THEMATIC BRIEF

GENDER AND CULTURE

This Thematic Brief provides quick guidance on the most important

issues relating to gender and culture.

This Brief is addressed to staff from development cooperation agencies who are in-
volved in the different phases of programmes and projects.
Here they will find information on the most important gender issues at stake in relation
to culture and how to address them, indicators that can be used to monitor whether a
programme is integrating gender dimensions, examples of gender-sensitive develop-
ment actions and references to further information and tools related to the relation be-
tween gender and culture.

Contents

Introduction ...................................................................................................................2
Gender issues in relation to culture ...............................................................................3
A roadmap for gender mainstreaming in development programmes
and being sensitive to the role of 'culture'.....................................................................8
Questions for gender analysis ..................................................................................... 11
Macro level ............................................................................................................. 13
Meso level ............................................................................................................... 15
Micro level .............................................................................................................. 17
Gender sensitive indicators, including women's cultural empowerment ................... 19
Examples of gender-sensitive projects in relation to gender and culture ................... 20
Further References ..................................................................................................... 23

THEMATIC BRIEF 1 1
Introduction

In 1982, the World Conference on Cultural Policies defined culture as ‘the whole com-
plex of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features that character-
ize a society or a social group. It includes not only arts and letters, but also modes of life,
the fundamental rights of the human being, value systems, traditions and beliefs’. As a
product of history, geographical context, politics and people, culture is never fixed or
homogenous, but rather continually reshaped by internal and external factors, of social,
economic, political, or environmental nature. Culture can be diverse, as people living in
the same society might have different understanding of what their culture is. In all soci-
eties, the definition of what constitutes ‘culture’ is usually of strategic value and differ-
ent actors might compete to promote their definition of culture and to institutionalise
and legitimise a particular set of norms and traditions to which other members of the
society are required to conform. Thus, culture is not neutral, but influenced by social
representations and power relations (BRIDGE, 2002). Culture, as a set of norms and val-
ues, also shapes what attributes and behaviours are considered appropriate for women
and men and contributes to organising the relations between them (ACDI/CIDA, n-d).
The symbolic division between two homogenous ‘north’ and ‘south’ cultures is not real,
as a multitude of cultures exists and every culture interacts, influences and is influenced
by others. However, due to power imbalances prevailing at global level, some cultures
might receive more influence than others (BRIDGE, 2002). Cultural representations can
circulate in different ways (media, language, migrations, etc.). Cooperation policies and
development programmes are also vehicles for transmitting cultural values and the rep-
resentations of those who initiated them (usually located in the ‘North’), as well as im-
pacting upon cultures and traditions in the countries of intervention (usually located in
the South). In particular, cooperation policies and development programmes have rele-
vance to the traditional gender relations prevailing in the countries of intervention
(ACDI/CIDA, n-d).

There have generally been two prevailing attitudes towards culture amongst develop-
ment programmes officers: the first one (denunciated by post-colonialism studies) con-
sists in disregarding existing social institutions and structures due to their differences
from those in the western hemisphere. This approach actively tries to promote new
norms and cultural practices, responding to the patterns of gender relations prevailing
in the North. The other norm emerged in opposition to this trend, known as 'cultural
relativism'. As its most extreme, this considers that all cultures, practices, and traditions
should be respected (even if they might collide with other set of rights) and that devel-
opment programmes should not interfere with the cultural representation and social
norms prevailing in a society.

Both trends are based upon a limited understanding of culture, failing to see it as a mov-
ing concept, embodied in power relations. No development initiative is free from gender
representation and can be gender-neutral. While the first trend was not able to look be-
yond western standards and recognise the faults that might exist in those standards, the
second assumed that some cultures were characterised by inequalities between women
and men and that there was no internal will or resistance to challenge those inequalities
(Sardenberg, 2012).

Development programmes can deal with culture in different ways. They can be directly
targeting a cultural practice considered as a violation of women’s and girls’ rights (e.g.
female genital mutilation/cutting) or they can impact on culture in a more indirect way

2 THEMATIC BRIEF: GENDER AND CULTURE

(e.g. by introducing new infrastructures that will impact on the prevailing gender-based
division of labour). This Thematic brief addresses gender equality issues in development
programmes and projects in relation to culture. It is recommended that development
agents also consult other thematic briefs addressing similar issues (e.g. Thematic Brief
on Violence against women or on access to justice).

Gender issues in relation to culture

Potential gender inequalities within culture

■ Traditional practices linked to a certain understanding of culture might directly

collide with women’s human rights. For instance, harmful practices such as FGM
directly oppose women’s sexual rights and can violate their health and integrity,
as well as undermining the rights of the girl child. Discriminatory social institu-
tions limit the achievement of the BPfA (which was agreed by all governments)
and the Millennium Developments Goals. For instance, early marriage has been
associated with higher rates of maternal mortality.
■ Traditional practices might also go against women’s (and men’s) personal aspira-
tions. For instance, a qualitative study covering 20 countries in all regions of the
world interviewed more than 4,000 women and men living in both rural and ur-
ban areas to discuss the effect of gender differences and inequalities on their
everyday life. The study demonstrated that both young women and men wished
to attain a higher level of education than what was offered to them in their
community, and that a large majority wanted to marry and have children later
than the traditional norms dictated by the community. They also wanted more
autonomy in choosing their partners (World Bank, 2012).
■ Some cultural practices might exert a ‘domino effect’ on women’s life cycle
(OECD, 2014). The OECD Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) shows that
there is a link between what are called ‘discriminatory social institutions’ (such
as early marriage) and key development outcomes, including education, em-
ployment and empowerment. Looking at the impact of practices such as early
marriage, the SIGI shows that early marriage has a stronger negative impact on
girls’ education than on boys’. In countries where girls are twice as likely as boys
to marry before reaching 19 years old, only 60 girls for every 100 boys complete
secondary education. Rates of adolescent pregnancy are also higher in countries
where early marriage is a prevailing cultural practice, associated with higher
rates of HIV exposure, domestic violence and reduced decision-making power in
the family (OECD, 2014).
■ Culture normally assigns different roles and responsibilities to women and men.
Women are traditionally assigned the responsibility to provide care and continue
to bear the costs of the unequal distribution of unpaid care work in the family
and in society in general. The unequal amount of time that women and men
spend on unpaid care activities is associated with low female labour force partic-
ipation, or low-quality employment for women. For instance, due to care re-
sponsibilities, women are more likely to work part-time or in informal employ-
ment and to experience the negative effects of higher gender wage gaps (OECD,
2014).
■ When traditional representations of gender roles limit women's ability to partici-
pate in decision-making processes, there are potentially negative consequences

