Content area
Full Text
This is the fifth in a Series of five papers about gender equality, norms, and health
IntroductionNow is a politically challenging time. The progressive agenda that demands gender equality for girls and women and gender norms that promote health and wellbeing for all, including gender minorities, is highly visible. Grassroots movements, fuelled and democratised by social media, have heightened the prominence of these issues globally. Examples include ending sexual harassment in the workplace (#MeToo, #TimesUp); shining a spotlight on violence against women (#Nirbhaya in India and #NiUnaMenos in South America) and gender-related pay gaps (#EqualPay); advocating against toxic masculinities that underlie male violence (#MenEngage); and promoting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) justice (#hrc, #WhereLoveIsIllegal).1–8
Simultaneously, a backlash is growing against this progressive agenda. Conservative voices continue to use arguments, often couched in cultural, economic, or religious terms, to justify discrimination against women and gender minorities, while upholding the traditional foundations of male privilege.9,10 Co-opting the term gender, powerful forces are pushing against hard-fought gains in human rights and health by rallying against the so-called threat of gender ideology, a term created to indict a range of progressive views, such as LGBTQ rights, access to comprehensive sexuality education, and accommodation of diverse family forms.9,11–15
In the struggle for gender equality, this tension between progressive and conservative forces is well known. Gains made by women's movements in the 1970s—resulting in the establishment of the UN's Decade for Women (1975–85) and policy commitments made in UN conferences in the 1990s—have been contested repeatedly.16 Yet, some progress has been achieved. The World Conference on Human Rights in 1993 defined violence against women as a human rights and public health issue.17 The 1994 International Conference on Population and Development emphasised women's empowerment and reproductive rights.18 The 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women achieved global endorsement of a Platform for Action embracing women's rights in education, health, the economy, political participation, and beyond.19 These conferences underscored the systemic gender inequality that undermines the health of girls and women.20
In 2005, WHO's Commission on Social Determinants of Health gave further impetus to the considerable role that gender, among other social determinants, plays in determining health risks.21 The Commission reinforced...