Candid Community Convos

Candid Community Convos By Emily Bartush and Hannah Veljanovska

Title of work: Respect how I Identify’ Name: Jara Segal Pronouns: she/her

As part of Agents for Change, we hit the streets and got candid with the community about gender equity.

You might be wondering what is gender equity? Gender equity is the process of ensuring women, men and gender diverse peoples have equal access to the same rights and opportunities. So, what is the difference between gender equity and gender equality? Gender equality aims to give women, men and gender diverse peoples the same rights and opportunities. While, gender equity recognises the different needs and conditions that women, men and gender diverse peoples face. Gender equity recognises that women and gender diverse people are not in the same ‘starting position’ as men. Gender equity aims to level this uneven playing field. Gender equity aims to achieve this by treating everyone fairly based on the different levels of social disadvantage they face. This includes treatment that is different but is equivalent in terms of rights and opportunities. Here’s a picture to further explain these differences:

Source: Interaction Institute for Social Change Artist: Angus Maguire

What do we mean by Gender diverse? It’s an umbrella term used to describe gender identities that demonstrate a diversity of expression beyond the binary framework of male and female (cohealth, 2019). If you want to learn more about common terms like ‘gender diverse’ and LGBTIQA+ inclusive language, check out these links here: https://aifs.gov.au/cfca/publications/lgbtiqcommunities https://www.cohealth.org.au/ lgbtiqa-inclusion/