3 THEMATIC BRIEF: GENDER AND CULTURE

 for a country's development. For instance, lower life expectancy and higher mor-
tality rates are observed in countries where women cannot participate in deci-
sion-making processes that affect their own health or their own body, inde-
pendently of the country’s income per capita; government expenditures on
health; the number of medical doctors per inhabitants; the prevalence of certain
diseases such HIV; drug use or situation of conflict (OECD, 2014). In countries
such as Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and Senegal, fewer than a third of women re-
ported having joint or sole say in decisions regarding their own health (OECD,
2014). Studies conducted in Botswana and Swaziland showed a relation between
women’s lack of control over sexual decision-making and greater vulnerability to
HIV (ACDI/CIDA, n-d).
■ Specific groups of women whose behaviour does not correspond to appropriate
cultural norms can suffer from specific stigmatisation and double discrimination.
For instance, lesbians, bisexual and transgender women experience specific
form of discrimination, including sex-based discrimination (because of their con-
dition of women); discrimination based on sexual orientation (due to their sexu-
ality) or their gender identity (OECD, 2014). Besides, they experience increased
risk of violations of their human rights, such as ‘corrective’ rape by policemen or
other men (BRIDGE, 2002; OECD, 2014).
■ Women who defend alternative conceptions of culture and who try to occupy a
different role in society are often stigmatised, accused of going against their cul-
ture or being unpatriotic and influenced by 'western' ideas (ACDI/CIDA, n-d).
They might face rejections and violence.
■ The culture of a society is shaped by the people who live and evolve in it. Howev-
er, some people are more powerful to determine, influence and fix culture and its
associated practices (including religious leaders, artists, intellectuals, media per-
sonalities, etc.). These people can act as guardians, interpreters and transmitters
of cultural practices. Research has shown that religious leaders and faith-based
networks in general currently constitute some of the most influential cultural
gatekeepers and actors (UNFPA, 2008).
In developing countries, between 30% and 60% of healthcare and education
services are provided by faith-based organisations (FBO). Those organisations
provide valuable resources to reach and provide services to populations
(UNFPA, 2008). However, they might not be in favour of greater gender
equality.
■ Many cultural traditions attribute to women the responsibility for transmitting
cultural knowledge and practices. Women’s reproductive role situates them as
both creators and gatekeepers of the group’s identity. Women’s roles as ‘gate
keepers’ of culture impacts upon their rights and freedom to enjoy a live free
from violence. Religious and political movements have often considered that
due to their (supposed) identity and role, women should ‘protect’ the group
identity. To ensure that culture will be ‘preserved’, women’s sexual rights (sexu-
ality, marriage and childbearing) and civil rights (religion, citizenship) are limited
(ACDI/CIDA, n-d; United Nations, 2010). In other context, ‘gender equality’ has
been presented as contrary to the local culture. For instance, during the transi-
tion to market-oriented economy is post-soviet countries; ‘gender equality’ was
presented as part of the propaganda of the soviet period. This rhetoric was used
to justify discrimination against women in employment, which increased during
the transition.

4 THEMATIC BRIEF: GENDER AND CULTURE

 ■ In developing countries, formal justice systems coexist alongside informal justice
systems (sometimes referred as ‘traditional’, ‘customary’ or ‘non-state’ justice
systems). However, informal justice systems may not reflect gender equality con-
cerns in their rulings. Using informal systems is still the main way to seek justice,
used in 80% of legal cases in developing countries (UN Women, 2012a; IDLO,
2013).

Several factors can cause, reflect and exacerbate gender inequalities, including – but
not limited to – culture

■ Culture is not the sole source of gender inequalities, nor the justification for them.
Research has shown that other factors might impact more directly on determin-
ing women’s and men’s opportunities and roles, such as economic or political
conditions of their community (World Bank, 2012). Other key factors that affect
the relationship between gender equality and culture are discussed in turn be-
low.
■ In both formal and informal legal systems, discriminatory family codes can reflect
and reinforce fixed cultural practices and social norms that limit women’s power
in the household and society in general. For instance, in many developing coun-
tries, customary and formal laws on marriage, parental authority and inheritance
discriminate against women. The OECD Social Institutions and Gender Index
(SIGI) showed that in 2014, in only 55 of the 160 countries analysed in the SIGI
women were legally and in practice given the same inheritance rights as men.
With regards to land rights, 102 of those countries were still denying women the
same rights to access land as men (OECD, 2014). The family code of a few coun-
tries (e.g. Turkmenistan) still allows early marriage (OECD, 2014).
■ There may be a lack of public infrastructure and institutional mechanisms to en-
sure the implementation of the human rights framework. Women’s rights are still
a low priority in many political agendas (OECD, 2014). The autonomy of women to
make life choices might be limited by the context in which those choices are of-
fered and previous (limited) life choices (Kabeer, 2001 – quoted in World Bank,
2010). Normative changes are insufficient to guarantee women's capacity to make
choices, if they are not accompanied by structural changes that challenge other
barriers and constraints. Context affects the impact of development initiatives on
women’s capacity to choose. For instance, women living in rural and isolated
communities might value the development of a road, as it may symbolise in-
creased freedom and new opportunities outside the domestic sphere, whereas
women living in urban areas with more public transportation works might appre-
ciate the reduction of time and cost of their commuting travels.
■ Lack of women’s representation in cultural and religious institutions undermines
their capacity to challenge discriminatory social norms and to promote a differ-
ent definition of culture.
■ The impacts of globalisation can hinder progress made by women in challenging
discriminatory social norms and harmful traditional practices. Globalisation has
produced social changes which have had a strong impact on women’s enjoy-
ment of their rights (e.g. education). However, some changes have had more
negative effects. For instance, economic dislocation, migration, loss of liveli-
hoods and armed conflict have often been used to reaffirm traditional power re-
lations and hierarchies, with specific and negative consequences for women
(United Nations, 2010).

