Dr Amrita Patel
Sansristi, Bhubaneswar
15th May 2012
Gender - concepts
Sex
Gender
Natural
Socio cultural
Biological differences in
physical qualities
Masculine and Feminine
qualities in roles,
behaviour
Sex is constant everywhere
Gender is variable &
changes with time &
culture
Sex cannot be
changed(except surgery)
Gender attributes can be
changed
 Son
preference
 Discrimination in food distribution
 Lack of educational facilities for girls
 Masculinity vs. Feminity concepts.
 Lack of Mobility for girls
 Non-recognition of Sexuality
 Lack of Right to Property of women
 No space in decision making for women
 NATURE
VS. NURTURE
The space is gendered.
MALE
FEMALE
Public
Private
Paan shop, cinema, stadium,
street corner
Kitchen, home
FEMALE
MALE
Body
Mind
Nature
Culture
Emotion
Reason
Subjective
Objective
Private
Public
Low
High
Caring
Power
Nurturing
Control
Love, selflessness
Ambition
Affection
Aggression
FEMALE
MALE
Dolls
Toy Gun
Bangles
Cycle
Ear rings
Motor cycle
Bindi
Tractor
Clothes
Bus
Pink Colour
Blue Colour
FEMALE
Secretary
Nurse
Pre Primary
School teacher
MALE
Farmer
Pilot
Manager
Women give birth to babies (Sex difference)
Girls are gentle; boys are tough. ( Gender difference)
Men drive auto rickshaws. ( Gender difference)
Men’s voices break at puberty; women’s don’t. (Sex
difference)
Women are better at caring for children than men. (Gender
difference)
Body hair is fine on men ; women have to shave. (Gender
difference)
 Ramesh
is playing with his friends. Guddi his
sister looks on.
 Boys must be brave.
 Women should be housewives.
 “ Pratima, You don’t have to go the cycle
repair shop. Your brother will go.”
Denial
of equal enjoyment of
rights on the basis of sex, race,
religion, political belief, caste,
social class, disability, age,
sexual orientation or a
combination of these or other
attributes.
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Patriarchy is both a social structure as well
as an ideology/ belief.
Male dominated family
Male domination
Male head of the family
Male control over economic, social
and political resources
 Men
are more skilled in productive positions and paid
more
 Women are in low paid jobs with the least job
security.
 Women’s reproductive capacity imposes social
obligations of caring, nurturing and household chores
.
 Women do the invisible, un recognized and unpaid
work within the family.
 Women’s Sexuality, Mobility & Property and other
economic resources
 Social
institutions
 Cultural
& Religious institutions
 Political
institutions
 Laws
and legal instruments
 Media
 Educational
systems
 “…
the process of assessing the implications
for women and men of any planned action,
including legislation, policies or programmes,
in all areas and at all levels.
 It is a strategy for making women’s as well as
men’s concerns and experiences an integral
dimension of the design, implementation,
monitoring and evaluation of policies and
programmes in all political, economic and
societal spheres so that women and men
benefit equally and inequality is not
perpetuated” (UN)
 policy
design
 decision-making
 procedures and practices
 methodology
 implementation
 monitoring and evaluation
1. A Mainstreaming Approach to Stakeholders: Who are
the Decision-Makers?
2. Mainstreaming a Gender Agenda: What is the Issue?
3. Moving Towards Gender Equality: What is the Goal?
4. Mapping the Situation: What Information Do We
Have?
5. Refining the Issue: Research and Analysis
6. Deciding on a Course of Action: Designing Policy
Interventions and Budgets
7. Arguing Your Case: Gender Matters!
8. Monitoring: Keeping a (Gender-Sensitive) Eye on
Things
9. Evaluation: How Did We Do?
10. En-Gendering Communication
Mainstreaming gender in governance
 Governance
has been defined by UNESCAP
(2006) as ‘the process of decision-making and
the process by which decisions are
implemented (or not implemented)’.
 Good governance has been defined
comprehensively by UNESCAP (2006) as ‘a
form of governance that embodies eight
specific characteristics, and can be seen as
an ideal of governance.

