Overview
Gender refers to a culturally defined set of economic, social, and political roles, responsibilities, rights, entitlements, and obligations associated with being female and male. Gender is fundamental to the operation of power relations between and among women and men, boys and girls. It defines our expectations of what it means to be a woman, girl, man, or boy. The sanctions for not adhering to gender expectations vary across cultures and over time, and inevitably intersect with sanctions associated with other individual-defining factors such as race, class, age, and sexual orientation.
Transgender individuals—whether they identify as men, women, both, or neither—are subjected to the expectations and sanctions associated with the gender assigned to them at birth. An unwillingness or inability to conform to these expectations by anyone, and particularly by transgender individuals, usually has severe (and sometimes fatal) consequences. HP+ rejects this inflexible imposition of gender "rules" and recognizes full gender equality as a core development objective, fundamental to the realization of human rights and key to the achievement of positive health and development outcomes.
Critical to our work is a clear understanding of how gender influences policy environments, the development and implementation of health programs, and health outcomes. As a cross-cutting issue, gender equality is incorporated into all aspects of HP+ activities, both to facilitate achievement of positive results and to ensure that all people—regardless of gender identity or sexual preference—enjoy equal human rights and socially valued goods, opportunities, and resources.