5 THEMATIC BRIEF: GENDER AND CULTURE

 ■ The cultural bias of development agents can undermine gender equality; assump-
tions about the adequate patterns of gender relation and appropriate women’s
behaviour are spread by different actors, including development and cooperation
agents (BRIDGE, 2002). These assumptions on women’s and men’s roles might
have negative impacts. For instance, when development workers assume that
men are the only decision-makers and therefore discuss implementation issues
with them only, they directly contribute to strengthening women’s lack and not
to address their specific needs. Many development agents have also defended
the notion that gender equality is a “western” importation. This ignores internal
contestation and activities of the local women’s movement as well as commit-
ments to gender equality by partner governments. It also indirectly contributes to
institutionalising discriminatory social norms (ACDI/CIDA, n-d).
■ Development initiatives thought as gender-neutral impact on the interpretation of
culture, the representations of gender relations and the distribution of power be-
tween women and men (as seen above). For instance, a community-based wa-
ter-supply initiative that does not make specific effort to include both women
and men in problem identification, planning and management might reinforce
the unequal distribution of power between women and men and the exclusion
of women from decision-making processes (ACDI/CIDA, n-d). Development pro-
cesses involve a mix of social, economic and political changes, and impact
strongly on culture and on the prevailing gender relations in a given society. For
instance, in Bangladesh, the cultural norms that prevented women from leaving
the domestic space (purdah) were deeply reinterpreted following changes in the
trade policies and the need to recruit a cheap labour force to allow for the rapid
growth of the urban garment industry. Following those changes, women the en-
tered labour force and became more visible in the urban spaces, with some im-
pacts on social perceptions of women’s role in the family and the workplace
(ACDI/CIDA, n-d).

How to respond to gender inequalities in relation to culture

For human rights to be enjoyed universally, gender disparities must be addressed and
effectively reduced. Development and cooperation programmes need to be gender-
sensitive, as well as taking into account the cultural context in which they occur, by tak-
ing the steps described below.
■ Make use and create demand for sex-disaggregated data in all areas of interven-
tion, in order to gain an insight into actual norms and behaviours.
■ Ensure that women’s needs and priorities are voiced, understood and addressed.
For instance, make sure that cultural norms limiting women’s participation in
public sphere are taken into account at the consultation stage of a programme
and alternative fora are made available to women.
■ Avoid reinforcing gender inequalities, by ignoring the existing gender relations
and power disparities between women and men. For instance, an infrastructure
initiative to modernise a commercial area should first look at the potential im-
pacts of those changes on women and men. If cultural norms prevent women
from travelling to a certain distance from their home, the location of the new
market is integral to its likely impact on women’s economic activity.
■ Plan gender-specific actions, to address problems relating more particularly to
one or the other gender, either as separate initiatives or as part of larger pro-
grammes. For instance, men could be specifically targeted by programmes ad-

6 THEMATIC BRIEF: GENDER AND CULTURE

 dressing the issue of violence against women through activities aiming at pro-
moting different masculinities. Specific actions could aim at improving women’s
legal literacy to increase their awareness of their rights and of the existing tools
and remedies to right violations (OECD, 2014).
■ Adopt longer term “transformative” perspectives, supporting women’s participa-
tion in decision-making and changing prevalent negative attitudes on women’s
leadership capacities and social roles. Involving women in cultural and religious
decision-making bodies is an important factor to promote long-term change.
For instance, women’s interest groups could be involved in the traditional medi-
ation procedures to ensure that the rights of women who resort to those bodies
are taken into account.
■ Engage men, creating awareness on gender disparities and proving the benefits
of gender equality for communities. For instance, programmes targeting FGM
should implement specific actions targeting men and boys, as one of the main
issues justifying this harmful practice is marriageability of girls. Activities should
be organised to raise awareness of fathers and future husbands and to ensure
that girls who refuse the practice will not be stigmatised by their community.
■ Recognise that no development initiative can be gender-neutral. Even if gender
equality is not a direct or indirect objective, the initiative will impact on gender
relations in a way or another. In the absence of gender analysis, this impact will
be mostly negative for women.
■ Recognise that the ‘outsider’ position does not give development workers the au-
thority to take decisions affecting the gender relations without relying on ‘insider’
opinions and work undertaken to promote gender equality. Development work-
ers should make space for discussion around ‘culture’ and traditions by ‘insid-
ers’. People affected by the development initiative should be the ones who iden-
tify and take action against practices they find oppressive, in order for the
change in traditions to be acceptable to community members and sustainable in
the long term.
■ Support local women’s organisations and consult with them on how they define
the issues at stake and what they see as potential ways forward, in order to gain
a better understanding of the context and of possible steps to support gender
equality (ACDI/CIDA, n-d).
■ Enable the participation in the whole programme cycle of groups or people who
resist oppressive cultural norms, such as women’s organisations, and men op-
posed to harmful traditional practices.
■ Enable participation and leadership of previously excluded groups (e.g. women,
ethnic minorities or indigenous people), by creating spaces for participation and
implementing participatory approaches.
■ Communicate with ‘cultural agents’ who might be opposed to change to involve
them in the discussion and look for way to gain their support. These agents
could include religious or community leaders; elders; and representatives from
faith-based organisations.

7 THEMATIC BRIEF: GENDER AND CULTURE

A roadmap for gender mainstreaming in development
programmes and being sensitive to the role of 'culture'

Gender equality considerations should be integrated throughout the whole cycle of de-
velopment planning.
This Section proposes a roadmap for gender mainstreaming in the various phases of a
programme – or project – lifecycle, as well as ways of remaining sensitive to the cultural
context in which the intervention occurs.

1. Analysis, programming and identification of country strategies

Programming and identification are strategic moments of programmes which serve to

redress gender inequalities and promote human rights and justice for all. The most es-
sential steps are:
■ To keep gender equality in the policy dialogue agenda;
■ To carry out gender-sensitive analysis for the diagnostic stage.

