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TRAINING PROGRAMME | MODULE 5
GENDER EQUALITY
Author: RIC Novo mesto,
Simona Pavlin, Tina Strnad, Metod Pavšelj
Plan Be: Active Senior Volunteers
2015-1-PT01-KA204-012930
Author: RIC Novo mesto, Simona Pavlin, Tina Strnad, Metod Pavšelj
2 | Gender Equality
PLAN BE CONSORTIUM
FREGUESIA DE CASCAIS E ESTORIL – Project coordinator | Cascais, Portugal
ASSOCIAÇÃO ANIMAM VIVENTEM – Partner | Cascais, Portugal
KUUSANKOSKEN RETKEILIJÄT RY – Partner | Kouvola, Finland
RIC NOVO MESTO – Partner | Novo Mesto, Slovenia
SINERGIA SOCIETA COOPERATIVA SOCIALE – Partner | Bitonto, Italy
Contact information
Project Coordinator: Freguesia de Cascais e Estoril
Contact Person: Ms. Rita Serra Coelho
Address: Largo Cidade de Vitoria, 2750-319 Cascais – Portugal
Email: [email protected]
Tel.: + 351 214849550
Legal Notice
This publication is a document prepared by the Consortium Plan Be. It aims to provide
practical support to the project’s implementation process.
The output expressed does not imply scientific, pedagogical, or academic positions of the
current consortium. Neither the partners nor any person acting on behalf of the
Consortium is responsible for the use which might be made of this publication.
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held
responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
© – 2017 – Consortium Plan Be. All rights reserved. Licenced to the European Union
under conditions.
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INDEX
1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................... 4
2. IS THERE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN “SEX” AND “GENDER”? .............. 5
3. WHAT IS GENDER EQUALITY? ....................................................... 5
A Brief History ............................................................................ 6
4. GENDER EQUALITY AND SENIORS ................................................. 9
5. TRAINING SENIOR VOLUNTEERS ON GENDER EQUALITY - TOPICS .. 10
Gender issues ........................................................................... 10
Intergenerational dialogue .......................................................... 11
Intercultural dialogue................................................................. 11
Conflicts management and resolution .......................................... 11
Social integration and cohesion ................................................... 12
Volunteering ............................................................................. 13
6. Practical Exercise “Community Mapping” ...................................... 14
7. Practical Exercise “Sex vs Gender” .............................................. 16
8. Case Study “ComeON!” .............................................................. 17
9. Case Study “ALCE” .................................................................... 18
10. WEBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................... 19
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1. INTRODUCTION
The intention of this training module is to raise awareness of the relevance
of gender equality in the field of the Senior volunteering.
The histories associated with the development of Gender Equality (GE) are well-known but often seem only to be applied to the workplace.
This training module aims to focus on how GE can have a profound influence on how older people and their communities are perceived. Additionally, it
also considers how individual lifestyle, choices and relationships can benefit from raising awareness of GE among the seniors.
The module is structured very widely. Someone who wants to get new
knowledge can choose the topic in which is interested in. Each topic is based on concrete examples and information on how to seek more knowledge.
“Gender equality is more than a goal in itself.
It is a precondition for meeting the challenge of reducing poverty, promoting sustainable development and building good governance.”
Kofi Annan
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2. IS THERE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN “SEX” AND “GENDER”?
Historically, the terms "sex" and "gender" have been used interchangeably,
but, in modern society, their meanings are becoming increasingly distinct.
Until relatively recently, the word "gender" referred to a grammatical distinction between feminine, masculine, and neuter words. Now it may be
used to refer to a dimension on which people may differ and which may or
may not be identical or closely related to "sex”, and there’s not a common agreement about the use of these words.
According to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological
Association, "Gender is cultural and is the term to use when referring to women and men as social groups. Sex is biological; use it when the
biological distinction is predominant."
And according to the World Health Organization, "Gender refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities, and attributes that a given
society considers appropriate for men and women. Sex refers to the biological and physiological characteristics that define men and women."
However, this would bring to discussion also the meaning of "gender,"
"gender roles," "gender identity" and "gender expression."
For the purposes of this training module, we will understand Gender
Equality as the concern to ensure that all individuals have the possibility to realize their full potential regardless of their sex
and/or gender.
3. WHAT IS GENDER EQUALITY?
Today the so-called “old continent” has a very new face. That is a face of
growing and changing diversity.
The European Union's achievements in fostering equality between women and men have helped to change for the better the lives of many European
citizens.
