community heath nursing Gender inequality refers to unequal treatment or perceptions of individuals based on their gender. It arises from differences in socially constructed gender roles. Gender equality, also known as sex equality, sexual equality, or equality of the genders, is the view that everyone should receive equal treatment and not be discriminated against based on their gender.

1. P R E PA R E D B Y J E N I S H A A D H I K A R I
B S N
C O M M U N I T Y H E A LT H N U R S I N G
Gender Issues

2. Meaning
 Gender- the characteristics that a society or culture
delineates as masculine or feminine
gender role as a 'man' or a 'woman' in society
can be quite different cross culturally.

3.  Sex - either of the two main categories (male and
female) into which humans and most other living
things are divided on the basis of their reproductive
functions.

4.  Issue - an important topic or problem for debate or
discussion

5. Gender issue
 Gender inequality refers to unequal treatment or
perceptions of individuals based on their gender. It
arises from differences in socially constructed
gender roles.
 Gender equality, also known as sex equality,
sexual equality, or equality of the genders, is the view
that everyone should receive equal treatment and not
be discriminated against based on their gender.

6.  Gender issue is not same as women’s issue….
Understanding gender mean understanding the
behavior, opportunities and constraint that affect
both men as well as women.

7. Equity and Bias

8.  Equality- the state of being equal, especially in
status, rights, or opportunities.
 Equity - the quality of being fair and impartial.
 Bias- inclination or prejudice for or against one
person or group, especially in a way considered to be
unfair.

9. Know the difference

10.  Equity and equality are two strategies we can use
in an effort to produce fairness. Equity is giving
everyone what they need to be successful. Equality
is treating everyone the same. Equality aims to
promote fairness, but it can only work if everyone
starts from the same place and needs the same help

11.  Gender equality means equal treatment of women
and men in law and policies and equal access to
resource and service within families, communities
and society at large.
 Gender equity means fairness and justice in the
distribution of benefits and responsibilities between
women and men ,

12.  “Gender equity is the process of being fair to women
and men. ”
- UNFPA
(United Nation Population Fund )

13.  In contrast to gender equality, gender equity refers
to the process of allocating resources based on the
particular requirements of a gender.
 For example, instead of making sure males and
females each receives 50 percent of the facilities of a
sports center, gender equity means that each gender
receives the right proportion and types of facilities
according to their interests, capacities and
experiences.

14.  While gender equality focuses on providing the
same starting circumstances for everyone, the goal
of gender equity is to provide both genders with the
same end results. In most cases, the concept of
gender equality is used in correlation with the
empowerment of women, whereas gender equity
refers to the process of treating both men and
women with the same amount of fairness when it
comes to the equality of chances based on
individual needs.

15. Gender violence

16. Gender violence
Meaning
Violence - behavior involving physical force intended
to hurt, damage, or kill someone or something.

17.  “Any act of gender-based violence that results in or is
likely to result in physical, sexual, or psychological
harm or suffering to women, including threats of such
acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty,
whether occurring in public or private life."

19.  The nature and extent of specific types of GBV vary
across cultures, countries and religions. Examples
include rape, sexual exploitation and forced
prostitution; domestic violence; trafficking ; forced
or early marriage; and harmful traditional practices,
such as female genital mutilation and honor killing.

20. Magnitude of the problem( worldwide)
 Violence against women and girls is one of the
most widespread violations of human rights.
 Every year, about 5,000 women are murdered by
family members in the name of honor year
worldwide
 Worldwide 2 million girls of age 5- 15 years are
introduced into commercial sex market
 Worldwide, one out of 5 pregnant women are
abuse.

22.  Women’s are not dying because of the disease we
cannot treat, they are dying because society have yet
to make a decision that their life are worth saving.
- Dr. Mohammod Fatahalla

23. Magnitude of problem ( Nepal 2011)
 22% of women age between 15- 49 have experienced
physical violence at least once.
 2 out of 5 experienced spousal violence( physically or
sexually) and had physical injuries.
 The experience of violence during pregnancy decline
with education from 8% among women with no
education to 2 % among women with an SLC or
higher education.