Dialogue and negotiations related to culture should:

■ Be grounded in the shared objectives of the global agenda for women’s human
rights and gender equality, and in the common respect of the human rights
framework, including gender equality, including the CEDAW and its protocols;
the Beijing Platform for Action; the Programme of Action of the International
Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), etc.
■ Align with the country commitments (laws, policies, strategies) to promote gen-
der equality and promote human rights and justice for all.

8 THEMATIC BRIEF: GENDER AND CULTURE

 ■ Analyse the different roles and take-off positions of women and men in society
in relation to power and cultural representation, and use sex-disaggregated data
in diagnostic studies. Gender country profiles or other sectoral studies should be
used or commissioned.
■ Systematically involve and support “gender stakeholders”, from Government,
donors and civil society, at all stages. This can include gender coordination
groups, gender focal points in ministries, gender experts and representatives of
women’s rights organisations, lawyers and legal experts on women’s rights,
women’s local associations, representatives from discriminated groups (e.g. in-
digenous people); representatives from faith-based organisations who showed
commitment to women’s rights and gender equality; representatives from asso-
ciations of men against violence against women.
■ Build on previous and current initiatives to promote gender equality in the rele-
vant sector[s], map existing needs and financing gaps, and avoid duplication of
efforts. For instance, through the identification of past or current local pro-
grammes or projects aiming towards similar objectives (e.g. eradicating violence
against women or harmful practices), one can identify potential allies and pro-
vide valuable insights on potential challenges.
■ Assess whether the institutions that will be responsible for programme man-
agement and service delivery have resources and capacities to promote gender
equality and plan for competence development initiatives, including at service
delivery level. For instance, in programme aiming to develop women’s access to
family planning structures and services, it is fundamental to identify gender ste-
reotypes and discriminatory attitudes of the staff in charge of service provision
and to plan adequate gender competence development initiatives to challenge
and transform their attitudes.
■ Integrate gender issues as part of the main discussion about the sector or initia-
tive. Gender equality should be considered as a development objective, not as a
secondary issue.
■ Use gender-sensitive language in the programming documentation, so that it is
clear that both women and men are included in the objectives.

2. Formulation and budgeting

The results of gender analysis should be used to tailor the formulation of programmes
and projects. The formulation phase is particularly important, as it affects all subsequent
phases of the programme (implementation, monitoring and evaluation. To do so, one
must follow the steps described below.
■ Design objectives and activities to address gender gaps identified and include
them in programme documents, plans, logical frameworks, financing agree-
ments and budgets.
■ Include and budget for initiatives to address specific needs and constraints faced
by women or men, including long-term capacity building of women in legal liter-
acy to enable to claim their human rights. Initiatives aiming at reducing con-
straints and barriers in access to services should also be planned, such as aware-
ness raising activities for representatives of faith-based organisations.
■ Allocate resources for gender mainstreaming, capacity building and awareness
raising at all levels and in ways that are adapted to the needs of different target
groups. For example, gender equality training for programme staff, staff from

9 THEMATIC BRIEF: GENDER AND CULTURE

 relevant local institutions and service delivery institutions has the potential to
address knowledge and capacity gaps and gender stereotypes that can impede
implementation of the programme. Likewise, awareness raising activities for
women and men beneficiaries can present the benefit of the services, adopting
both culture and gender lenses; capacity building and leadership training for
women from marginalised communities and indigenous women can enable
them to voice their concerns and interests.
■ Commit to pursue a strategy for continued gender mainstreaming in the pro-
gramme (donor and country led processes). This may be formalized in an action
plan which should then clearly assign responsibilities, resources and results to be
achieved, as part of the broader programme’s result chain.
■ Establish formal mechanisms of consultation with gender stakeholders (e.g.
gender coordination groups, gender focal points in ministries, gender experts
and representatives of women’s rights organisations, lawyers and legal experts
on women’s rights, women’s local associations, representatives from discrimi-
nated groups (e.g. indigenous people); representatives from faith-based organi-
sations) and ensure that the format of those consultation processes is adapted
to the specific needs and constraints that those different groups might face. For
instance, in cultural settings where women and men cannot be sited together, it
can be necessary to plan for separate consultations to enable women to partici-
pate.
■ Design and budget for participatory and gender-sensitive monitoring processes,
particularly at service delivery level e.g. in assessments of new services or tech-
nologies introduced, including indicators to capture changes in power relations
or in the distribution of labour in the household.
■ Define performance monitoring frameworks and processes which can capture
progress in gender-related objectives.
■ In direct budget support initiatives, include gender indicators in financing
agreements between donor and recipient countries (e.g. Existence of specific
anti-discrimination and / or equal opportunities legislation).
■ Respect equal opportunity principles in management arrangements and estab-
lish accountability structures for gender mainstreaming at programme level. For
instance, when implementing new structures in cultural settings where women’s
participation in decision-making is not encouraged, some decision-making posi-
tions could be targeted directly at women (e.g. through quotas or reserved
seats).

3. Implementation and monitoring

At this stage what is planned in relation to gender equality should be maintained, moni-
tored and corrected as needed. The most important points to consider are:
■ Continued coordination, dialogue and consultation on gender equality within
working groups in each relevant sector, with institutional stakeholders (such as
the gender units of the relevant ministries), as well as with a broader range of
actors from civil society. For instance, it is important to maintain regular dia-
logue and consultation with groups or people that might not support the pro-
gramme and who can represent a threat to its implementation. For instance,
regular dialogues and consultations with religious and community leaders ena-

10 THEMATIC BRIEF: GENDER AND CULTURE

 ble them to voice concerns and represent an arena through which to soften
their opposition.
■ Effective monitoring of the progress of the various gender dimensions of the
programme and sub-programmes, including at service delivery level, collecting
opinions and experiences of women and men and the challenges and obstacles
they might face in accessing to the service; they evaluation of the benefits of-
fered by the provision of the service. For instance, the implementation of a fami-
ly planning programme can be valued differently by women and men. Women
might appreciate the control that contraceptives give them over their sexuality
and family size, but men might see this as a loss of power and thus be reluctant
to accept changes. It is important to monitor the use (or non-use) of the service
in order to understand the best response to bring forward.
■ Integration of gender in joint sector reviews and policy dialogues (particularly at
the level of the SWAP committee).
■ Monitoring if resources planned for gender equality are spent, and if not, why.