The European Union is built on the diversity of distinct cultural, religious and social traditions embodied in the cultures of its Member
States. It is home to people of many different racial, ethnic, religious and national backgrounds, and its economy and cultures have been enriched
by the contributions of differences from around the globe.
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Although inequalities still exist, the EU has made significant progress over
the last decades. This is mainly thanks to:
• Equal treatment legislation; • Gender mainstreaming (integration of the gender perspective into all
other policies); • Specific measures for the advancement of women.
Some encouraging trends include the increased number of women in the labour market and their progresses in securing better education and
training.
Gender Equality is concerned with ensuring that all individuals have the possibility to realize their full potential regardless of their sex
and/or gender. It does not solely focus on equality of outcomes, but extends to equal dignity and integrity. Evidence also suggests that
gender equality plays a significant role in enhancing economic and social growth (Loko and Diouf, 2009; Duflo, 2012).
Additionally, it’s important to focus on all six forms of discrimination
(gender, race and ethnic origin, religion and belief, disability, age and sexual orientation), considering also multiple discrimination, that
recognizes the various forms of discrimination that one individual can be
subjected to. Most of us don’t belong to one community but several, and this diversity, while being a source of strength, can also make a person a
target for prejudice.
A Brief History
Gender equality is a matter of rights and fairness. As a fundamental
value of the European Union, it is enshrined in its Treaties, including the
Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and going back to the 1957 Treaty of Rome.
The Strategic engagement for gender equality 2016-2019 was
published in December 2015, and is a follow-up and prolongation of the Commission Strategy for equality between women and men 2010-2015. It
sets the framework for the Commission's future work towards improving gender equality.
The Strategic engagement focuses on the following five priority areas:
1. Increasing female labour market participation and equal economic
independence;
2. Reducing the gender pay, earnings and pension gaps and thus
fighting poverty among women;
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3. Promoting equality between women and men in decision-making;
4. Combating gender-based violence and protecting and supporting
victims;
5. Promoting gender equality and women's rights across the world.
To assist with the measurement of gender equality at EU level — and in
order to demonstrate the success of promoting gender equality in each Member State — the creation of a composite indicator on gender equality,
a Gender Equality Index: developed at EIGE, it is a unique measurement tool that synthesizes the complexity of gender equality as a multi-
dimensional concept into a user-friendly and easily interpretable measure.
It is formed by combining gender indicators, according to a conceptual framework, into a single summary measure.
The Index measures gender gaps that are adjusted to levels of
achievement, ensuring that gender gaps cannot be regarded positively where they point to an adverse situation for both women and men. It
assigns scores for Member States, between 1, total inequality and 100, full equality.
The Gender Equality Index consists of six core domains (work, money, knowledge, time, power and health) and two satellite domains
(intersecting inequalities and violence). Only the core domains are used in the computation the Gender Equality Index score.
The Index is computed as follows. First, achievement-adjusted gender gaps
are computed for all constituent indicators. Next, these achievement-adjusted gaps for closely related indicators are combined to obtain
subdomain scores. Then, subdomain scores are combined to obtain domain scores. Finally, the domain scores are combined to obtain the overall
Gender Equality Index score.
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Results of Gender Equality Index (2005-2012)
Referring to the EU Report on equality between women and men 2015, it’s evident that the long-term quest for equality is by no means nearing an
end. Non-negligible progress may have been made in the fields of employment and decision-making, but gender gaps in pay and pensions
show no sign of narrowing and inequalities persist in too many areas.
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Violence against women is still widespread, still has drastic consequences
and is still too often tolerated.
Legislating at European level, however, often proves difficult, and needs to be backed up with awareness-raising activities and proactive policy
measures.
4. GENDER EQUALITY AND SENIORS
Gender equality (GE) and quality of life (QoL) are rarely studied together. GE is usually studied with respect to people in reproductive age and the
number of studies aiming at investigation of the impact that GE could have on QoL of older people is scarce.
Positive ageing is defined as an ability to maintain social relationships,
cognitive efficacy, social competence, personal control, etc. Among the dimensions of QoL most frequently mentioned by senior people themselves
there are social contacts within and outside the family, happiness, etc. It should be investigated if GE can be seen as potentially contributing
to the higher QoL of senior people and if older age is a period in life when individuals may strive for achieving greater GE in order to
lead more satisfactory and healthy lives.
In 2009, the Council of the European Union adopted conclusions on Equal
opportunities for women and men: active and dignified ageing. These conclusions underline, inter alia, ‘the persistence of gender stereotypes
which, compounded by discrimination faced by older people in the labour market, particularly reduce the employment opportunities of older women.