24.  Women in Nepal barely seek for assistance from any
source for violence they have experienced. Nearly 2
out of 3 have never told anyone about it.
 Women who are divorced, separated, or widowed are
more likely to report experiencing violence during
pregnancy (10%) than women who are currently
married (6%)

25. Gender discrimination throughout a woman’s life
Phase Type
prenatal Prenatal sex selection, female fetocide, battering during
pregnancy, coerced pregnancy
Infancy infanticide, emotional and physical abuse, differential
access or deprive to food, nutrition and medical care
childhood Genital mutilation, incest and sexual abuse; child
prostitution
differential access or deprive to food, nutrition and
medical care
Adolescence Dating violence, sexual abuse in work place, forced
prostitution , rape, sexual harassment, forced pregnancy,
trafficking, forced abortion, early marriage
Reproductive Abuse by intimate partner, marital rape, dowry abuse
and murders, partner homicide, psychological abuse,
sexual harassment, forced pregnancy, trafficking, forced
abortion, bigamy, polygamy,
Old age Abuse of widows, elder abuse (

26. Types of violence against women
A. Domestic violence
B. Sexual violence
C. Human trafficking and forced prostitution
D. Others
 Honor killings
 Dowry violence
 Acid throwing
 Forced marriage
 Stalking
 Mistreatment of widows
 Accusations of witchcraft

27. Domestic violence
It is defined as the physical or mental torture given by
a member of the family to another member of the
same family.
It is the most common form of gender based violence.

28. Types of domestic violence
 Physical abuse- causing physical pain. Includes
slapping beating, arm- twisting, stabbing, strangling,
burning, kicking and threats with weapon, murder,
traditional harmful practice like genital mutilation
and widowhood abuse.
 Sexual abuse- forced to fulfilling sexual desire of
men. Includes rape, coerced sex through threats,
unwanted sexual act, incest, marital rape, forced
prostitution.

30.  Psychological abuse – include threatening behavior,
harassment, threats of abandonment, confinement,
verbal abuse and other mental torture
 Emotional abuse – public embarrassment,
humiliation, fear, shame, isolation
 Economic abuse- denial funds, exploitation
controlling access to healthcare, food, basic
necessities

31. Sexual violence
 Sexual violence is defined as a sexual act
committed against someone without that person's
freely given consent.
 It could be done by acquaintances or strangers
 Sexual violence is divided into the following types:
Completed or attempted forced penetration of a
victim.

32.  It includes-
 Sexual exploitation and abuse
Sexual exploitation is the sexual abuse of
children and youth through the exchange of sex
or sexual acts for drugs, food, shelter, protection,
other basics of life, and/or money. Sexual
exploitation includes involving children and youth
in creating pornography and sexually explicit
websites. incest, child abuse, pornography

33.  Sexual harassment; sexual assault
the making of unwanted sexual advances or obscene
remarks.
 Rape / attempted rape:
Rape is the unlawful sexual activity and usually sexual
intercourse carried out forcibly or under threat
Rape attempted may include
Rape of adult female
Rape of minor
Gang rape
Marital rape

34. Trafficking
Trafficking is a crime against the person because of
the violation of the victim's rights of movement
through –
 coercion ,
 of abduction,
 of fraud,
 of abuse of power or of position for the purpose of
exploitation.

35. Other violence
 Honor killings
 Dowry violence
 Acid throwing
 Forced marriage
 Stalking
 Mistreatment of widows
 Accusations of witchcraft

37. Consequences of violence
 Health effects of domestic and sexual abuse or
violence.
 Social and economic cost
 Added cost
 Effect on productivity and empowerment

38.  Health effects of domestic and sexual abuse or violence
 Non- fatal outcome
1. Physical health : injuries, functional impairment,
physical symptoms, poor subjective health,
permanent disability, handicapped
2. Chronic condition: irritable bowel syndrome,
gastrointestinal disorder, somatic complain
3. Negative health behavior- smoking, alcohol, drug
abuse, over eating
4. Mental health- Post- traumatic stress disorder( PSTD
), depression, anxiety, phobia, sleep difficulties,
eating disorder, low self- esteem