4. Evaluation

■ Terms of Reference of (mid-term) evaluations should require gender expertise in

the evaluation team and give account of the differential impacts of a programme
on women and men; the division of labour; existing social norms and rules; iden-
tify potential negative impacts on women or men and offer recommendations
and lessons learned useful to further pursue gender equality in the sector.
■ Evaluators and monitors should be able to use participatory evaluation tech-
niques and sex-disaggregated beneficiary assessments of service delivery.
■ Evaluations should also build on past gender evaluations of programmes in the
sector.

GENDER TOOLS FOR THE DIFFERENT AID MODALITIES

An ample selection of analytical and planning tools useful at each phase of the
development cooperation cycle, according to the different aid modalities, is
available in the “Aid Modalities” Section of the EU Resource Package on
Gender Mainstreaming in Development Cooperation.
The following Section offers a list of gender-analysis questions that can be used
in Programmes, whilst taking into account the socio-cultural context in which
they occur.

Questions for gender analysis1

Gender analysis helps acquire a different perspective on the complexity of a develop-

ment context, and understand how to better address other forms of social inequalities.
It looks at how economic and social structures at multiple levels can reinforce, or help to

1
More on gender analysis is available in the EU Resource Package, Section “Building Blocks”.

11 THEMATIC BRIEF: GENDER AND CULTURE

overcome, gender inequalities and imbalances in power relations between women and
men. Cultural representations, believes, traditions and social norms or institutions are
reproduced in the ‘private’ and ‘public’ spheres and can exert direct and indirect influ-
ence on initiatives aimed at improving women’s access to their human rights. They have
influence at micro, meso and macro levels.
Gender analysis is required for all initiatives as it ensures that planning is based on facts
and analysis rather than assumptions – A gender analysis is therefore a means of increas-
ing the quality and effectiveness of initiatives as well as supporting gender equality.

DIFFERENT LEVELS OF GENDER ANALYSIS

Macro analysis looks at national level law, policy and decision making, including trade
and finance policies and national development plans. It helps identify how cultural rep-
resentations, believes or traditions can contribute, or hamper, broader development
strategies. It assesses whether legislation or policies related to traditional representa-
tions of women’s and men’s roles contribute to gender inequalities, or to their elimina-
tion. It is particularly useful when programming or identifying development coopera-
tion strategies, programmes and projects.
For example:
A gender analysis at macro level should aim at identifying discriminatory social norms
and look at legislation and policies regarding women’s status in the family, the commu-
nity and society in general (for example, is there a discriminatory family code, which
prevents women from accessing to property or inheritance, does not recognise wom-
en’s parental authority and allows marriage to be celebrated without women’s direct
consent?). This analysis enables one to see if discrimination against women is institu-
tionalised by law. The implementation of the programme might be hindered by the lack
of law or policies guaranteeing women’s access to their human rights.

Meso level analysis looks at markets, institutions, services, infrastructures which serve
as a link between laws/policies and people, enabling them to benefit (or be excluded)
from policy effects: health services, education, decentralized public services, commu-
nication and transportation systems, credit institutions, markets, etc.

This is particularly useful at programme formulation, as it also assesses the extent to

which gender roles relationships and cultural issues can influence the effectiveness of
service delivery and other policy and programme implementation mechanisms.
For example:
A meso level gender analysis could enable identify which cultural beliefs might prevent
women from accessing to a resource or a service. It can also assess what (social and
legal) sanctions might face women who do not abide by this cultural norm. For
instance, in some forest-dependent communities, women are forbidden from entering
forests, as cultural and religious beliefs deem this 'improper'. In practice, many women
depend upon non-timber forest products (NTFPs) as a means of fulfilling household
needs and potentially of generating additional income. This means that in reality many
women do enter the forest, but – due to the restrictive environment – they do not have
access to the supporting mechanisms available to men in the community if they
encounter dangers (e.g. wild animal attacks).

12 THEMATIC BRIEF: GENDER AND CULTURE

 DIFFERENT LEVELS OF GENDER ANALYSIS
Micro level analysis studies people: women and men as individuals, and the socio-
economic differences between households and communities. It considers women and
men's roles, activities and power relations within the household and the community,
and how these influence their respective capacities to participate and benefit from de-
velopment programmes. It is particularly useful at formulation, implementation and
monitoring levels.

For example:

A micro level gender analysis of the impact of cultural beliefs and representations of
women’s and men’s roles in the community should identify potential constraints and
obstacles to equal participation in the decision-making process and identify adequate
solutions. For instance, in Pakistan, women could not be part of the consultation pro-
cess in a local initiative supported by the Canadian International Development Agency
(CIDA) due to the presence of men in the room. As it was important for both women
and men to discuss the issues at stake at the same time, the issue was overcome by
providing facilities to connect via speaker and microphone two separate meeting rooms
(one for women, the other one for men).

The following section proposes guiding questions for gender analysis in relation to
culture, at macro, meso and micro levels.

Macro level

Macro level. Policies and laws

■ What gender equality commitments have been made by the government, for in-
stance in the framework of the Beijing Platform for Action, CEDAW, the Pro-
gramme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Develop-
ment, the SDGs? Is there a law and/or a policy on gender equality in the coun-
try?
■ Are those international commitments integrated into the national laws, at both
normative and procedural levels (e.g. integration of the CEDAW recommenda-
tions on the rights of women in issues related to marriage and divorce)?
■ Do national policies and legislations reflect these commitments through aware-
ness of inequalities between men and women, and do they outline the means to
address them?
■ Are national gender equality commitments and policies able to impact upon in-
formal justice systems, such as customary law and operators?
■ Does current law protect the rights of the girl child (e.g. prohibition of FGM and
child marriage)?
■ Are there gender policies and action plans to address violations of women’s
rights based on traditions or cultural interpretations? For instance, is there a pol-
icy or an action plan against FGM? Do national programmes and sub-
programmes related to health, education or justice align to and support this
gender plan?

