Gender refers to the characteristics of women, men, girls and boys that are socially constructed. This includes norms, behaviours and roles associated with being a woman, man, girl or boy, as well as relationships with each other. As a social construct, gender varies from society to society and can change over time. Show
Gender is hierarchical and produces inequalities that intersect with other social and economic inequalities. Gender-based discrimination intersects with other factors of discrimination, such as ethnicity, socioeconomic status, disability, age, geographic location, gender identity and sexual orientation, among others. This is referred to as intersectionality. Gender interacts with but is different from sex, which refers to the different biological and physiological characteristics of females, males and intersex persons, such as chromosomes, hormones and reproductive organs. Gender and sex are related to but different from gender identity. Gender identity refers to a person’s deeply felt, internal and individual experience of gender, which may or may not correspond to the person’s physiology or designated sex at birth. Gender influences people’s experience of and access to healthcare. The way that health services are organized and provided can either limit or enable a person’s access to healthcare information, support and services, and the outcome of those encounters. Health services should be affordable, accessible and acceptable to all, and they should be provided with quality, equity and dignity. Gender inequality and discrimination faced by women and girls puts their health and well-being at risk. Women and girls often face greater barriers than men and boys to accessing health information and services. These barriers include restrictions on mobility; lack of access to decision-making power; lower literacy rates; discriminatory attitudes of communities and healthcare providers; and lack of training and awareness amongst healthcare providers and health systems of the specific health needs and challenges of women and girls. Consequently, women and girls face greater risks of unintended pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections including HIV, cervical cancer, malnutrition, lower vision, respiratory infections, malnutrition and elder abuse, amongst others. Women and girls also face unacceptably high levels of violence rooted in gender inequality and are at grave risk of harmful practices such as female genital mutilation, and child, early and forced marriage. WHO figures show that about 1 in 3 women worldwide have experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime. Harmful gender norms – especially those related to rigid notions of masculinity – can also affect boys and men’s health and wellbeing negatively. For example, specific notions of masculinity may encourage boys and men to smoke, take sexual and other health risks, misuse alcohol and not seek help or health care. Such gender norms also contribute to boys and men perpetrating violence – as well as being subjected to violence themselves. They can also have grave implications for their mental health. Rigid gender norms also negatively affect people with diverse gender identities, who often face violence, stigma and discrimination as a result, including in healthcare settings. Consequently, they are at higher risk of HIV and mental health problems, including suicide. The work of WHO is aligned with and supports the advancement of the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages, and SDG 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. The Organization is committed to non-discrimination and to leaving no-one behind. It seeks to ensure that every person, regardless of gender or sex, can live a healthy life. Gender inequality hinders progress to fulfill everyone’s right to health. Efforts in support of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) must focus on reaching those most often left behind, such as marginalized, stigmatized and geographically isolated people of all sexes and gender identities, with a special focus on those in situations of increased vulnerability, including poor people, persons with disabilities and racialized and indigenous peoples. Addressing discrimination against women and girls is critical to achieving UHC. WHO develops norms, standards and guidelines on gender-responsive health service provision and delivery, and commissions research on issues focusing on gender equality, human rights and health equity. WHO also supports country-level action to strengthen health sector response to gender-based violence, as well as to address gender equality in health workforce development and gender-related barriers to health services. Community Eye Health. 2003; 16(45): 1–2. Monitoring Editor: Sir John Wall, CBE Sir John Wall, Royal National Institute for the Blind, 105 Judd Street, Kings Cross, London, WC1H 9NE, UK; I am now aged 72. In my lifetime, the attitude of the general public in the United Kingdom towards disabled people, and their
rights, has undergone a radical change. This has meant that it has been possible for lawmakers to confer a large collection of ‘rights’ on blind (and other disabled) people. At the age of eight, I joined the disability movement when glaucoma finally resulted in my becoming totally blind. I moved easily from a sighted elementary school into a residential special school for the blind. From there, my transition to Oxford University was far from easy – a major and challenging culture
shock. I previously had little contact with my sighted fellows. Academic demands and the need to acquire social graces made life hard. But I survived; took my degree safely; and became a solicitor. I got a well-paid job; married; have four sons; was widowed; and was appointed a deputy Chancery Master (the first blind person in modern times to be appointed to judicial office). By courtesy of my work colleagues, all the while I had spent some of my time and energy working for various blind
charities on a voluntary basis. That is where I come from. The rights of blind people? It is tempting to reply, no different from those of the sighted. We want a happy childhood; a good education (but should we be set apart or in the mainstream?); a satisfying job; a fulfilling family life; enjoyable leisure and social activities, and the chance to take a full part in public life. We want respect; esteem;
affection (if we deserve it); but above all recognition that we are citizens with full civil and human rights. Blind pupils in Uganda listen to their blind teacher Photo: Sue Stevens PrejudicePrejudice (intolerance or discrimination against a person or group) leads people to think that a blind person will always be less effective than his sighted counterpart. In those circumstances, a blind person must have ‘luck’ (not rights) to find an employer who will decide that they ‘will take a chance’. ‘Prejudice, not being founded on reason, cannot be removed by argument’ (Dr Samuel Johnson). We must, of course, accept that there are certain activities that we cannot undertake – those for which sight is essential. We cannot carry out surgical operations; or drive a car! Change During My LifetimeThe 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights mentions disability only once (Article 25). There was what one might call ‘institutionalised prejudice’ against blind people in the workplace. But, in the United Kingdom, things are different now. There have been two interrelated factors which have led to blind peoples' rights becoming both recognised and enforceable in some countries.
