Gender-sensitivity: a training manual for

sensitizing education managers,

curriculum and material developers and
media professionals to gender concerns

This Manual embodies the rich experience gained from UNESCO workshops in Asia and the Pacific,
sub-Saharan Africa and the Arab States. Designed to be a road map for conducting trainings of a
similar nature, it is a product of UNESCO efforts during the last twelve years to increase awareness of
gender issues, suggest guidelines for a gender-sensitive approach to education, and promote respect
for the equally valid roles that men and women play in their families, their communities and their
nations.
Sexism exists in women as well as in men; it has no respect for individual aspirations, potential or abilities. In
obvious and subtle ways, it influences the outcomes of a myriad of life situations the world over.
The concept of gender sensitivity has been developed as a way to reduce barriers to personal and economic
development created by sexism. Gender sensitivity helps to generate respect for the individual regardless of
sex.
Gender sensitivity is not about pitting women against men. On the contrary, education that is gender sensitive
benefits members of both sexes. It helps them determine which assumptions in matters of gender are valid and
which are stereotyped generalizations. Gender awareness requires not only intellectual effort but also
sensitivity and open-mindedness. It opens up the widest possible range of life options for both women and
men. As universally recognized at the World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995, countries will neither
prosper nor thrive unless they are equally supportive of women and men in their quest for a fulfilling life.
This Manual is about changing behaviour and instilling empathy into the views that we hold about our own and
the other sex. It is a lesson in being alive, in relating successfully to others. It can be used for the orientation of
policy-makers, curriculum developers, media professionals, adult learners and even the public at large.
 Gender Equality
Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal
ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic
participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing different behaviors, aspirations and
needs equally, regardless of gender.
To avoid complication, other genders (besides women and men) will not be treated in this gender
equality article.
Gender equality is the goal, while gender neutrality and gender equity are practices and ways of
thinking that help in achieving the goal. Gender parity, which is used to measure gender balance in a
given situation, can aid in achieving gender equality but is not the goal in and of itself. Gender
equality is more than equal representation, it is strongly tied to women's rights, and often requires
policy changes. As of 2017, the global movement for gender equality has not incorporated the
proposition of genders besides women and men, or gender identities outside of the gender binary.
UNICEF says gender equality "means that women and men, and girls and boys, enjoy the same
rights, resources, opportunities and protections. It does not require that girls and boys, or women
and men, be the same, or that they be treated exactly alike."[1]
On a global scale, achieving gender equality also requires eliminating harmful practices against
women and girls, including sex trafficking, femicide, wartime sexual violence, and other oppression
tactics. UNFPA stated that, "despite many international agreements affirming their human rights,
women are still much more likely than men to be poor and illiterate. They have less access to
property ownership, credit, training and employment. They are far less likely than men to be
politically active and far more likely to be victims of domestic violence."[2]
As of 2017, gender equality is the fifth of seventeen sustainable development goals of the United
Nations. Gender inequality is measured annually by the United Nations Development
Programme's Human Development Reports.

A gender role, also known as a sex role,[1] is a social role encompassing a range of behaviors and
attitudes that are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for people based on
their actual or perceived sex.[2][3] Gender roles are usually centered on conceptions
of femininity and masculinity,[2] although there are exceptions and variations. The specifics regarding
these gendered expectations may vary substantially among cultures, while other characteristics may
be common throughout a range of cultures. There is ongoing debate as to what extent gender roles
and their variations are biologically determined, and to what extent they are socially constructed.
Various groups, most notably the feminist movement, have led efforts to change aspects of
prevailing gender roles that they believe are oppressive or inaccurate.
The term gender role was first used by John Money and colleagues in 1954, during the course of his
study of intersex individuals, to describe the manners in which these individuals expressed their
status as a male or female in a situation where no clear biological assignment existed.[4]
Feminism is a range of social movements, political movements, and ideologies that share a
common goal: to define, establish, and achieve the political, economic, personal, and social equality
of the sexes.[a][2][3][4][5] Feminism incorporates the position that societies prioritize the male point of
view, and that women are treated unfairly within those societies.[6] Efforts to change that include
fighting gender stereotypes and seeking to establish educational and professional opportunities for
women that are equal to those for men.
Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on a person's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone,
but it systematically and primarily affects women and girls.[1] It has been linked
to stereotypes and gender roles,[2][3] and may include the belief that one sex or gender is intrinsically
superior to another.[4] Extreme sexism may foster sexual harassment, rape, and other forms
of sexual violence.[5] Gender discrimination may encompass sexism, and is discrimination toward
people based on their gender identity[6] or their gender or sex differences.[7] Gender discrimination is
especially defined in terms of workplace inequality.[7]