13 THEMATIC BRIEF: GENDER AND CULTURE

 ■ Is there a national gender equality machinery, with allocated budget and clear
mandate?
■ Do current policies, laws and regulations have discriminatory provisions? For ex-
ample, does the family code discriminate against women in family matters (e.g.
are women able to give their nationality to their child?)? Does the civil code al-
low women to vote and participate in elections?
■ Are there discriminatory laws or policies targeting specific groups of people (e.g.
LGBT)?
■ Do current policies, laws and regulations have measures for equal opportunities
and women’s rights? For instance, are there some affirmative actions in place to
enable women to access decision-making positions in political bodies (e.g. quo-
tas or reserved seats)?
■ Is the social and health protection system inclusive of women (e.g. right to ma-
ternity care)? Are certain groups excluded (e.g. women belonging to a religious
minority; indigenous women)?

Macro level. How are decisions made in national-level institutions?

■ Are there decision makers (in Government, Parliament) who are ready to cham-
pion gender equality and women’s empowerment in society in general, and spe-
cific areas such as decision-making; violence; religion?
■ Are governmental institutions responsible for women’s and gender issues, in-
volved in decision-making at national policy and planning levels?
■ Are there gender thematic groups that could be involved in sector level consul-
tations?
■ Which actors are involved in the formulation and decision-making process of
policies targeting gender issues? For instance, what is the role given to religious
or traditional institutions?
■ Are women’s rights advocate groups involved in the decision-making process
around the implementation and monitoring of policies aiming at improving
women’s rights?

Macro level. Data and information

■ Are there policy documents or agreed gender assessments to ensure that infor-
mation and statistics are regularly collected on the gender gaps and priorities in
relation to the concrete implementation of human rights?
■ Are sex-disaggregated data available on violations of women’s human rights (po-
litical, social, economic and sexual rights) and their consequences (e.g. number
of girls at risk of FGM; number of girls married before the age of 19; number and
age of women who died during or due to childbirth, etc.)?
■ Have similar programmes/projects been implemented in the country? Were
gender-sensitive evaluations carried out? For instance, if initiatives to increase
the scope of family planning services have already been implemented, was a
gender-sensitive evaluation carried out in the aim of identifying structural and
cultural barriers to the proper implementation of the programme?
■ Are there good examples of women’s empowerment in the study area? To what
extent and how did these examples take into account culture and traditions?

14 THEMATIC BRIEF: GENDER AND CULTURE

 ■ Which attempts to transform discriminatory social norms and to achieve gender
equality were failures due to backlash? For example, women’s human rights de-
fenders are increasingly stigmatised as ‘western’ after the implementation of
programmes to abandon harmful traditional practices.

Macro level. Monitoring frameworks

■ How is the country faring on gender equality targets established at international

level?
■ Has the government developed indicators that allow for monitoring progress in
compliance with human rights from a gender equality perspective? Which data
exists to show the impacts of the programme/project for women and men?
■ Is the monitoring process conducted by independent institutions?
■ Has there been a gender analysis of government spending in this sector and in
the sub-sectors? Does the government have a system to track the gender sensi-
tivity of development programmes?
■ Is it possible to have a benefit incidence analysis by sex of beneficiaries? (Meth-
od of computing the distribution of public expenditure across different demo-
graphic groups, such as women and men.)
■ In sector budget support modality, can payments be linked to progress made on
the gender objectives and gender indicators? Is part of the budget earmarked
for specific gender equality objectives?
■ Has the government developed clear timelines and benchmarks for implement-
ing recommendations of internal conventions on women’s human rights?

Meso level

Meso level . Service provision

■ What are the services to whom women and men have access?
■ Who is providing those services? For example, are faith-based organisations the
main providers of health care services? Is it international NGOs?
■ What are the impacts of cultural representations on service provisions at com-
munity level? For example, is use of the family planning service restricted due to
religious beliefs?
■ Are certain groups of people excluded from access to certain services, due to
traditions and cultural representations (e.g. are girls allowed to go to school)?
■ Are there plans to improve the outreach capacity of local-level service delivery
institutions to poor communities and in particular to women (E.g. family plan-
ning services for teenage girls; women belonging to religious minorities or indig-
enous women)?
■ Are community-based organisations or NGOs able to promote the rights of
women?
■ Is there a gender balance in programme and project implementation units? At
which levels?

15 THEMATIC BRIEF: GENDER AND CULTURE

 ■ Are local duty-bearers (e.g. council members) and service providers (e.g.
healthcare professionals) familiar with women’s human rights corpus and their
obligations with regards to gender equality commitments adopted by their
country?
■ Are gender competence development initiatives implemented to address
knowledge and capacity gaps of the service providers?
■ Are there measures to provide ‘cultural agents’ (e.g. politics, religious leaders,
traditional authorities) with gender equality training?

Meso level. Decision making and consultation

■ Who is involved in deciding the services needed by the community (participatory

or elite-based systems of consultation)? Are there women involved in this pro-
cess? Which women?
■ If the programme envisages support to community-based organisations (e.g.
faith-based organisations), are women represented and at which levels? Which
women?
■ Are gender equality institutions and structures at local level being involved?
■ Are other stakeholders involved in decision-making and consultation, such as
faith-based organisations; traditional authorities?
■ Are there mechanisms to enable women to voice their concerns and interests
linked to the programme, such as their specific needs in relation to family plan-
ning initiatives or to access economic rights?
■ What are the social institutions preventing women from participating in deci-
sion-making and consultation?

Meso level. Data collection and monitoring processes

■ Are sex-disaggregated data collected on access to services and on obstacles and

barriers to access these services?
■ Which data can be collected throughout the programme to monitor the impacts
for women and men? Who will be responsible for collecting this data, and how
frequently? Will they be trained in participatory, gender-sensitive data collection
techniques?
■ How will consultation processes be organised at various levels? Will both wom-
en and men be involved in community level consultation processes? How are
women’s interests going to be represented? Is there a need to set up new fora?
■ Are adequate resources allocated for participatory consultation, monitoring and
sex-disaggregated beneficiary assessments of services?
■ What is the capacity of the national statistical office, and of enumerators, to col-
lect sex disaggregated data and produce gender sensitive statistics on issues re-
lated to women’s human rights violations?

16 THEMATIC BRIEF: GENDER AND CULTURE

Micro level

Micro level. Gender division of tasks and labour

■ What are women and men’s traditional roles and activities?