39. 5. Reproductive – unwanted pregnancy, STDs,
gynecological disorder, unsafe abortion, pregnancy
complication, pelvic inflammatory disorder
 Fatal outcome: homicide, suicide, maternal
mortality, AIDs related death, female, infanticide

40. 2. Social and economic costs
the social and economic costs of violence against
women are enormous.
Women may suffer isolation, inability to work, loss of
wages due to losses of women’s earning potential,
lack of participation in regular activities and limited
ability to care for themselves and their children,
decrease quality of life in family and community and
low self- esstem

41. 3. Added cost
Include the cost of treatment, therapy , court and legal
services

42. 4.Effect on productivity and employment:
Girls who are victims of sexual abuse at school by their
male teacher are likely to be depressed and stay away
from school. Elsewhere, parents who are fear that
their daughter will be sexually assaulted, may keep
them at home until they are safely married
 The consequences in every case, is a cutting of
education, a decreased chance of securing gainful
employment, quality of life and reduce contribution
to community as well as nation

43. Gender Discrimination

44. Meaning
 Discrimination- the unjust or prejudicial treatment
of different categories of people, especially on the
grounds of race, age, or sex.

45.  Gender discrimination is the unfair treatment of
a person because of gender. Gender
discrimination affects both men and women. It is
apparent in work situations where one gender is
given preferential treatment or one gender receives
less pay or job responsibilities because of gender
bias and unfair stereotypes.

46.  The existing society has been such that no girl or
woman dares to go out in the evening. Even in broad
day light rapes, murders and eve teasing’s are
rampant.
 Under social circumstances, a son is considered a
necessity while a daughter is considered a liability or
burden.

47.  Society teaches the girls from the very beginning to
speak slowly, do not laugh loudly, tolerate
the torture of others, accept injustice, obey,
sacrifice and cooperate, don’t assert, don’t
argue and don’t violet man’s orders.
 These are the characteristics of a good woman as per
the social norms.

48. Cause of Gender Discrimination
 The causes of gender discrimination may be
as follows:
(1) Prejudice.
(2) Biological.
(3) Socio-cultural.
(4) Economic.
(5) Educational.
(6) Personal and Psychological.
(7) Adherance to traditional gender roles.

49. Prejudice.
 Men are so much biased against the qualities of a
woman that when a woman works excellently, men
say ‘she is a man’.
 Prejudices indicate unfounded and unscientific
judgement. It is wrong to discriminate all women on
the behaviour of one woman.

50. Biological
 biological differences between man and woman play
a minor role in creating gender discrimination
 But women are considered as only birth giver
 Today women are taking part in athletics and sports
like cricket, hockey, football, volley-ball which were
once considered the monopoly of males. But the
percentage of women taking part in such games is
quite small. It is hoped that if women are encouraged
by family, society and government they can prove
that they are also physically stronger like men.

51. Socio-cultural.
 people are no more interested in a girl child and are
engaged in the abortion of the unborn female fetus,
parents and in laws feel sorry when a girl is born
because they considered A female child in our
society is not wanted because she is considered by
her parents as flower of someone else’s garden.
 Parents don’t bother to pay for education and her
basic needs, thinking her existence is their loss
because they have to give away dowry

52. Economic Causes
 Around the globe in almost all societies women
were/are economically dependent on men. Since
they had no education and expertise to do jobs
outside and since men did not allow those who were
suitable for jobs, women were financially weak. They
were only engaged in domestic work for which they
were never paid. One psychologist called
women “unpaid maid servants”.

53. Educational Causes
 Empowerment of women is possible through education
in the first place. In order to make women self-sufficient
and reduce gender discrimination women should be
educated. Empowerment of women means improvement
in their political status, financial position, occupational
status and legal awareness etc., which can be achieved
through education.
 Experience and observation shows that in general the
status of women to-day is very low, they are
discriminated because of want of education. Education is
considered to be the most significant agent of basic
change in the status of women including economic and
occupational status.

