Gender Policy Research Articles

GENDER BALANCE: EUROPEAN INTEGRATION CHALLENGES AND NATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

Purpose. The aim of the article is to substantiate essential determinants of gender balance of social development as a driver of competitive development of the national economy. Methodology of research. A systematic approach was used in the article to conduct the research. This approach reflects the role of the gender issue in the modern management system at the global and national levels, as well as a number of specific methods: normative analysis, world-system comparison, structuring, analogy, analytical generalization to identify problems of gender asymmetries and outline ways their solution. Findings. The global gender gap index was analysed and Ukraine's place in it was demarcated. New gender risks for Ukraine caused by a full-scale war with Russia have been verified. It is emphasized that gender equal national housekeepers are more competitive. The essence and components of gender ensuring gender balance in the EU in terms of institutionalizing gender equality at the legislative level, achieving gender prioritization, strategic planning, conducting information and educational campaigns, implementing financial programs, and special measures to increase women's access to decision-making processes are substantiated. The main approaches and problems in the implementation of gender policy in Ukraine are formulated, which should be based on the best European and global practices of gender equality, use modern approaches to solving gender-sensitive problems, prevent gender discrimination, ensure equal participation of women and men in making socially important decisions, combine professional and family responsibilities, prevention of illegal expressions, gender-based violence, development of gender-sensitive civil society, spread of gender culture. Originality. Modern gender asymmetries are identified and zones of the greatest gender segregation in Ukraine are singled out. The directions for the selection of the gender context in the analysis and evaluation of various social processes and all social groups are substantiated, in particular, the evaluation of the effectiveness of public administration by monitoring the observance of gender-oriented vectors in the creation of an institutional basis, the implementation of regulatory levers, strategic planning, program and project tools, budgeting, the implementation of gender-oriented approaches in administrative management practice, etc. A model for monitoring gender integration of national economy management is proposed. Practical value. The obtained results of the study will contribute to increasing the effectiveness of the development and implementation of the gender policy of Ukraine, ensuring gender prioritization in the context of EU integration. Key words: gender asymmetries, gender marginalism, gender prioritization, global gender gap index.

Rethinking Women Experiences in Water and Sanitation Projects in Tongogara Refugee Camp, Zimbabwe

Inspite of the significant progress registered in positioning gender equality issues more centrally within programming, debates about gender mainstreaming perseveres. This paper focuses on refugee women's experiences in water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) projects in Tongogara Refugee Camp (TRC) in Zimbabwe. The study posits that the age, gender and diversity mainstreaming (AGDM) policy in WASH projects at TRC meant to empower women, is regarded by the male counterparts as a threat to their authority and power. Guided by a feminist political ecology (FPE) theoretical framework, this qualitative research utilised a case study method with sixty-eight interviews, five indepth interviews and eight focus group discussions (FGD) to gather data. The findings show that the imposition of a top-down approach to the implementation of the AGDM policy guidelines on the refugee community has resulted in the increase of domestic violence, sexual and gender based based violence (SGBV), divisions in families as well as resentment of the AGDM policy by some men for promoting gender equality. The research concluded that the implementation of the AGDM in WASH activities is an imposition from above without input from the refugee population, particularly the refugee population.

Effectiveness of gender policy in the activities of the Ukrainian police in the context of intensifying European integration processes

The article offers a comparative legal analysis of the legislation in the regulation of the combat and prevention of gender violence by the police, studying, for this, the best international experience in this area. It indicates the need to define in the law profile the specific subdivisions of the National Police that carry out prevention of domestic violence, gender violence (Department of Preventive Activities; Patrol Service; Youth Prevention Units; District Police Service) to regulate its powers, competences and attributions. It is argued that a number of organizational and technical measures will help to increase the effectiveness of gender policy in the activities of the Ukrainian police: the creation of widely available databases showing statistics on cases of gender-based domestic violence, investigations and punishments, categories of victims and perpetrators. By way of conclusion, the desirability of introducing international best practices in policing in this area is demonstrated, in particular the adaptation of the «Blue Card» procedure carried out by the Polish police.

