There are different degrees to which you can integrate gender equality in a public engagement initiative:
Level 0:
- Does not address inequalities between women and men
Level 1: Aware
- Provides the opportunity for both women and men to speak up on the issue
Level 2: Enlightened
- Reveals inequalities between women and men
- Highlights the causes and consequences of these inequalities
Level 3: Committed
- Reveals inequalities between women and men
- Highlights the causes and consequences of these inequalities
- Suggests specific actions to reduce these inequalities, both in terms of individual behaviour and public policies.
The following examples illustrate the different degrees to which you can integrate gender equality in public engagement.
Level 0: Does not address inequalities between women and men
Let’s imagine a fictional campaign to adopt a treaty to eliminate certain kinds of weapons. The campaign does not address gender equality if it does not use sex-disaggregated data in the campaign narrative, and does not explain how women and men and boys and girls are specifically affected by the existence and use of these weapons.
As such, the campaign can’t recommend measures to address the specific needs of women and men in relation to the circulation, trade and use of these weapons in the new treaty.
Level 1: Aware
Provides the opportunity for both women and men to speak up on the topic
Let’s imagine a fictional conference on working conditions and trade union freedoms in a country in the South.
You can say that the conference provides the opportunity for both women and men to speak up on the topic if the host organization has made sure to invite both male and female speakers from the South in order to hear their respective points of view.
Level 2: Enlightened
Reveals inequalities between women and men
+ Highlights the causes and consequences of these inequalities
A coalition is preparing a series of activities on climate change and drafts a document to further explain the issue. You can say that the document is “enlightened” if:
- It reveals the inequalities between women and men in the face of climate change.
- It includes materials on the impacts of climate change on women’s living conditions and access to resources such as water and land.
- It explains why women and girls are more vulnerable in the face of climate change and makes recommendations using examples from civil society projects.
Level 3: Committed
Reveals inequalities between women and men
+ Highlights the causes and consequences of these inequalities
+ Suggests courses of action to reduce these inequalities, both in terms of individual behaviour and public policies.
A human rights organization organizes an awareness raising campaign on forced marriage and the right to sexual and reproductive health.
You can say that the campaign is “committed” if:
- It reveals gender inequalities. Violations of the right to sexual and reproductive health occur. In developing countries, more than 60 million women aged 20-24 are married or living with a partner before the age of 18.
- It highlights the causes and consequences of these inequalities:
Causes: Poverty (one less mouth to feed), discrimination against women and minorities (women don’t have the same value as men), the excuse of wanting to protect young girls from sexual violence or to safeguard the honour of a village or a family if a young girl has had sex outside of wedlock and becomes pregnant, etc.Consequences: Maternal and child mortality, lagging school enrolment and increased drop-out rates, abuse, rape, poverty, domestic violence. - It suggests specific actions to take:
Individual behaviour:
Sign a petition addressed to the Minister of Women’s Affairs and the Minister of Justice in targeted countries.Sign a petition addressed to global leaders who are meeting to discuss the ICPD+20 and the post-2015 development agenda.Show your solidarity with organizations working to end child marriage in targeted countries by sending drawings and messages of support.Public policies: Improve access to education for boys and girls, apply existing laws to ensure that the rights of children and women are respected, raise awareness of all aspects of sexuality, provide access to information and family planning services, and decriminalize abortion.
