Inclusive gender-transformative approaches for gender equality: not only a business for women or women’s issues, but a community imperative

By Wyvine Bapolisi. Dr Bapolisi has published on this subject with the Community Development Journal - this blog reflects her research. You can find more of her work on her ORCID page.

Gender-transformative approaches work with men and women to achieve equal rights, opportunities, responsibilities, and access to resources. However, systemic, social, and cultural barriers are still preventing women from accessing the same opportunities as their male counterparts.

For many years, international and national non-governmental organizations, institutions, and agencies have tackled gender inequalities. High-impact programs, such as MenEngage Alliance, Living Peace Groups, or Sonke Gender Justice, actively involve men and boys as actors to promote positive masculinities toward gender equality. While women have increasingly ascended to high-ranking roles in Western societies, men continue to hold primary levers of decision-making power; this disparity is exacerbated in patriarchal societies, where the intersection of traditional norms and limited institutional support results in even lower rates of female participation in decision-making spheres. Given the historical patriarchal structure in many societies in Africa, where men have traditionally held decision-making power over basic needs, it was necessary to include men and boys to advance women’s empowerment. Women’s empowerment is a multifactorial concept that includes developing a sense of self-worth, the right or freedom to choose, the power to control their own lives (domestically and publicly), and the ability to influence social change. This definition integrates social, economic, legal, and political equality. However, most of the time, programs designed for women do not necessarily include beneficiaries in the design and implementation, and rarely in evaluation. Consequently, enrolling women and men simultaneously for the full length of the project could lead to more significant changes.

One of the surprising findings of a recent project evaluation we conducted regarding a gender-transformative approach combining women’s economic empowerment and peer-to-peer male sensitization on positive masculinities to improve gender equity was that some males were ready to change. Helping with household chores or children’s care was a good example.

Most sensitized men, who were formerly violent, abusing partners, were able to make a change in their behaviour and be more supportive of their female partners at the household level or at work. However, their partners were not always ready for these changes. Based on these results and the views of the male participants in our study, women's empowerment or their economic empowerment should not be gender-adapted programs that provide different information to men and women, but rather aim to guarantee and strengthen women's rights to fair treatment. Some men reported, for example, that after being sensitized against gender-based violence, coming back home and helping their partners was not welcome by their partners, creating another type of unrest. This example, among others, calls for sensitisation to positive femininities alongside positive masculinities. Women and men, especially when in couples, should benefit from the same sensitization packages because the targeted social change requires the implication of both partners and the entire society.  Behavioural changes take time to be adopted on a large scale, and small changes at basic levels are incremental.

Gender-transformative programs should continue to explicitly involve men by critically reflecting on rigid gender norms and understanding the benefits of equity for their own well-being and for the progress of their entire community or region. At the same time, women who have suffered for many years due to social inequity should be included in the design and implementation, and receive the same information in these programs. It is important to remember that even those suffering from injustice, women in this instance, may not be ready to embrace exogenous results-proven interventions, regardless of how effective those interventions have been elsewhere. For many years, women have developed resilience and learned to normalise or find societal or cultural meanings for different considerations in society. Some have found cultural or religious explanations for the imbalance in society, but there will not be a magical solution that can restore years of inequity and societal injustices. Women’s empowerment is crucial, as is engaging men in positive masculinities. More than ever, positive masculinities and femininities are necessary for all women and societies, for those who think that they are the guardians of traditions, as well as those who criticize change. Most importantly, women need to recognize and identify actions and behaviours that hinder their full accomplishment. Raising self-awareness among women will help them identify specific areas of gender injustice and concretely define the missing elements to reach their full potential.

Gender equality should not be a power struggle where men or society lose and women win, but rather an optimization strategy that allows every member of the community to contribute to their maximum potential.