Gender and social policy in middle-income countries: comparative welfare regime analysis of fiscal policies

ABSTRACT Gosta Esping-Andersen (1990), in his ground-breaking book, Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism, created a decommodification index to classify advanced capitalist countries into the liberal, conservative-corporatist, and social-democratic welfare regimes. One of the most common criticisms of Esping-Andersen’s typology by feminists such as Jane Lewis (1992) is that it is ‘male-centric’ and did not address women’s unpaid work with families. Ann Shola Orloff (1993) has gone a step further in the criticism of Esping-Andersen’s typology by addressing women’s opportunity to paid employment and the capability to establish and run an independent households. I originally used the framework to analyse the socio-legal dimensions of expenditure in MICs; in this paper, the decommodification index has focused on variables that are on the fiscal side. Theoretically, this paper contributes to gender and social policy discussions on women’s access to employment and related entitlements. Empirically, it creates clusters of MICs into three based on latent class analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis of economic, social, and legal variables, such as availability of non-tax benefits to private child-care centres, provision of child-care services by the government; tax-deductible payments for child-care; provision of legal-aid for family and criminal issues.

Legal support of gender policy and the correlation with the concept of “equality of rights”

Ambiguous interpretation of the concept of gender equality has caused problems in understanding and legal support of the concept of gender. This and the global democratic process contribute to the relevance of the issue and generate the need for its thorough study. The article aims to define the essence of the concept “gender,” analyze the legal support of gender policy, and develop proposals for its improvement in Ukraine. In the study, we applied theoretical (analysis, synthesis, generalization, systematization) and empirical (observation) methods. The article also uses methods of statistical and comparative analysis, extrapolation, dialectical method, etc. We analyzed the content of gender policy and its consequences and identified the features of its legal support and impact on society. To replace the concepts of gender, gender equality, and its derivatives with “equality of rights of men and women” proved expedient. Proposals for improving the legal support of gender policy in Ukraine were developed. The article has a multidisciplinary nature and will appeal to a broad readership from lawyers to psychologists to raise awareness and competence in this area.

Gender profile of principal investigators in a large academic clinical trials group.

IntroductionGender equity in medicine has become a significant topic of discussion due to consistently low female representation in academia and leadership roles. Gender imbalance directly affects patient care. This study examined the gender and craft group of the Principal Investigators (PI) of clinical trials run by the Australasian Gastro-Intestinal Trials Group (AGITG)MethodsPublicly available data was obtained from the AGITG website. Trials were divided into upper, lower gastrointestinal cancer, miscellaneous (neuroendocrine and gastrointestinal stromal tumours). Where multiple PIs were listed, all were counted. Craft group was assigned as surgical, medical, radiation oncology or other.ResultsThere were 69 trials with 89 PI, where 52 trials were represented exclusively by male PIs. Of all PIs, 18 were women (20.2%); all were medical oncologists. Prior to 2005, all PIs were male. The craft group distribution of PIs was: 79% medical oncologists, 12% surgical oncologists, 8% radiation oncologist, 1% nuclear medicine physicians. Regarding trials with multiple PI's, there were 19 in total. Of these, 11 had only male PIs, which included 5 surgeons. Females were more likely to be a co-PI (42%) as opposed to sole PI (18%). There was no gender policy publicly available on the AGITG website.ConclusionsThere is a low percentage of female PIs in academic oncology trials in the portfolio of this large international trials group. No trial was led by a female surgical or radiation oncologist. There is a need to understand the reasons driving the disparity so that specific strategies can be put in place.

STRATEGI KEBIJAKAN GENDER ANALYSIS PATHWAY (GAP) UNTUK MENYELESAIKAN MASALAH SOSIAL BUNUH DIRI DI KABUPATEN GUNUNGKIDUL

Gunungkidul Regency is an area a high number of suicides. The majority of perpetrators of suicide are elderly and male, so it is inversely proportional to several social studies that WHO have been carried out that the perpetrators of suicide are dominated by women and under 70 years of age for the Southeast Asia region. Responding to these phenomena is considered important for a government preventive policy in Gunungkidul through a gender mainstreaming policy approach. The gender policy formulation method chosen is the Gender Analysis Pathway (GAP). The purpose of this study was to describe the causes of the majority of elderly and mal individuals to commit suicide and the GAP policy strategy for preventive efforts in problem of suicide. The writing method used is a literature study with online secondary data. The result is that physical, psychological, and environmental faktor s encourage the elderly to suicide, the masculine culture that is still strong in Gunungkidul encourages men to suicide and GAP can be used as a method in formulating policies for dealing with suicide cases by related institution.

