Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T08:16:39.315Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Gender mainstreaming as a global policy paradigm: barriers to gender justice in health

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2020

Sarah Payne
Sarah Payne*
Affiliation:
School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol, 8 Priory Rd, BristolBS8 1TZ, UK
*
*Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper explores gender mainstreaming in the context of health policy and health variations between women and men. Despite the adoption of gender mainstreaming at international, regional and national scales since the Beijing Platform for Action in 1995, gender inequalities in health persist. The paper argues that the translation of gender mainstreaming as a global policy paradigm across and between policy scales has significance for health policies aiming to address gender. The paper suggests that while gender mainstreaming originated to address women's needs, the paradigm is founded on goals that do not translate in health policy; that the representation of the problem of gender in this global paradigm is problematic in a health context; and that the role of global networks in policy translation as part of this paradigm has led to the replacement of transformative ideals with technocratic solutions which shift the focus away from gender relations of power.

Keywords

gender mainstreamingglobal policy paradigmpolicy translationgender equalitygender equityhealth policy
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of International and Comparative Social Policy , Volume 30 , Issue 1: Gender justice and global policy paradigms , February 2014 , pp. 28 - 40
Copyright
Copyright © 2014 Taylor & Francis

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alston, M. (2006). Gender mainstreaming in practice: A view from rural Australia. NWSA Journal, 18, 123–147.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ashburn, K., Oomman, N., Wendt, D., & Rosenzweig, S. (2009). Moving beyond gender as usual. Washington, DC: Center for Global Development and the International Centre for Research on Women.Google Scholar
Aveling, E. (2012). Making sense of ‘gender’: From global HIV/AIDS strategy to the local Cambodian ground. Health & Place, 18, 461–467.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bacchi, C. (1999). Women, policy and politics: The construction of policy problems. London: Sage.Google Scholar
Ball, S. J. (1999). Labour, learning and the economy: A ‘policy sociology’ perspective. Cambridge Journal of Education, 29, 195–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barker, G., Ricardo, C., Nascimento, M., Olukoya, A., & Santos, C. (2010). Questioning gender norms with men to improve health outcomes: Evidence of impact. Global Public Health, 5(5), 539–553.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bretherton, C. (2002 July 2–4). Gender mainstreaming and enlargement: The EU as negligent actor? Paper presented at the conference on European Union in International Affairs. Canberra: Australian National University.Google Scholar
Courtenay, W. (2011). Dying to be men: Psychosocial, environmental and biobehavioural directions in promoting the health of men and boys. New York, NY: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Equalities and Human Rights Commission. (2011). Performance of the health sector in meeting the public sector equality duties. Trowbridge: A focus consultancy report for the Equalities and Human Rights Commission.Google Scholar
GAVI Alliance. (2008). Gender policy. Retrieved March 2, 2013, from http://www.gavialliance.org/about/governance/programme-policies/gender/Google Scholar
GAVI and CEPA LLP. (2010). Second GAVI evaluation. GAVI Alliance and CEPA LLP in association with applied strategies.Google Scholar
Guenther, K. (2008). Understanding policy diffusion across feminist social movements: The case of gender mainstreaming in Eastern Germany. Politics and Gender, 4, 587–613.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hafner-Burton, E., & Pollack, M. (2002). Gender mainstreaming and global governance. Feminist Legal Studies, 10, 285–298.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hannan, C. (2011). Gender mainstreaming: Failings in implementation. Kvinder Køn & Forskning, 1, 63–66.Google Scholar
Hawkes, S., & Buse, K. (2013). Gender and global health: Evidence, policy, and inconvenient truths. The Lancet, 381, 1783–1787.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kantola, J. (2010). Gender and the European Union. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keleher, H. (2013). Policy scorecard for gender mainstreaming: Gender equity in health policy. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 37, 111–117.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kennett, P., & Payne, S. (2014). Gender justice and global policy paradigms. Journal of International and Comparative Social Policy. doi: 10.1080/21699763.2014.887027CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuhlmann, E., & Anmnandale, E. (2012). Mainstreaming gender into healthcare: A scoping exercise into policy transfer in England and Germany. Current Sociology, 60, 551–568.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lendvai, N., & Stubbs, P. (2007). Policies as translation: Situating transnational social policies. In Hodgson, S. M. & Irving, Z. (Eds.), Policy reconsidered: Meanings, politics and practice (pp. 173–190). Bristol: Policy Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mazey, S. (2002). Gender mainstreaming strategies in the E.U.: Delivering on an agenda? Feminist Legal Studies, 10, 227–240.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moser, C. (2005). Has gender mainstreaming failed? International Feminist Journal of Politics, 7, 575–590.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moser, C., & Moser, A. (2005). Gender mainstreaming since Beijing: A review of success and limitations in international institutions. Gender & Development, 13, 11–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murray, C., Vos, T., & Lozano, R. (2012). Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) for 291 diseases and injuries in 21 regions, 1990–2010: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. The Lancet, 380, 2197–2223.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ng, N., & Prah Ruger, J. (2011). Global health governance at a crossroads. Global Health Governance, 3, 1–37.Google Scholar