The Council of the European Union, also in 2009, adopted conclusions on Healthy and dignified ageing, arguing that healthy and dignified ageing
must involve a gender dimension, taking into account the specific needs of both women and men.
Gender differences and inequalities are a
fundamental feature of social exclusion and poverty, especially in older age.
The relevance of gender in many aspects of the ageing society, such as differences in access to
education and health, care responsibilities, participation in the labour market, and the
impact of demographic changes on gender equality are not embodied in the current active ageing strategies. Most
policies and programmes are gender-blind. They do not explicitly target senior women but rather aim at the social inclusion of more generic
‘vulnerable groups’. Nevertheless, the demographic characteristics of the
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older population, rather than intended gender-mainstreaming, frequently
translate into a greater participation of women in such programmes.
An inclusive environment for older people offers opportunities for an active life and inter-generational contacts and represents a crucial precondition for
independent participation in social activities. The issue is very much a gendered one because women are often and increasingly over-
represented among the isolated seniors, as a consequence of rising
divorce rates and women’s longer life expectancy. Widows, and lone senior women in general, are at a high risk of poverty, isolation and
social exclusion.
5. TRAINING SENIOR VOLUNTEERS ON GENDER EQUALITY -
TOPICS
The topics referred to the module “Gender equality” were identified as the following:
Gender issues
Gender issues are a crucial topic for all societies in the
explanation of social roles and relational process within every community, as they set many of the rules for social
interaction.
Gender is an integral component of every aspect of the
economic, social, daily and private lives of individuals and societies, and of the different roles ascribed by society
Gender
issues
Intergenera-
tional dialogue
Intercultural
dialogue
Social Integration
and cohesion Volunteering
Conflicts management
and resolution
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to men and women. One of the important topics frequently mentioned in
connection to gender issues is gender equality.
Although EU member states are increasingly exposed to the impact of EU regulations in the fields of gender equality and anti-discrimination,
obstacles to real equality still remain.
Intergenerational dialogue
Intergenerational dialogue happens when we talk and
listen to people whose generation, experiences, perspectives and references are different to our own.
Dialogue cultivates learning and broadens
perspective. For centuries, intergenerational learning has been the informal vehicle within families for
systematic transfer of knowledge, skills, competences, norms and values.
For intergenerational dialogue to flow more readily there must be programmes and policies that aim at moving in concerted direction towards
an age-integrated society where intergenerational interaction is natural across the domains of family, community and the
workplace.
Intercultural dialogue
Intercultural dialogue is considered as an open
and respectful exchange of views between individuals and groups belonging to
different cultures that leads to a deeper understanding of the other’s global perception.
According to UNESCO, a global culture of human rights requires competence in holding intercultural dialogues.
Cultural diversity is an essential condition of human society. Cultural
diversity is also an economic, social and political plus, which needs to be developed and adequately managed. On the other hand, increasing cultural
diversity brings about new social and political challenges. Cultural diversity
often triggers fear and rejection. Stereotyping, racism, xenophobia, intolerance, discrimination and violence can threaten peace and the very
essence of local and national communities.
Conflicts management and resolution
A conflict is a situation when the interests, needs, goals or values of involved parties interfere with one another. Different persons may have
different priorities and, often, a conflict is a result of perception.
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Learning to deal with conflict in a positive and constructive way, without excessive stress, is
therefore an important way to improve the well-being as well as the relationships.
The conflict doesn’t need to be necessarily a bad
thing, if well-managed, the conflict can be
constructive and present new opportunities for improvement.
Gender affects and indeed permeates conflict dynamics at the societal and
individual level. Understanding the role of gender in conflict is best accomplished through an analysis of individual levels, interactional levels
and the societal level.
Every single person you know is different, and each of us interpret the world through the lens of our own diversity and experience. Although diversity of
thoughts and experiences are one of the most valuable things about diversity, it can also be one of the greatest challenges. The greater the
diversity, the greater the potential for misunderstanding and conflict.
Social integration and cohesion
Social integration is understood as a dynamic and
principled process of promoting the values, relations and institutions that enable all people to participate in
social, economic, cultural and political life on the basis of equality of rights, equity and dignity. It is
the process in which societies engage in order to foster societies that are stable, safe and just – societies that
are based on the promotion and protection of all human rights, as well as respect for and value of dignity of each individual,
diversity, pluralism, tolerance, non-discrimination, non-violence, equality of opportunity, solidarity, security, and participation of all people, including
disadvantaged and vulnerable groups and persons.