participatory, consensus oriented, accountable,
transparent, responsive, effective and efficient,
equitable and inclusive, and [which follow] the
rule of law’.
 Good
governance - enactment of measures
for positive discrimination in favour of those
groups (especially women) that have been
historically marginalized, in order to provide
them with an equal platform so that they are
included in the process of governance.
 For good governance - responsive to gender
needs, interests and promote gender
equality.
 Gender Responsive Governance (GRG) is
central to the notion of good governance.
 Low
literacy of women (Tribal)
 Declining child sex ratio
 Maternal health, anemia
 Un organised women workers
 Wage disparity
 Low employment in organised
 Displacement, migration
 Trafficking
 Violence (increasing)
 33
% - 50% reservation of seats for women
 PESA area – all posts for STs
Are PRIs gender responsive institutions ?
 Whether the PRIs are responsive to the gender
needs of its own members and the community as
a whole,
 whether PRIs are gendered spaces (processes,
and environment encouraging for gender
dialogue)
 Are gender issues are recognized as priorities for
PRIs as a whole
 Is the institutional setup responsive to its
members for the effective functioning. (E.g.
extent of devolution of powers, fiscal planning
and autonomy, priority setting within the PRIs)


 Has
the increased presence of women in
local elected bodies enabled them to
become agents towards transforming PRIs
into gender responsive institutions?
 What are the barriers/enablers to such
transformation - social factors, institutional
factors, structural factors
 women
do not constitute a single,
undifferentiated category. Caste, class,
religion and other forms of social
stratification cut across gender categories to
influence women’s experiences, interests
and concerns.
institutional barriers include the inadequate
devolution of functions, lack of financial and
planning autonomy, bureaucratic influence, the
policy of rotation of seats, lack of training , lack
of information, distance, non inclusion of
women in standing committees, etc
 social barriers such as lack of education,
oppressive patriarchal ( presence of elderly
males) and caste structures, lack of respect of
women in PRIs, physical violence in public and
domestic spheres( pre and post elections), local
politics spawned by caste/class/religious
dynamics, early marriage etc

 Economic
barriers - women’s access and
control (or lack thereof) of productive
property assets (land, water, and forests),
income from employment, housing etc
influence their decision-making power within
and outside the home.
 Structural barriers – family responsibilities,
livelihood maintainance, carer role,
reproductive role
 Women
lack an independent identity- their
identity is usually relational, i.e. derived
from their relations with male members of
the family. This hampers their ability to take
independent decisions. there is evidence to
suggest that women’s weak economic status
within the family inhibits their participation
in PRIs as they face difficulties in mobilizing
the resources required to contest elections,
campaign, travel etc
 Their negotiations of these limitations
provide insights on the way forward

Individual capacities
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High education
Previous experience as PRI
Previous work exp as ANM etc
Motivation; Clarity in roles and responsibilities
Ability to mobilize community, prior community rapport
Women’s collectives such as Self-Help Groups, women’s
Panchayats etc - to organize and articulate their interests
better and engage in decision-making in the family and
community. Women belong to such groups are more likely
to undertake a leadership role and develop the skills,
confidence and support base required for entering PRIs as
elected representatives.
training programmes are considered instrumental in
helping understand their roles and responsibilities and
develop administrative, technical and financial knowledge
for more effective functioning.
 Societal
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Family, spouse support
Support of other PRI members
Active involvement and support of govt officials
Presence of NGOs, women’s organisations
 Principles
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of way forward
Address the barriers and build on the enabling
factors
Prioritisation
Cyclic and continuous and feeding into each
other
Gender responsive, gender sensitive
Holistic
Pro active and progressive
Participatory, need based( district specific)
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Women participation in Palli sabha and Gram
Sabha
Elected women training and capacity building –
universal coverage, hands on , continuous
Strengthen women’s collectives and groupssocial mobilisation
Functional literacy
All women Panchayats
Gender budgeting
Building alliance, networks
Sensitisation of local bureaucracy and leadership
Information dissemination
Awareness generation