Capacity building on gender equality
Essential gender competencies for health providers, police, educators, and social workers in addressing violence against women and girls
Gender competencies encompass a comprehensive set of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and beliefs that individuals need to have, to ensure their work is responsive to gender-specific issues, especially in preventing and responding to gender-based violence (GBV). This approach goes beyond mere gender sensitivity, recognizing that it takes more than awareness to promote gender equality and transformative change. Gender competencies combine gender-related knowledge, skills, attitudes and beliefs along with the necessary resources, enabling individuals to perform their professional duties efficiently and creatively. These competencies focus on upholding rights, equal opportunities, non-exclusion, non-discrimination, and non-violence while also contributing to overall well-being, human development, and fostering changes that advance societal transformation.
Service providers play a crucial role in addressing violence against women and girls (VAWG) by serving as potential agents of change. They ensure the protection of human rights, influence gender norms, and raise awareness within communities. To effectively fulfill these transformative roles in combating VAWG, service providers need specific gender competencies. The three primary general gender competencies are:
- Guarantee human rights
- Transform gender norms and eliminate harmful stereotypes
- Engage in intercultural and community practices
Resources
A practical 12-page guide on the gender competencies that frontline health providers, police, educators and social workers need to have to address violence against women and girls. It includes general gender competencies for all and then specific gender competencies for each frontline worker.