54. How to prevent GBV and GD
 All individual men, women, buys and girls are
accountable for practicing zero- tolerance of all form
of gender- based violence in home community
 Within household, ensuring that women and girls
have equal access to information, education and
participation in decision making

55.  Social- economic and legal right to children and
women or right to participate should be ensured in
all issue concerning them.
 Shelter, counseling service and legal aid are required
in communities for women.
 Legal law enforcement system , including polices and
security and armed forces must come to such a
women aid

56.  Health care workers can be informed about violence
against women and how to identify and treat sign of
gender based violence. Eg – bruise, fracture, internal
bleeding, malnourishment
 Empowering and mobilizing local civil society group
to influence the local government

57.  Since of the main cause of violence is illiteracy,
primary education should be meaningful and
productive
 Awareness should be increased in legal and human
right of children and women.
 Caste and gender discrimination should be ended
and equal pay for equal amount of work should be
applied

58.  Minimum age of marriage should be set at 20 year and
implementation and enforcement should be
approached in a more sustained manner and directed
toward the market demand
 Poverty and lack of employment opportunities are the
major contributing factors of violence thus economic
and employ opportunities, income- generating activities
should be provided to all women according to their
capacity.
 Only heavy fines and previous legal punishment to the
perpetrator and exploiters is not sufficient to prevent
the violence so legal punishment should be strong to
them

60. Meaning
 Mainstream - the ideas, attitudes, or activities that
are shared by most people and regarded as normal or
conventional.

61. Gender mainstreaming
 Gender mainstreaming is the public policy
concept of assessing the different implications for
women and men of any planned policy action,
including legislation and programmes, in all areas
and levels.
 Mainstreaming essentially offers a pluralistic
approach that values the diversity among both men
and women.

62.  It is the process of assessing the implication for
women and men of any planned action, including
legislation, policies or programs in all area and at all
levels.
 It is a strategy for making women’s as well as men’s
concerns and experiences an integral dimension of
the design, implementation, monitoring and
evaluation of policies and programs in all political,
economical and societal spheres so that women and
men benefit equally and inequality is not
perpetuated.

63. Requirement and principles of Gender
mainstreaming
 Broad concept of gender equality
 Incorporation of gender perspective into the
mainstream of political agenda
 Inclusion and participation of women in decision
making
 Prioritizing gender equality objectives and framing
policies of relevance of women

64. Transformation by mainstreaming
 Mainstreaming is not about adding a “woman’s
component” or even a “gender equality component”
into a existing activity.
 It goes beyond increasing women’s participation ; it
means bringing the experience, knowledge and
interests of women and men to bear on the
developmental agenda.

65. Roles and responsibilities of nurse in gender
issue
According to the International Council of Nurse (ICN)
code of ethics for nurses the nurse is expected to
provide care for all patient with respect for his/ her
human dignity and uniqueness as an individual
regardless of rave, creed, gender, socio-
economic status, or the nature of illness.

66.  The nurse is responsible for safeguarding the
patient’s right to privacy by honoring the
confidentiality of information related to the patient.
Because gender based violence is sustained by
silence, women’s voice must be heard. Nurse
should puts every effort into enabling women
to speak out against gender- based violence,
and to get help when they are victims of it
and also commit to keeping gender- bases
violence in the spotlight as a major health
and human right concern.

67.  Nurse should advocate for legislative reform and
enforcement of laws for the promotion and the
protection of women’ s right to reproductive health
choices and informed consent, including promotion
of women’s awareness of laws, regulations and
policies that affect their rights and responsibilities in
family life.

68.  Nurse should promote zero tolerance of all forms of
violence against women and works for the
eradication of traditional practices that are harmful
to women’s reproductive and sexual health, such as
rituals associated with puberty.

69.  Attention has been paid to involving communities
and to creating support network for gender- based
violence victims that include both police and health
care provider, along with counseling service

70.  Nurse also can held workshops for health providers
on recognizing the effects of gender- based violence
on women’s health, and on how to detect and
prevent abuse and assist victims.

71.  Nurse also can help to ensure emergency
contraception is available for victim for victims of
sexual violence
 Nurse can strengthening advocacy on gender- based
violence in all country programmes, in conjunction
with other different NGOs and INGOs.

72.  Integrating message on the prevention of gender-
based violence into information, education and
communication projects.
 Conducting more research on gender- based violence