Repositioning African women in politics: From critical mass to critical acts

abstract Affirmative action has been implemented through the African Union’s (AU) gender agenda to attain women’s political empowerment and to achieve gender justice goals both within the AU and by member states. Accordingly, quotas are used as the fast track means to ensure the increase in representation and participation of women in politics to achieve agreed gender parity and mainstreaming policy goals. Literature, particularly in relation to Africa, has tended to focus on the increased ‘quantity’ of women in political institutions rather than turning critical attention to the quality of change experienced as a result of women’s political participation and representation. The article asks what does it mean for African women to participate in the institutions of political decision-making? Drawing from interviews with gender policy makers and implementers at the AU, the article examines the ways in which political representation (critical acts) may have no more than symbolic value, instead of moving towards substantive representation in which women’s political actions have consequences and weight. It questions the ways in which women are hindered from substantive participation, including through being subtly undermined and marginalised, for example, through body-shaming or bringing aspects of their private lives under scrutiny in ways their male counterparts rarely are. The article considers the importance of the AU’s gender policy as a means to advance women’s political participation on the continent and raises the problem of feminist advocacy which has the potential to tokenise women in politics. Within the AU, and outside of it, women continue to advocate for women’s political empowerment in and through this influential regional body, whose gender policies inform those of the rest of the continent.

How do women's GONGOs influence policymaking processes in Turkey?

ABSTRACT The article examines the most prominent women’s Government-Organized Non-Governmental Organization (GONGO) in Turkey, named KADEM, as a case to illustrate the mechanisms that GONGOs use to influence gendered labour policies. Existing studies underline the ideological and discursive role that GONGOs play in the late-AKP era, while the specific mechanisms that they use to influence policymaking processes require investigation. To address this gap, the analysis reveals each step that contributes to KADEM’s occupation of power in policymaking processes and explores the mechanisms that they use to interact in these processes with their essentialist gender justice agenda. These mechanisms are the direct engagement of the organization in domestic policy programs, their representation in international organizations, their expertise and advocacy to public institutions, and their strong institutional and personal links with the government. The findings are based on 48 interviews conducted with key actors and reveal that KADEM acts in line with the conservative and authoritarian labour policy agenda of the ruling party to erase gender equality in public discourse, policy formulation, and policymaking while emphasizing essentialist gender justice. The article contributes to the literature on the politics of gender under authoritarian regimes by presenting the mechanisms that GONGOs use to translate their agendas into policymaking procedures.

Contextualising gender policies: encouraging parity of participation through applied theatre

ABSTRACT International development partnerships are characterised by inherent power relations with community partners often seen as needing assistance in fixing their problems. In this paper, we discuss the limitations of this perspective on the example of gender equality in the Pacific. We explore applied theatre tools to work with a variety of stakeholders to problematise policy issues while exploring different worldviews and knowledges. Our work demonstrates how the voices of community-based organisations can be recognised by governments and donor agencies and how practices of applied theatre can provide tools for designing, reflecting, and advocating for change in joint partnerships.

Cambodia’s gender policy: An analysis of women and girls’ education strategies under the Neary Rattanak IV Strategic Plan (2014-2018)

In 1999, Cambodia’s Ministry of Women’s Affairs established the first Neary Rattanak Strategic Plan to build Cambodian women’s capacity by offering them more opportunities and access to education. From early 1998 to 2017, Cambodia showed good progress in increasing girls’ school enrolment. Later in 2018, the final year of Neary Rattanak IV’s implementation, the percentage of girls’ enrolment in Cambodia’s primary schools declined. This study analyzes the implementation of education strategies in Neary Rattanak IV by using the seven steps of Mintrom’s (2012) policy implementation analysis to examine whether the strategies have been well implemented. From the analysis, it seems that the education strategies have indeed been successful in their implementation and have reached their targets. However, the study has discovered some potential obstacles and shortcomings that the government may have to act upon through its education and gender policy. Those shortcomings and difficulties, including traditional norms, discrimination against women in employment, and safety issues, have impacted the implementation of the education of women and girls in the Neary Rattanak IV Strategic Plan.