Social cohesion refers to the elements that bring and hold people together
in society. In a socially cohesive society all individuals and groups have a sense of belonging, participation, inclusion, recognition and
legitimacy. Social cohesive societies are not necessarily demographically homogenous. Rather, by respecting diversity, they harness the potential
residing in their societal diversity (in terms of ideas, opinions, skills, etc.). Therefore, they are less prone to slip into destructive patterns of tension
and conflict when different interests collide.
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Any form of diversity can always lead to a strong and dynamic society if
mutual respect and understanding is given.
Gender Equality can support social integration and social cohesion.
Volunteering
Senior Volunteers can be able to contribute
with the experience, knowledge, and wisdom accumulated during much longer lives.
Additionally, once there’s still discrimination related to gender roles, it can be interesting
to explain to younger persons how the perception of gender roles has evolved since
some decades ago. Their involvement in the community and their knowledge of the local
context and problems are key factors to develop successful social innovation projects.
Senior Volunteers can also play a “learning facilitator” role, supporting
younger volunteers throughout their learning process.
You will have the chance to learn and contribute to the development and
implementation of volunteering projects, by identifying and solving
specific problems in your local community. Your big challenge will be to become an agent of social change.
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6. PRACTICAL EXERCISE “COMMUNITY MAPPING”
Activity on intercultural dialogue
The participants learn how to interact respecting
each other’s culture, how to observe their own culture in a new way and identifying themselves
as members of the same community. This
activity is mainly focused on group-bonding through activities based on intercultural
understanding. The participants have the chance to develop reciprocal knowledge about each
other’s habits and ways of living in the same city, to develop awareness of different local realities.
Objective: Allows the learners to enhance and
transfer their own knowledge. A ‘community map’ is co-created by members of a community or group that creates a comprehensive picture of a space
as seen by those who inhabit it. The map shows what learners are interested in or concerned about, built from their local knowledge, for example: the
different markets where they buy food or the religious places they attend.
It is a way of encouraging and empowering communities to take
action for themselves; it enables the community to establish for itself what problems it faces referring to the life of different cultural
groups, and to begin to look for and implement solutions.
Time: 3 hours
Participants: 10-15 (form different cultural groups)
Materials: Flipchart, coloured pens, cards, post its
Instructions: The mapping facilitator has “staked out” several small, appropriate areas to walk through that might yield rich results. Participants
then visit one of those “staked-out” areas of the target community and talk to people on the streets and in community businesses and resource centres
about their experiences and history in the community. They also collect
appropriate artefacts and take pictures.
If the group is large enough it should be divided into groups of three or four, and each group then visits a different area of the target community.
There are roles and responsibilities for each group member (see table) and objectives to accomplish, but every group member is responsible for
observing, talking, and questioning people and deciding where to visit and what is important.
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Rules Responsibilities Materials
Scout Hands out materials, tells everyone what to
do, keeps group on task, guides group using
highlighted map
Initially has all materials
to hand out, has map
and clipboard to guide
group
Mapper Keeps track of all places visited, draws draft
map later used in presentation
Paper for making new
map, clipboard
Tabulator Uses surveys to tabulate housing, businesses,
etc.
Survey, clipboard
Note – takers Takes observational notes of people and
places, keeps track of photos
Clipboard, note paper,
photo record sheet
Photographer Takes 8-10 significant photos, tells note-taker
number of photo, location, and importance
Digital camera
Collector Collects artefacts that exemplify community
(flyers, brochures, business cards, etc.), tells
note-taker what is collected, where, and
importance
Bag for collection
Rubber Looks for historical or significant markers —
cornerstones, information on statuary or
building—to make a rubbing from, aids
tabulator in counting
Chart paper and crayons
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7. PRACTICAL EXERCISE “SEX VS GENDER”
Activity on gender issues
The participants will understand how
characteristics that usually are attributed to men or women, can, in
fact, be referred to each and both of
them.
Objectives: To explore the concepts of gender and sex, the differences
between them, and how easily stereotypes, prejudices and
discrimination can arise.
Time: 30 minutes
Participants: Ideally a group between 5 and 15.
Materials: A board or flipchart.
