Gender and health
Gender and care cutting edge pack
Supporting care givers without reinforcing gender roles
Authors:
E. Esplen
Publisher:
BRIDGE, 2009
Providing care can be both a source of fulfilment and a major burden. For women and girls in particular, their socially prescribed role as carers can undermine their rights and limit their opportunities, capabilities and choices - posing a fundamental obstacle to gender equality and well-being. This Cutting Edge Pack from BRIDGE assesses how it might be possible to move towards a world in which individuals and society recognise and value the importance of different forms of care, but without reinforcing care work as something that only women can or should do. The pack discusses why care is such an important issue for development work and social justice activism, especially in the face of emerging ‘care crises’ such as ageing populations and the HIV pandemic.
Drawing on diverse examples of initiatives taking place in countries across the world, it considers what strategies offer the best prospects for change. Several sections focus specifically on the impacts of providing care in contexts marked by high HIV prevalence, and on the approaches needed to better respond to the needs and priorities of community and home-based care providers. The document recommends that donors should fund capacity building of grassroots care-givers, women’s organisations and networks, and organisations and networks of people living with HIV and AIDS, to enable care givers to advocate for their rights and represent themselves in local, national and international decision-making forums. The author also argues that donors should support the creation and/or strengthening of local, national and regional home-based care alliances of care providers for people living with HIV and AIDS, to allow care providers to share knowledge, skills, strategies, lessons learned and resources, and to provide spaces for mutual support and organising. Governments should ensure that gender-sensitive care provision is an integral and budgeted aspect of HIV and AIDS policies and programmes.
[adapted from the author]