Lessons from policy theories for the pursuit of equity in health, education and gender policy

We highlight practical lessons from policy theories on how to promote equity through transformational changes in policymaking. Health, education and gender are at the heart of such equity policy agendas. Their advocates seek transformational changes to: policy, to reject a ‘neoliberal’ paradigm and address the social and economic causes of unfair inequalities, and policymaking, to foster collaboration and holistic government. However, they also report a wide gap between aspirations and outcomes, and many seek insights from policy studies on how to close it. Our aim is to use their common engagement with policy theories to connect their agendas, foster intersectoral dialogue, and ensure that their contributions are greater than the sum of their parts. A common take-home message is to be cautious about any attempt to turn a provocative transformational political project into a technical process containing a ‘toolbox’ or ‘playbook’.

Can Afghan Woman Speak?: Resisting Western Stereotyping of Afghan Women and Repressive Gender Policies in Two Afghan Ethnoautobiographies by Zoya and Latifa

Can Afghan Woman Speak?: Resisting Western Stereotyping of Afghan Women and Repressive Gender Policies in Two Afghan Ethnoautobiographies by Zoya and Latifa

РЕАЛИИ И ПРОБЛЕМЫ ГЕНДЕРНОЙ ПОЛИТИКИ В КЫРГЫЗСКОЙ РЕСПУБЛИКЕ

The article reveals the concept of gender policy. The state gender policy is based on a legal framework consisting of international and national laws on the protection of the rights of women and men. While the laws of the Soviet Union, and then the independent Kyrgyz Republic, did not allow direct discrimination, women's rights were violated in society, primarily in the context of family, economic, and labor relations. In order to decide how to achieve equal rights for men and women in all economic opportunities, it is necessary to determine the nature and conditions of the system of equal rights in society, excluding all forms of discrimination of social, cultural, civil and political resources. On a conceptual level, the question of what is "equality" - "equality of opportunity" or "equality of results" - has been the subject of long and serious discussions. In this section, we look at how this category has translated into social, political, and cultural change.

О ПРАВАХ ЖЕНЩИН КЫРГЫЗСТАНА

The article deals with the problems and ways of implementing gender policy and women's rights in the conditions of modern Kyrgyzstan in the context of international documents on the In particular, the issues of gender equality in the main international documents reflecting women's rights are analyzed. And the amendments and additions made to the legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic on these issues are also being considered. The authors of this article believe that the main document on women's rights at the international level is the "Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women" (CEDAW - CIDO). Further, the article analyzes the problems in the promotion of gender policy and some ways to solve them in Kyrgyzstan.

Working “With” or “On” Moroccan Migrant Mothers

Abstract In the context of marriage migration, women are believed to be held back or constrained by their husbands, family and religion from integrating and partaking in (regular) citizenship and Dutch courses, which denies their agency as both wives and citizens. Additionally, their personal choice to become mothers is believed to exacerbate their position as passive citizens: becoming a mother supposedly leaves little time to invest in integration courses, especially since day-care services are an important threshold. As these representations and policies are often not based on rigorous research that consults these migrant women, this research aims to fill this gap by bringing together the gendered representations and policy views on marriage migration, and lived experiences and desires as articulated by migrant women themselves. Another aim is to find out how exactly Moroccan migrant women navigate these structures as affective migrant mothers, and the role of religion in this.

POLITICAL FORMATION OF GENDER RELATIONS IN THE PERIOD OF INDEPENDENCE

This article analyzes the political formation of modern gender issues. The unique features of the female perception of the world contrast with the active male dominance. Women in Kyrgyz society, their place in society, problems, responsibilities, connections, and relationships with men were analyzed. The struggle for a gender policy for social equality was discussed. Political processes with the regularity of gender relations were discussed. One area that clearly indicates inequality between the sexes is the inequality that exists along with employment or a work environment in which both female and male status exists. It has been studied that women spend more time with their children than with their fathers, even when they reach adulthood. The author draws attention to the need for legal solutions to gender conflicts in order to avoid destructive processes in the socio-cultural space.