Instructions: The facilitator draws in the board/flipchart an image of a
man/boy and a woman/girl. Then, asks participants to say characteristics of men/boys and women/girls, both physical and psychological
characteristics, and write it under the images. After every participant contributes with some characteristics of men/boys
and women/girls, facilitator changes the loop. The male draw becomes the female draw and vice-versa. At this step, the Facilitator promotes and
moderates the discussion about the supposed male and female characteristics, discuss if men/boys can have female characteristics and
vice-versa. At the end, the only characteristics that can’t be changed are those related
to reproductive function. The facilitator finishes the activity clarifying the meanings of the concepts
of gender and sex and the social construction around their meaning.
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8. CASE STUDY “ComeON!”
An experience on intergenerational dialogue…
The ComeON! project built on the potential of new forms of volunteering to
promote active citizenship of both elderly and young people.
The project strived to create new opportunities for personal and social
growth for young and elderly volunteers, supporting them as they set up intergenerational initiatives geared to providing novel solutions to
community needs.
The learning materials developed within the project were focused on Intergenerational learning: different age groups learning together
or learning from each other in a range of different settings. Its central aim is to stimulate the creation, learning and realization of
learning and of intergenerational teams (i.e., teams of young and older people) working on projects for the improvement of the community
(i.e., social innovations).
ComeON!’s innovative intergenerational training course also offers an exciting opportunity to learn and experience how physical and virtual
means and activities can be blended to create novel ways to bring
about social innovation at the community level.
The first part of the course, “Project Ideation & Design” (from Unit 0 to Unit 4), is composed of learning activities and games oriented to
socialization, discussion, reflection, team-building and team-working. The first challenge of the ComeON! course is the creation of the
intergenerational teams of young and senior volunteers
The second part of the course, “Project Implementation”, is focused on the implementation of the social innovation projects into the community
(e.g., school, neighbourhood, urban spaces/parks, etc.). The cooperation and the exchange of experiences between young and seniors will certainly
enrich the quality of the projects as different perspectives and experiences of the same problems come together. The main objective is to improve the
local communities with micro-projects that will be developed not only
physically but, also, virtually
Further information at http://www.comeon-project.eu/
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9. CASE STUDY “ALCE”
An experience on intercultural dialogue…
The project "ALCE - Appetite for learning comes with eating" responds to
the need of tackling gender discrimination through a learning process that helps women to become aware of their skills. The choice
of exchanging culinary traditions and cooking encouraged the
women to look at their role of mother and wife in a different way from the traditional one; cooking is not only a duty that is often
addressed to women, but a concrete skill in itself and a mean for entrepreneurship.
The key activities in the project were:
1) Knowledge Transmission
Knowledge transmission is considered to be the activity in which knowledge (e.g. skills, information and expertise) is shared among friends,
acquaintances, and members of a family, community or organisation. It often consists in oral transmission that happens in informal contexts. This
activity responds to the need of the ALCE project for safeguarding culinary traditions and curative methods and the heritage of native and migrant
communities.
It stimulated learners to share their knowledge about traditional cooking, natural remedies and personal stories related to family, childhood events
and other important stories. In this way they had opportunity to share, listen and discuss about intangible heritage and learn about other cultures
and traditions.
2) Ideation of the Book Participants from each partner country actively contribute to the ideation
and creation of a book collecting recipes and natural cures. Learners are required to contribute as much as possible in the collection of
recipes and curative remedies, in the design and research related to the book and during this creative process will exchange with other project
participants on the subject.
Further information at http://www.appetiteforlearning.eu/
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10. WEBLIOGRAPHY
• http://ec.europa.eu/justice/gender-equality/
• http://ec.europa.eu/justice/gender-equality/files/annual_reports/2016_annual_report_2015_web_en.pdf
• http://ec.europa.eu/justice/gender-equality/files/active_ageing_final_report_en.pdf
• http://eige.europa.eu/rdc/eige-publications/gender-equality-index-
2015-measuring-gender-equality-european-union-2005-2012-report • http://wikieducator.org/Gender_issues_in_education
• http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/intercultural/concept_EN.asp • http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001847/184755e.pdf
• http://pjp-eu.coe.int/en/web/youth-partnership/t-kit-4-intercultural-learning?inheritRedirect=true
• http://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/conflict-resolution.html • http://www.mediate.com/articles/birkhoff.cfm
• http://www.wfm.noaa.gov/workplace/ConflictResolution_Handout_3.pdf • http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/egms/docs/2009/Ghana/inclusive-
society.pdf • http://www.ncset.org/publications/researchtopractice/NCSETResearchB
rief_4.1.pdf • http://www.bcca.coop/sites/bcca.coop/files/u2/02_Games.pdf
• http://www.appetiteforlearning.eu/
• http://www.comeon-project.eu/
