leadership positions. It proposes that in patriarchal societies, education and community stakeholder involvement in leadership training programmes for women be considered, as policy documents alone would not be sufficient to eradicate deeply embedded cultural social practices and dispel negative notions about women in leadership positions in men-dominated societies.Originality/valueThe study established that in patriarchal societies, women experienced conventional gender roles that conflict with roles, cultural values, gender stereotyping, family responsibilities, cultural vulnerability of women and the interplay between cultural expected roles and management goals influence women from taking on leadership positions.

Parental leave in the system of socio-economic processes: a theoretical review

Parental leave is one of the most important components in the structure of family policy in most developed countries. In foreign practice, three types of leaves are available: maternity leave, paternity leave and parental leave. The researchers note that development of the leave policy has a favorable economic, social and demographic effect. For this reason, the issue of leaves is becoming more and more popular every year and attracts attention of a wide range of scientists. Nevertheless, in the domestic scientific literature, the phenomenon of parental leave remains practically unexplored. This article is devoted to the study of the impact of parental leave on other socioeconomic processes — employment, gender equality and fertility — and related areas of government policy. Exploring this relationship, the author notes positive impact of paternity leave and paternity quotas on the distribution of responsibilities between men and women in the professional and family spheres of life. The positive economic effects from the use of parental leave as one of the tools to protect workers in the labor market are described. These effects consist mainly in increasing the employment rate of women and reducing the wage gap between men and women. In addition, the impact of parental leave on the birth rate is considered—on the one hand, the use of paternity leave stimulates parents for subsequent childbearing, on the other hand, opportunity costs increase, which negatively affect the reproductive attitudes of mothers. The author draws a conclusion about the relationship between parental leave policy and other areas of state policy — employment policy, gender equality policy and demographic policy. In the author's opinion, the discovered relationship indicates the importance of the issue of parental leave and the need to study it in Russia.