What is “gender mainstreaming”?
“Gender mainstreaming” is the United
Nations’ key strategy to promote women’s
interest and to achieve gender equality. It
makes the perspectives and needs of both
genders one of the mainstream considerations in the
design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of all
legislation, public policies and programmes. It seeks to
ensure that women and men have equitable access to,
and benefit from, society’s resources and opportunities.
Why do we need to make the perspectives
and needs of both genders a mainstream
consideration?
Since women and men have different lives, needs and
experiences, policies and measures which apparently
accord the same treatment might have different impact
on people of different genders. Therefore, we need to
make gender an independent consideration to prevent
unfairness to both women and men.
Gender Mainstreaming also helps us to balance the
needs of both genders more effectively in making
policies and designing programmes, thus enabling our
proposals to gain more support from the public.
Policy commitment of the Government
The HKSAR Government has accepted the Women’s
Commission’s recommendation and has since 2002
introduced gender mainstreaming. We have also
committed to progressively implementing gender
mainstreaming in all policy and programme areas.
How to implement “gender mainstreaming”
in daily work?
“Gender mainstreaming” is not meant
to be an extra task, but rather it is the
incorporation of gender perspective as
one of our mainstream consideration
factors in our daily work process. It is
most important that colleagues have
good gender awareness and sensitivity and can identify
the different perspectives and needs of both genders.
• To assist government officers in implementing
“gender mainstreaming”, the Women’s Commission
has designed a Checklist. The Checklist contains a
set of simple “yes” and “no” questions to assist us in
considering the different needs and perspectives of
both genders in a more systematic way during the
process of design, implementation, monitoring and
evaluation of policies.
• Bureaux and departments should collect and
analyse relevant sex-disaggregated data during the
policy formulation and programme implementation
processes. Reference may be made to the annual
publication “Women and Men in Hong Kong – Key
Statistics” and other thematic reports published by
the Census and Statistics Department.
How to get more information about the
subject?
At present, each bureau and department has designated
a “Gender Focal Point” (GFP) who serves as the
contact and resource person within his / her respective
organisation and is tasked to help raise awareness
and understanding of gender-related
issues, and promote the application of
the “gender mainstreaming” concept
by staff in their daily work. If you
have question, you may contact your
department’s GFP.
Furthermore, you may contact the Labour and Welfare
Bureau (LWB), which is responsible for “gender
mainstreaming”, for enquiry and consultation. You
may also visit the “gender mainstreaming” website
(http://www.lwb.gov.hk/Gender_Mainstreaming/eng/
main.html) developed by LWB for more information.
Examples on application of “gender mainstreaming”
Correctional Services Department (CSD)
Using sex-disaggregated data to tailor policies, programmes and services to the needs of female persons in custody
The roles played by females in offences, the reasons why they turn to crime and their means of committing the offences
are very different from male offenders. Male and female offenders also have different risk factors for recidivism. Female
persons in custody, especially those who have experienced violence or physical abuse, may have gender-related needs
with regard to family responsibilities, employment, or medical, psychological and mental care. In view of this, CSD
applied the gender mainstreaming concept in its gender-specific risks and needs programme for female offenders and introduced
a gender-responsive programme in correctional institutions.
PSY GYM
The Psychological Gymnasium – Personal Growth and Emotion Treatment Centre for Women (PSY GYM)
in the Lo Wu Correctional Institution is a specialised unit set up by CSD to address the specific needs of
female offenders. The PSY GYM provides psychological services for female offenders with moderate to high
re-offending risks and with special treatment needs. Its services include thorough psychological assessment
and a range of systematic treatment programmes specifically designed for female persons in custody.
CSD analysed sex-disaggregated data (e.g. clinical profile of offenders) when developing the PSY GYM programme. Statistics
indicate that female offenders have higher prevalence of psychopathology than male offenders, and there are marked gender
differences in re-offending risks and rehabilitation needs. Gender-specific programmes are therefore introduced to cater for the
needs of specific service targets. The programme contents and mode of delivery are designed to enable individual coaching/
interaction in a therapeutic environment.
Social Welfare Department (SWD)
Buildings Department (BD)
Integrated Family Service
Centres
Increasing the number of compartments in
female toilets
Applying the concept of
gender mainstreaming, Integrated Family Service Centres
take gender issues into consideration in service design,
implementation, evaluation and review. For example, mutual
help groups are designed to enhance women’s participation
and mutual support in local communities. As for evaluation
of programme effectiveness, views are collected through
various means from users of both genders. The findings
are presented in a sex-disaggregated format to facilitate
service assessment and planning.
Given that women generally use the toilet for a
longer time, queues are more likely to form in
female toilets and cause inconvenience to the users if the
male/female toilet compartment ratio is 1:1.
Victim Support Programme for Victims of
Family Violence
SWD implemented the Victim Support
Programme for Victims of Family Violence
to provide comprehensive support services
to strengthen protection for victims of spouse/cohabitant
battering and child abuse, including those undergoing
judicial proceedings.
SWD took account of gender
perspectives in designing the Programme’s mode of
service. For example, flexible service hours are arranged
to meet the needs of some victims (such as those who are
mothers), and temporary child care services are available
for victims who need to take some time off for police station
interviews or court hearings.
The provision of female toilets in public places
in recent years was found inadequate. In
response, BD conducted a thorough and
comprehensive review of the provision of
sanitary fitments for female.
The review
involved on-site surveys of the provision of sanitary fitments
in various premises, as well as the level of usage, queuing
time, usage time and level of user satisfaction of both male
and female users. The Gender Mainstreaming Checklist
was also applied in the review.
Based on the findings of the review, BD proposed in 2012
legislative amendments to improve the provision of sanitary
fitments. A male/female ratio of 1:1.5 (instead of the current
1:1) was recommended for assessing the numbers of men
and women in public places. It is expected that female
sanitary fitments in shopping arcades/department stores,
cinemas and places of public entertainment will increase by
60%, 160% and 185% respectively.
Compiled by the Labour and Welfare Bureau
Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
2014