Development and Design of Help Alleviating Poverty among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) through Amplifying Skills (HAPLAS) Extension Project

The LGBTQ in the Philippines is one of the marginalized sectors in our society that is also highly affected by the pandemic that causes economic deprivation and is often forgotten in gender analyses and gender policy discussions. This study aimed to assess the skills training needs of LGBTQ in Infanta, Quezon; to determine the profile of the projects in terms of extension thrust, numbers of beneficiaries, budget allocation, resources, activities, and implementation; to develop and design an extension program. The Help Alleviating Poverty among LGBTQ through Amplifying Skills (HAPLAS) is an extension project that was developed and designed to address the pressing issues among LGBTQ. The needs assessment was conducted among the members of Samahang Ikatlong Lahi ng Infanta (SILI) with a total of twenty-four (24) participants who were purposively selected. This study is a quantitative descriptive employing frequency and percentage in the analysis of data. As identified in the needs assessments, the skills and training development programs to be implemented in the projects are hair cutting, hair perming, hair coloring, and hair and makeup, all are cosmetic-related activities. Moreover, financial literacy seminar is also to be integrated into the project because managing finances is one of the topmost issues and problems LGBTQ members have mentioned. For technical assistance, the project's proponents established a partnership with Junior Pitimini, an LGBTQ organization with members prominent in Quezon Province. Moreover, a partnership was also established in the Local Government Unit (LGU) of Infanta for the venue and supplemental budget. This descriptive study revealed that the project has sufficient volunteers/workforce and facilities to implement the project. It is highly recommended that the project may replicate in other municipalities that may identify needs for the training of LGBTQ. Additional budget could also be increased to cover other significant results from the needs assessment. However, evaluation should be properly implemented to determine the sustainability of the project.

“Troubled” derby subjectivities: Wellbeing and feminist new materialist movements in sport

Roller derby is a unique and innovative phenomenon in the sporting landscape. Body image, gender policies, aggression/contact elements, music, art, and subversive and inclusive politics are all embraced to various degrees. Its growth was swift and significant – thousands of women around the world strapped on their skates and pushed themselves to meet the minimum skills requirements for joining a derby league. This unique sport was put in the (un)enviable position of somehow having done what governments and medical professionals had tried to achieve for years: to get people active who were inactive in the past, raise people's physical activity levels, and therefore (so the story goes) to improve their overall wellbeing and mental health. This article engages with interview transcripts with 12 derby skaters who chose to leave the sport in order to understand the complex social, cultural and personal forces at play in the relationship between sport and wellbeing. Drawing on feminist conceptualisations of care and movement, I explore the notion of “troubled derby subjectivities” to understand the ways in which the “sport” (including its style, music and affinities) provided a generative space for non-normative gendered subjectivities, embodied movement and “wellbeing”.

Legal aspects of mechanism of public gender policy forming and realisation

Introduction. In accordance with the requirements of time the staffing of public institutions must take into account current trends in the integration and strengthening of gender equality policy, so there is a timely need for systematic integration of gender issues. The question of gender, gender equality, gender equality problems, and the effective mechanism of its providing, is all no longer acquired to actuality in the world and in Ukraine. A review of the legislative provision of the gender approach and analysis of the institutional support for the implementation of the state gender policy is presented. Methodology. The solution of the research tasks was carried out using general scientific methods: benchmarking study and synthesis (for systematisation and generalisation of legislative support for the introduction of gender equality in Ukraine), classification (for the description of the institutional ensuring for the implementation of the state gender policy), abstracting, analysis and synthesis (for the development recommendations on mechanisms and means of improving the state gender policy in Ukraine). Results and conclusions. According to the results of the research, recommendations were made for the modernization of the state gender policy, which envisage further improvement of the Ukrainian legislation in accordance with the European requirements for gender equality; integrating the gender perspective into all state plans and programmes; ensuring favourable conditions for women to participate in social development management processes.