Today I attended a Gender 101 training at FHI. The intent was to train us to be able to go in the field and train our programmatic colleagues on how to think about gender, how to integrate it into programs and how to write a gender analysis plan. In our field we call this training at "TOT" or training of trainers. One of the facilitators actually conducted this gender training in my Family Planning/Reproductive Health class this past spring so I was familiar with a lot of the material. It was interesting to learn how to deliver that same training I had received only a few months earlier.
After the day-long workshop, I was reflecting on gender in public health. It is not a new concept but it seems that these days, the light is shining brighter on ensuring gender equity and gender equality in public health programs. When Obama's Global Health Initiative (GHI) debuted this year, guiding principles for a Women Centered Approach called for "support for a right to health for all women, men, children and youth" and "meaningful participation of women in planning, decision-making, monitoring and evaluation", among other things. Recently, the GHI changed this from the "Women Centered Approach" to "Women, Girls and Gender Equality Principle". I really like this because gender is about much more than women.
Also, USAID's ADR now calls for gender analysis plans to be part of all programs. In the past, gender analysis plans were a nice supplement to proposals and workplans but now with federal regulations requiring them, a stronger emphasis is being placed on planning and integrating gender into our work.
So where is gender in our work? Answer: it really is everywhere and not just in developing countries. In public health, the goal is to promote gender equality for men and women by changing behaviors, attitudes and practices that are harmful to their health. By addressing gender norms and breaking down barriers that prevent women and men fair and equal access to healthcare, public health programs can achieve gender awareness and transformation. In the PNA I did this summer in Kenya, gender was one of the main research questions. In our assessment tools, we looked for qualitative and quantitative data on how gender played a role in health worker training both from the perspective of student and instructor. If young women do not feel they are able to receive the same education as young men because they are women, then there is clear gender bias to address in health worker education. (Note: this is a hypothetical statement, not a finding of the Kenya PNA)
The best part of a training, like the one I attended today, is learning about what other people are doing. Whether you are in public health or not, you have experience in gender. Why not share with me what you have learned, what you found challenging, or what you want to know more about? Post a comment and let's discuss gender in public health! I'm curious to see if this can be interactive!
Hello Amanda. I'd love to learn more about all of this. I am a male social work student, just beginning my masters in public health (maternal and child health - I'm actually in Amanda's program at UNC). I have more experience in domestic issues of education and mental health (one aspect of public health) - so I may not be as conversant with all the gender issues in public health - although some may translate/generalize.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you address gender equality for men, too. I know that there may be more pressing issues for women but it can be hard to address men's issues in my personal experience. In the past, when I have brought up men's issues, sometimes people assume that I think men's issues (e.g., gender bias affecting men) are more important, prevalent or significant than issues/biases affecting women (possibly because I am a man?) This is not at all the case. However, it is still important to be inclusive of men.
In general, what I have seen and heard is that men (e.g., fathers) are often left out of social services focusing on families - which is clearly gender bias in my estimation. It is sometimes (often?) assumed that mothers are the only ones interested in care-taking, child-rearing, etc. and in some agencies, workers can literally act as if fathers don't exist. Even in our social work classes, students often only refer to mothers when talking about parents! I'm not sure how wide-spread these issues are - it's pretty anecdotal but reliable data - for example, the description of social service agencies comes from experienced professionals I've heard speak.
It may often be the case that women take on larger roles in this areas and that many men are disengaged or not present at all. However, it seems that we (the field) sometimes apply these observations to all men and stereotype them as disengaged or alternatively, we just focus on women and forget about men. This may shut out the men who are more engaged in family life and creates a self-fulfilling prophecy for the one's that are less engaged. Not only is this unfair to and discounts men, but we are missing the opportunity to engage another supporting parent to help children and families.
In any event, that's just one idea/issue - and clearly gender issues/biases have significant and broad effects (perhaps more on women than men?). I'd love to know more about the gender analyses you talk about in this post!