Jhpiego's Approach to Gender
- Jhpiego addresses gender-based violence (GBV) by strengthening GBV services and engaging communities to prevent violence, decrease survivor stigma, raise awareness about services and increase access to care.
- To promote gender equity in the workforce, Jhpiego works to empower female health workers to overcome gender discrimination in the workplace and educational settings to deliver high-quality health care.
- Jhpiego actively promotes partnerships for healthy decision-making among couples in sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health services.
- Jhpiego works with health providers and facilities to ensure equal access to gender-sensitive, respectful health care for clients of any gender, ensuring accessibility, privacy and non-discriminatory provider-client interaction.
- To empower women and girls to make decisions about their bodies and their families, Jhpiego works to mitigate inequalities that act as barriers to health and well-being.
“Gender” refers to the economic, social, political and cultural attributes and opportunities associated with being women and men. The social definitions of what it means to be a woman or a man vary among cultures and change over time. Gender is a sociocultural expression of particular characteristics and roles that are associated with certain groups of people with reference to their sex and sexuality.
The Challenge
Harmful gender norms inhibit women and girls, men and boys from accessing health information and services. Gender inequality impacts the use of contraceptive methods and women’s ability to decide if, when and how often to become pregnant; the ability to deliver safely in a health care facility or with a skilled birth attendant; and the ability to take a child to a health facility. Health services often exclude men, unmarried clients, adolescents and LGBTI clients, and some providers practice gender discrimination and mistreatment in care. Survivors of gender-based violence lack access to timely care, particularly HIV and pregnancy prevention, as well as empathetic counseling and referrals.
