	Equality in Policy-making
	Equality Co-ordination
	Minority Ethnic Women

Other projects

Newsroom

Research and publications

Links

Home | Integrating Equality | Equality in policy-making | Mainstreaming explained

Gender Mainstreaming explained

Background
The meaning of Gender Mainstreaming
How to produce a gender mainstreaming strategy?
Activities supporting a gender mainstreaming strategy
Stages within the policy process that are important for gender mainstreaming
Techniques and tools

Background

Gender mainstreaming as a concept was introduced into our language during the United Nations Third World Conference on Women in Nairobi, 1985. The concept was developed further at the UN Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995) which called for international promotion of a policy of gender mainstreaming. This was to be achieved by incorporating a gender perspective in all policies and programmes, so that, before decisions are taken, an analysis is made of the effects on women and men, respectively. Although there were no guidelines explaining how the analysis was to be carried out, many countries, including the UK, took on board a national plan for gender mainstreaming.

Lack of clarity around the term gender mainstreaming led to the EU producing a conceptual framework for gender mainstreaming as a strategy for the promotion of equality between women and men. This description is based on their work.

Gender mainstreaming continues to be a central issue in the European Commission's Community action programmes. Currently the Fifth Action Programme is viewed as an instrument for implementing the overall Community strategy on gender equality and embraces all Community policies and action aimed at achieving gender equality. This includes policies and specific actions targeted at women.

Within the wider context and at UK Government level, the Government is encouraging the greater involvement of women in political and public life to ensure that the various values, interests and life experiences of different groups of women are taken into account when decisions are made. This includes the Sex Discrimination (Election Candidates) Act (2002) which enables political parties to adopt positive measures to reduce inequality in the numbers of women and men elected as representatives of their party, and Government action to increase women's representation on the boards of public bodies.

There is also an expectation that Government Departments will implement the Policy Appraisal for Equal Treatment (PAET) guidelines, produced to help policy-makers consider the impact of their policies on women, people from different ethnic groups and disabled people. The Gender Impact Assessment framework has been produced to help policy-makers assess the impact of their policies on women and men.

The meaning of Gender Mainstreaming

In simple terms, the word mainstream encompasses the normal ideas, attitudes or activities of society. Gender mainstreaming is a situation when those ideas, attitudes or activities routinely incorporate a gender perspective and become a normal feature of mainstream thinking.

For policy makers, mainstreaming gender into policies implies they systematically identify the consequences of a proposed policy on different groups of women and men as a matter of course and address any negative outcomes as the policy is developed. This includes taking into account the complex relationships between women and men, understanding the different circumstances in which they operate and valuing their difference and diversity.

It is also important to remember that gender mainstreaming will complement gender equality policies to form a twin track strategy. Whereas gender equality policies are specifically developed to address a problem resulting from a gender inequality or historical imbalance, for example anti-discrimination legislation such as the Sex Discrimination Act, the Race Relations Act and the Equal Pay Act, gender mainstreaming is a strategy for achieving gender equality.

A gender mainstreaming strategy introduces a gender perspective into a given policy field even though there may not be an obvious inequality. It helps policy-makers explore how policy objectives affect different sections of the community, how policies are accessed and by who, and whether policies are delivering results for the intended audience.

How to produce a gender mainstreaming strategy?

The question for policy makers is how to produce a gender mainstreaming strategy? First, remember that gender mainstreaming in this sense involves a number of interventions or actions that form part of a strategic plan and systematic approach to the achievement of gender equality.

Developing and delivering a strategy for mainstreaming gender equality takes time, however Government departments already have many of the building blocks in place and a number of policy makers will be incorporating a gender perspective into their policies, unaware of the phrase gender mainstreaming. All that may be required is an environment in which gender mainstreaming can develop and succeed.

The following list highlights some of the activities that provide an environment for promoting a gender mainstreaming approach to policy-making and for giving policy-makers the support they need to integrate a gender perspective into their work.

Activities supporting a gender mainstreaming strategy

Sponsorship - A sponsor or champion who will drive the gender mainstreaming strategy, allocate resources to develop knowledge of gender issues and develop and implement policies containing a gender perspective.

Awareness raising - Knowledge of social structures and gendered patterns of behaviour will be needed, and where there are specific gender roles such as the division of labour in the household, an understanding of the implications this will have for the successful delivery of proposed policies.

Training on gender equality issues - Training is essential and this might mean going to specialists in the academic and voluntary sectors as well as internal tuition providers. Work on the assumption that one-off generic training to develop gender awareness and related skills will not turn policy-makers into gender experts. Acquiring effective skills requires long-term training and it might be more effective to use gender experts to work alongside policy-makers and to tailor training to the policy being developed. Generic gender training can be used however as a broader strategy for promoting gender equitable practice within a Government department.

Gender expertise - The degree of knowledge within a Government department or unit will determine the need for internal or external expertise to support policy development, awareness raising and training. Experts can be found in academic institutions, the voluntary sectors, central and local government.

Research - Research will be needed on the current situation of women and men, on current gender relations and on imbalances between the sexes in all policy fields. In addition research will help to evaluate the affect of previous policies on women and men, and to predict how future initiatives may benefit or disadvantage them.

Statistics - Statistics are needed that are relevant for women and men (gender disaggregated) and where possible they should cover other variables such as race, disability, sexual orientation, religion, class, age etc. This includes data on trends in changing gender relations such as employment and the division of labour in the household.

Resources - A commitment should also be made to providing the resources for developing policy techniques and tools, to establishing new channels of co-operation, consultation and communication and to providing gender expertise and training for policy-makers so they can deliver strategies for achieving gender equality.

The Gender Mainstreaming Strategy - Strategies for gender mainstreaming should run throughout the policymaking process, and have been incorporated into the attached Gender Impact Assessment.

Stages within the policy process that are important for gender mainstreaming

Policy preparation and planning

Problems and challenges are identified and analysed, their scope and importance considered, outcomes defined in their application to women and men. All areas of policy-making can be considered from a gender perspective.

Policy deciding stage

Decisions are taken on what problems and challenges should be addressed, whether issues are placed on the political agenda and what resources are allocated to them. Looking at potential policy problems and challenges from a gender perspective while defining political priorities, may also lead to new ranking of the problems.

Policy implementation

Issues are detected and analysed, broad policy goals specifying gender issues and targets are defined and a priority allocated to them.

Policy evaluation

Outputs and outcomes are assessed, to see if the policy delivered the intended changes, affected current gender relations and achieved gender equality.

Techniques and tools

The following tools and techniques can be used to put a gender mainstreaming strategy into practice. Many of these will already be familiar, the only difference being the way they are used to improve, develop and evaluate policy processes in order to incorporate a gender equality perspective.

Analytical techniques and tools

They deliver the information necessary for the development of policies and those which can be used in the policy process itself to identify the problem or issues:

statistics and research
surveys, forecasts and cost-benefit analyses,
checklists, guidelines, gender impact assessment methods, measuring, monitoring and evaluation.

Educational techniques and tools

They raise awareness to show how existing values and norms influence reality, perpetuate stereotypes and support mechanisms producing inequality. Training is required to enable policy-makers detect a given gender issue and take it into account when they develop policies:

awareness raising and training courses, manuals or handbooks,
post-training support such as regular meetings or mentors,
specialists/experts in gender issues.

Techniques and tools for consultation and participation

They bring together those involved in producing the policy with those affected by the policy issue and their representatives:

working groups, round tables, conferences and seminars,
contact databases and directories,
participation of both sexes in the decision-making, monitoring and evaluation process.