Payne, S. (2006). The health of men and women. Cambridge: Polity.Google Scholar
Payne, S. (2011). Beijing fifteen years on: The persistence of barriers to gender mainstreaming in health policy. Social Politics, 18, 515–542.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Petchesky, R. (2003). Global prescriptions: Gendering health and human rights. London: Zed Books.Google Scholar
Ravindran, T., & Kelkar-Khambete, A. (2007). Women's health policies and programmes and gender-mainstreaming in health policies, programmes and within health sector institutions. Background paper prepared for the Women and Gender Equity Knowledge Network of the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health. Geneva: World Health Organisation.Google Scholar
Ravindran, T., & Kelkar-Khambete, A. (2008). Gender mainstreaming in health: Looking back, looking forward. Global Public Health, 3, 121–142.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sainsbury, D., & Bergqvist, C. (2009). The promise and pitfalls of gender mainstreaming. International Feminist Journal of Politics, 11, 216–234.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sen, G., & Östlin, P. (2008). Gender inequity in health: Why it exists and how we can change it. Global Public Health, 3, 1–12.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Squires, J. (2005). Is mainstreaming transformative? Theorizing mainstreaming in the context of diversity and deliberation. Social Politics, 12, 366–388.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Squires, J. (2010). Beyond multiple inequalities: Transversal intersectionality, diversity mainstreaming and participative democracy. Kvinder Køn & Forskning, 23, 85–93.Google Scholar
Stone, D. (2012). Transfer and translation of policy. Policy Studies 33, 483–499.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Theobald, S., Tolhurst, R., Elsey, H., & Standing, H. (2005). Engendering the bureaucracy? Challenges and opportunities for mainstreaming gender in Ministries of Health under sector-wide approaches (Vol. 20, p. 141). Health Policy and Planning, 20, 265–265.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
True, J. (2003). Mainstreaming gender in global public policy. International Feminist Journal of Politics, 5, 368–396.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
United Nations. (1994). International conference on population and development in Cairo. New York: UNFPA.Google Scholar
United Nations. (1997). Report of the economic and social council for 1997 United Nations General Assembly 52nd Session A/52/3. New York: Author.Google Scholar
United Nations. (2010). Commission on the status of women national level review of implementation member states responses. New York, NY: Author. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing15/national-level.htmlGoogle Scholar
Vlassoff, C., & Moreno, C. G. (2002). Placing gender at the centre of health programming: Challenges and limitations. Social Science & Medicine, 54, 1713–1723.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Walby, S. (2005). Gender mainstreaming: Productive tensions in theory and practice. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 12, 321–343.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walby, S., Armstrong, J., & Strid, S. (2012). Intersectionality and the quality of the gender equality architecture. Social Politics, 19, 446–481.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, A., McKee, M., de Sousa, B., de Visser, R., Hogston, R., Aage Madsen, S., … Raine, G. (2013). An examination of the association between premature mortality and life expectancy among men in Europe. The European Journal of Public Health. doi: 10.1093/eurpub/ckt076CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wizeman, T., & Pardue, M. (2001). Exploring the biological contributions to health: Does sex matter? Washington, DC: National Academy Press.Google Scholar
World Bank. (2002). Integrating gender into the World Bank's work: A strategy for action. Washington, DC: Author.Google Scholar
World Bank. (2012). World development report 2012: Gender equality and development. Washington, DC: Author.Google Scholar
World Health Organisation. (2005). Gender, women and health: Incorporating a gender perspective into the mainstream of WHO's policies and programmes (Report by the Secretariat. EB116/13). Geneva: Author.Google Scholar
World Health Organisation. (2007). Integrating gender analysis and actions into the work of WHO: Draft strategy. Geneva: Author.Google Scholar
World Health Organisation. (2009). Global health risks: Mortality and the burden of disease attributable to selected major risks. Geneva: Author.Google Scholar
World Health Organisation. (2011a). Gender mainstreaming in WHO: What is next? (Report of the midterm review of the WHO gender strategy). Geneva: Author.Google Scholar
World Health Organisation. (2011b). Gender mainstreaming in WHO: Where are we now (Report of the baseline assessment of the WHO gender strategy). Geneva: Author, 51.Google Scholar
World Health Organisation. (2012). WHO mortality database: Tables. Geneva: Author. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/healthinfo/morttables/en/index.htmlGoogle Scholar