The Blind, Discrimination and the LawConsider legislation in the United Kingdom. We have the Disability Discrimination Act, 1995. Discrimination on the ground of disability is not acceptable in law, in certain fields of activity. Discrimination is defined as treating a person less favourably because of his or her disability. Since 1997, in the fifteen member states of the European Union, we have Article 13 of the consolidated treaty. This directs European Union institutions to introduce measures against discrimination based on disability. Last year saw the introduction of a directive on discrimination in employment. The United Nations is planning ‘a comprehensive and integral international convention on the protection and promotion of the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities’. This is likely to be slow-moving. However, since 1993, we have had the (not legally binding) United Nations standard rules for the equalisation of opportunities for persons with disabilities, which have had some effect on state legislation. In 1992, disability living allowance was introduced, reflecting the fact that blind people need compensation to enable them to meet the cost of increased daily living expenses. Other forms of statutory support have given blind people rights to a decent standard of living. The Blind and TechnologyThe second half of the twentieth century saw dramatic advances in many areas of technology. First, the tape recorder; then the extraordinary progress of television. And finally, computers, with information and communication technology. Tape recorders made it much easier for blind workers to carry out clerical and administrative tasks. If they proved they could do a job as speedily and efficiently as ‘the next man’, they had a right to be employed. Access to television, as a leisure interest, enabled blind people to enjoy a mainstream activity. We have established the need for audio description of television programmes – a commentary using the natural gaps in speech to explain what is happening on the screen. The Broadcasting Act, 1996, recognised this need, and it lays down targets which broadcasters must meet – thus, giving a right to blind persons. But we are, just now, in the frustrating situation that, although we have that right, we cannot exercise it because the necessary receiving equipment is not available. Above all, computers were made accessible to blind people who quickly became programmers, analysts and trainers. But even more, a blind professional could use a computer with voice synthesis or a Braille display to access all the information available to a sighted colleague. All this sounds miraculous, and compared with twenty-five years ago, it is. But nothing moves faster than technology, and we have to run in order to stand still. For example, we have achieved an agreement that websites should be accessible to blind people, by always having text as an alternative to graphics. But these rights are not easy to enforce. We must always be watching. Helping the Blind and Visually ImpairedThe individual articles in this Issue of the Journal of Community Eye Health reflect a wide variety of personal experience and support for the blind and visually impaired. Sir John Wall writes of his own experience in a European country (UK) and the changes for good, with frustrations also, that he has experienced. Solomon Mekonnen movingly recounts his early years in a developing country (Ethiopia) and, with the support he received in his childhood, achieving so much both personally and in his academic life. From his experience in Tanzania, Geert Vanneste brings to us the practical needs and means of providing support and help for the newly blind, while Sue Stevens shares the essential courtesies and assistance for blind and visually impaired people. This spectrum of experience, needs, support and care will surely encourage those who have the privilege of sight (and those who do not), to realise the huge potential that exists in each boy, girl, man and woman, who is blind or visually impaired – to enjoy and be blessed with a real sense of worth, respect and fulfilment in every aspect of life. D D Murray McGavin Editor Articles from Community Eye Health are provided here courtesy of International Centre for Eye Health What is it called when you treat someone differently because of their gender?Sex discrimination is when you are treated unfairly either because you are a man or because you are a woman. If sex discrimination takes place in any of the following situations it is illegal and you may be able to take action about it: employment and training.
What are the 3 types of discrimination?Race, Color, and Sex
For example, this Act prohibits discrimination against an Asian individual because of physical characteristics such as facial features or height. Color discrimination occurs when persons are treated differently than others because of their skin pigmentation.
What does the term discrimination mean?Discrimination means treating a person unfairly because of who they are or because they possess certain characteristics. If you have been treated differently from other people only because of who you are or because you possess certain characteristics, you may have been discriminated against.
What is discriminatory behavior?The differential treatment of an individual or group of people based on their race, color, national origin, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), age, marital and parental status, disability, sexual orientation, or genetic information.
|
