Gender Analysis

Gender analysis is defined by the International HIV/AIDS Alliance as “a useful tool that… offers strategies to increase understanding of the impact that policies and programming have on women and girls in all their diversity, compared to men and boys, and transgender people.[1] Particular attention is paid to women and girls from key populations, as well as on trans people … More specifically, a gender analysis makes it easier to see gender inequality and harmful gender norms, as well as gender-related barriers to access to services by highlighting:

• laws, policies and practices that reinforce (or counteract) power imbalances between and among women and men, and the particular marginalisation of trans women.

• advantages and disadvantages experienced by people of different genders in a given context.

• links between gender and other identity factors such as race, age, disability, ethnicity, income, sexual orientation, geographic location and health. A gender analysis can identify gaps in service provision, especially for key populations, as well as reveal opportunities to make services more accessible to underserved groups. It can also identify beliefs, practices and assumptions related to gender that lie at the root of high HIV acquisition, low service uptake, and increased discrimination and violence.”

For a visual depiction of many of the controversial elements that may be considered in a “gender analysis,” see the “Discrimination, Multiple and Intersecting Forms of” and “Diversity, Women in All Their” sections.

[1] International HIV/AIDS Alliance. Good Practice Guide: Gender-transformative HIV programming. (2018, February). Retrieved from https://frontlineaids.org/wp-content/uploads/old_site/alliance_gpg-gender-transformative_original.pdf?1519649267