■ Are women able to carry out extra-domestic activities?
■ Are both girls and boys able to access to education?
■ What are women’s and men’s opportunity to engage in paid work?
■ What is the impact of women’s (and girls’) unpaid work on their opportunity to
engage in paid work (or education)?
■ Are children involved in household work? Which different tasks are allocated to
girls and boys?

Micro level. Gender relations: Access and control over resources

■ What are the general economic and demographic conditions of the household?
Of the community? What are men and women’s main sources of income?
■ Which factors influence access to and control over services and resources (for
example, age, sex, wealth, ethnicity, peri-urban versus rural locations, education
level)?
■ At the household level, who takes decisions about resources, activities and ac-
cess to services?
■ Can women decide themselves on issues related to their rights and those of
their children (e.g. access to health care services)?
■ At the community level, how are decisions made about resources and activities?
■ At the community level, how are decisions made about rights and responsibili-
ties of women and men?
■ At community level, how are decision made about women’s access to specific
services (e.g. health services)? What is the impact of women's sexual and repro-
ductive rights and land rights?
■ Are women able to seek redress for violations of their human rights by their own
initiative?
■ If services are provided in the framework of the implementation of a develop-
ment programme, are both women and men able to access to those services
(e.g. training on a new tool)?

17 THEMATIC BRIEF: GENDER AND CULTURE

Micro level. Perceptions about gender equality

■ What are women and men’s perceptions of the appropriate behaviours of wom-
en and men? What are women and men’s perceptions of their behaviour and
the behaviour of the other gender?
■ What are women and men’s perceptions on gender-based violence (domestic
and at work) and harmful traditional practices?
■ Are women aware of their rights? Are they able to voice them in the community
or with service providers?
■ Are men openly resistant to gender equality? Are there groups of men who are
more supportive/resistant than others? Who can influence them?
■ What are the reactions of community members to individuals who fail to con-
form to gendered norms of behaviour?

18 THEMATIC BRIEF: GENDER AND CULTURE

Gender sensitive indicators, including women's cultural
empowerment

Gender-sensitive indicators aim at ‘creating awareness of the different impacts of a

development intervention on men and women, taking into consideration their socio-
economic and cultural differences.’ (FAO, n.d. – Gender sensitive indicators for Natural
Resources Management). Gender sensitive indicators reveal valuable information to
identify the specific problems faced by women and men; to assess the extent of gender
inequalities in access to and use of resources and services, and provide the basis for
evidence-based policy-making processes (FAO, n.d.).
The table below provides some examples of gender sensitive indicators.

Area/Sub-sector Indicator

Legal framework
Ratification of CEDAW and optional protocols
for women’s
human right Constitutional provision for gender equality and women’s rights
Law prohibiting domestic violence against women
Existence of law prohibiting female genital mutilations
Existence of law prohibiting child marriage
Law providing right to abortion
Existence of national commission on human rights/women’s rights
Percentage of complaints received by national human rights institution
that deal with gender discrimination
Existence of specific anti-discrimination and/or equal opportunities
legislation
Women’s political
Share of women members of the Parliament
participation
Number of women in government
Share of local government leaders who are women
Ratio of women to men in local decision-making structures
Share of women candidate in elections at local and national level
Share of women candidates to elections at local and national level
Violence against
Share of girls under 19 who are married, divorced or widowed
women
Share of women experiencing domestic violence against women
Share of girls who experienced FGM

Sexual and
Share of women and girls who have access to contraception
reproductive rights
Share of women and girls who are able to make independent choice
regarding their sexual and reproductive rights
Share of service providers who received training on gender equality
Share of unintended pregnancies among adolescent girls (15-19)
Number of abortion-related deaths

19 THEMATIC BRIEF: GENDER AND CULTURE

 Area/Sub-sector Indicator

Women’s economic
Share of land titles owned or co-owned by women
rights
Share and type of properties owned by women
Number of cases related to the right to inherit reported, tried and
awarded to women
Women’s
Share of women in the Ministry of Culture
participation in
cultural institutions Share of women among decision-making staff of cultural institutions (e.g.
ministries, faith-based institutions)
Number and type of women’s organisations devoted to cultural issues
Number and type of print and electronic media owned or managed by
women devoted to cultural issues.

Sources of indicators:
SIDA (2010), Tool: Indicators for Measuring Results on Gender Equality
DANIDA (2006), Gender- sensitive monitoring and indicators
Moghadam Valentine M. and Bagheritari Manilee (2005), Cultures, conventions, and the
human rights of women: Examining the convention for safeguarding intangible cultural
heritage, and the declaration on cultural diversity

Examples of gender-sensitive projects in relation to gender

and culture

Several development and cooperation programmes have successfully addressed the

issue of gender inequalities in relation to culture. Some examples are provided in the
table below, and additional documents gathering good practices are listed in the
following page.

20 THEMATIC BRIEF: GENDER AND CULTURE

 Programme/project Challenges Gender Strategy Source

“Circumcision with words”: In Kenya, it is estimated that between 50 to 60% of In 1998, Maendeleo Ya Wanawake (MYWO), an Kenyan BRIDGE (2002), Gender
Fighting from Kenya women have been submited to FGM. FGM is linked to organisation working on FGM, worked together with the and Cultural Change.
an increase risk of death during childbirth (women who Programme for Appropriate Technology and Health Overview Report
have undergone FGM are twice likely to die giving (PATH) Kenya office, an international NGO, to test a
birth). programme that substituted training on empowerment,
health and human rights for the FGM ritual.
Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a practice difficult to
eradicate as it is often regarded as an integral part of The programme involved the following activities:
the initiation ceremony aiming to integrate girls and -Training of the village elders to teach them to become
women’s into their communities. trainers and explain the objectives of the projects to men,
in order to ensure buy-in from local leaders;
Women who do not experience FGM might be -Awareness-raising activities in school targeting boys, as
stigmatised and rejected from the society. they need to support the abondon of the practice to
Efforts coming from international organisations have ensure that girls who have not been submited to FGM
failed to tackle this issues, due to a lack of cultural will not be stigmatised later on;
sensitivity. -Symbolic activities to offer substitutes to cultural
traditions (such a pact made with the girls, their parents,
religious leaders and elderly agreeing on the absence of
FGM during the initiation ceremony); peer support
groups for girls and their families stigmatised for having
refused FGM.

The programme was successful in reducing the

prevalence of FGM and reproduced in other localities.

Partnering with men to The gendered division of labour enjoin men to act as In Brazil, a programme targeting young men was Men Engage – UNFPA
transform discriminatory the ‘breadwinner’ and not to be involved in child developed by the Instituto Promundo and other partners: (n/d), Engaging Men,
Attitudes in Brazil rearing activities. 'Program H'. This addressed the issue of violence against Changing Gender Norms:
women and promoted active fatherhood as a tool for Directions for Gender-
Traditional norms of masculinity also tend justify men’s gender equality. Transformative Action
violence and to characterise men as the ones in charge
of initiating sexual and intimate relations. The programme informed young men on issues related to
Those norms affect both women and men, by reducing sexual health and women’s sexuality, and aimed to help

21 THEMATIC BRIEF: GENDER AND CULTURE

 Programme/project Challenges Gender Strategy Source

their rights and opportunities. them understand what could be their role in a more
equal relationship. Part of the programme also aimed to
support young men to take better care of themselves and
each other (and avoid life threatening behaviour).

The programme was found to have impulsed positive

changes in attitudes with regard to women and gender
roles and was replicated in other areas (the
Balkans, Ethiopia, Namibia, the United
Republic of Tanzania and the United States).
Involving faith-based In many developing countries, faith-based organisations In Kyrgyzstan, UNFPA partnered with Muslim religious UNFPA (2008), Culture
organisations on issues are the main providers of health care services. leaders, the Clerical Department of Muslims Matters - Lessons from a
related to sexual and Religious leaders are often the most trusted sources at of Kyrgyzstan, the women’s faith-based organisation Legacy of Engaging Faith-
reproductive rights and health local level for people seeking more knowledge on Mutakalim, and the State Commission on Religious Affairs based Organizations
in Kyrgyzstan reproductive health and family planning issues. to raise awareness on issues related to reproductive
However, representatives from those institutions are health, family planning, gender equality, and HIV
not always the strongest defendants of women’s rights, prevention and AIDS treatment.
especially of their sexual and reproductive rights. The programme consisted in several activities, including:
-The organisation of several national conferences and
roundtables for religious leaders and other stakeholders
on the promotion of reproductive health and
rights and family planning
-The dissemination of information brochures and
booklets on gender equality
-The organisation of seminars for religious leaders
on reproductive health and family planning issues
focusing on changing attitudes towards women and to
promote reproductive health and family planning issues
among men and adolescents, whose involvement is
necessary to reduce the number of unwanted
pregnancies, abortion, and the prevalence and incidence
of HIV and AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections.

22 THEMATIC BRIEF: GENDER AND CULTURE

Further References

About gender and culture

BRIDGE (2002), Gender and Cultural Change. Overview Report

http://www.bridge.ids.ac.uk/sites/bridge.ids.ac.uk/files/reports/CEP-culture-report.pdf

OECD (2014), Social Institutions and Gender Index 2014 - Synthesis Report
http://www.oecd.org/dev/development-gender/BrochureSIGI2015-web.pdf

OECD/ DAC (n-d), Culture, gender equality and development cooperation - Gendernet Practice
Note
http://www.oecd.org/social/gender-development/1896320.pdf

Sardenberg C., ‘Negotiating Culture in the Promotion of Gender Equality and Women’s
Empowerment in Latin America’, IDS Working paper, Volume 2012 No 407
http://www.ids.ac.uk/publication/negotiating-culture-in-the-promotion-of-gender-equality-and-
women-s-empowerment-in-latin-america

The Workld Bank (2012), On Norms and Agency Conversations about Gender Equality with
Women and Men in 20 Countries, Washington DC
http://elibrary.worldbank.org/doi/abs/10.1596/978-0-8213-9862-3

UNFPA (2008), Culture Matters Lessons from a Legacy of Engaging Faith-based Organizations
http://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/Culture_Matter_II.pdf

United Nations Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women and
the Secretariat of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (2010),Gender and
Indigenous Peoples’ Culture – Briefing Note 4
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/BriefingNote4_GREY.pdf

On the planning cycle for programmes dealing with gender and culture

Men Engage – UNFPA (n/d), Engaging Men, Changing Gender Norms: Directions for Gender-
Transformative Action
http://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/resource-pdf/Advocacy%20Brief-
%20Gender%20Norms-1.pdf

OECD (2014), Social Institutions and Gender Index 2014 - Synthesis Report
http://www.oecd.org/dev/development-gender/BrochureSIGI2015-web.pdf

OECD/ DAC (n-d), Culture, gender equality and development cooperation - Gendernet Practice
Note
http://www.oecd.org/social/gender-development/1896320.pdf

UNFPA (2009), Guidelines for engaging faith-based organisations 9FBOs) as agents of change
https://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/resource-pdf/fbo_engagement.pdf

UN Women (2014), Guide for the evaluation of programmes and projects with a gender, human
rights and intercultural perspective
http://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2014/7/guide-for-the-evaluation-of-
programmes-and-projects-with-a-gender-perspective

23 THEMATIC BRIEF: GENDER AND CULTURE

On gender-sensitive indicators in relation to gender and culture

SIDA (2010), Tool: Indicators for Measuring Results on Gender Equality

http://www.indevelop.se/publications/indicators-for-measuring-results-on-gender-equality/

DANIDA (2006), Gender- sensitive monitoring and indicators

http://amg.um.dk/en/~/media/amg/Documents/Technical%20Guidelines/Monitoring%20and%2
0Indicators/Indicators%20in%20sectors/Gender_Sensitve.pdf

Moghadam Valentine M. and Bagheritari Manilee (2005), Cultures, conventions, and the human
rights of women: Examining the convention for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage, and the
declaration on cultural diversity, SHS Papers in Women’s Studies/Gender Research n.1, UNESCO
http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/SHS/pdf/Cultures_Conventions_HR_Wo
men.pdf

24 THEMATIC BRIEF: GENDER AND CULTURE