Gender equality
We seek gender equality because all lives — hers, theirs and his — are equal.
Gender equality is achieved when people of all genders and sexual orientations have the opportunity to exercise and enjoy equal rights.
Society has made progress on advancing gender equality, but there are still huge gender gaps. All around the world, women, girls and people of diverse genders and sexualities are more likely than men to face discrimination and violence, and to live in poverty. They are also less likely to have the power to change their circumstances.
Gender inequality is a human construct, and we can overcome it. It is caused by gender bias in our systems, structures and attitudes, which create an environment where women, girls and people of diverse genders and sexualities are denied their rights to learn, earn equal pay and hold leadership positions.
Oxfam Australia recognises that many factors drive discrimination, including colonisation, location, social class, (dis)ability status, age, language, ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender identity. As identities are complex and overlapping, a person might face multiple forms of exclusion. For example, someone from a minority gender, sexual identity or racial background, who also has a disability, faces multiple disadvantage when it comes to enjoying equal rights.
Economic empowerment and equal opportunities
Women and girls face discrimination at home, at school and in the workplace, which means they do not have the same opportunities as men to earn a fair income. Girls are less likely to go to school, and women and girls largely bear the responsibility of unpaid care and household work.
To achieve gender equality, girls must be able to attend school alongside boys. Women, LGBTQIA+ people and people living with a disability must have the opportunity to develop the skills they need to earn an income.
Ending violence
Violence against women, girls, people from diverse genders and sexualities and people with disabilities is one of the most common human rights abuses in the world. To combat this violence, Oxfam Australia advocates for stronger laws that protect everyone, and we work with authorities to ensure these laws are enforced.
In many instances, we work in communities where prejudice and gender roles are deeply entrenched and result in harmful practices and social norms. We work together with men, women, LGBTQIA+ people and people with disabilities to understand, challenge and change the harmful attitudes and behaviours that lead to inequality.
In partnership with local rights-based organisations, we provide critical support and safe places for survivors of violence to go. When women, people of diverse genders and sexual orientations, and people with disabilities can live free from the threat of violence they will have the chance to live life to their full potential.
Challenging patriarchal structures
Our society is built on systems and structures that keep women, people of minority genders and sexual orientations and people with disabilities living in poverty. To achieve gender equality, representatives of all these communities must be at the table where decisions about their lives are made. That’s why we support programs that connect people from these groups with opportunities to gain the skills and confidence to speak up, be counted, lead and drive change.
For women and girls, the time they devote to caring and domestic work often leads to them missing out on career and leadership opportunities. Oxfam works with families to help them navigate a new way of distributing unpaid work.
When diverse sexuality and gender identity leads to discrimination, people’s right to make decisions about their bodies, sexuality, identity and intimate consensual relations are violated. That’s why a critical part of Oxfam’s work challenges legal and social barriers. We advocate for the rights of people in LGBTQIA+ communities and work in solidarity with LGBTQIA+ groups.
How is Oxfam promoting gender equality?
At Oxfam, we ensure that all our work, and the way we do it, contributes to gender equality by transforming the balance of power between men and people of other genders.
This means consulting people of all genders and sexual orientations and considering their different needs and perspectives in our work. This way, we ensure that our programs help change existing gender imbalances. Our work towards gender justice falls into the following primary areas:
- Women’s economic empowerment
- Women’s participation and leadership
- Ending violence
- Promoting the rights of people of all genders and sexualities, and people with disabilities
What is Oxfam doing to help?
Right across the globe, we partner with local organisations and governments to implement programs and projects that promote women’s rights and gender equality. Here are just a few of the many ways we are making a difference:
In Fiji, we are supporting people in sexual and gender minority communities, leading to opportunities for women’s economic empowerment.
In Pakistan, we are working with women towards increasing their leadership opportunities and gaining equal participation in political processes.
In Papua New Guinea, we are striving to end violence against women and girls, including sorcery-related violence.
In Solomon Islands, we are engaging with men and boys, motivating them to reject domestic violence and adopt healthy attitudes and behaviours towards women and girls.
In Vanuatu, we are supporting programs that are creating opportunities for women, people with disabilities, young people and sexual and gender minority communities to earn a living.
Gender equality facts
- Today, nearly 120 million girls do not go to school (Malala Fund, 2024).
- Women perform most of the world’s unpaid care work, such as taking care of children and elderly relatives, which reduces their ability to participate in the paid workforce (The BMJ, 2021).
- Around 2.4 billion women of working age are not afforded equal economic opportunity (United Nations, 2024).
- In many countries, women cannot access reproductive health services or make decisions about their own bodies (United Nations Population Fund, 2021).
- Women are particularly vulnerable to poverty between the ages of 25 and 34, when they are most likely to have young children (UN Women, 2021).
- The global prevalence of child marriage has declined by about 10% in the past five years (United Nations, 2022).
- One in three women around the world experience physical or sexual violence at least once in their lifetime (World Health Organization, 2024).
- More than 230 million girls and women alive today have undergone female genital mutilation (World Health Organization, 2024).
- Studies reveal that LGBTQI+ people experience extremely high rates of violence all over the world (What Works to Prevent Violence, 2022).
- Globally, 66 countries criminalise consensual, same-sex sexual activity and 14 countries criminalise the gender expression/identity of transgender people (Australian Council for International Development, 2024).
Our stories
When you support Oxfam, you help create a world without the inequality that fuels poverty. Here’s what that looks like for the communities we work with.
“We have to work together in term of conservation, because it will provide the long-term benefits for next generations.”
Meet Siphon
“I knew that our next step forward was going to be to digitise our knowledge, just because of technology — that’s the way that it’s going.”
Meet Obby![Bangladesh: Munni is a tea garden worker and earns just 170 Taka [AU$2.30] per day. She has to take out loans in order to buy groceries and then struggles to pay these loans back. Munni attended training run by Oxfam partner organisation, Breaking the Silence, and says she has gained courage through this training. Photo: Fabeha Monir/Oxfam](https://www.oxfam.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Munni-crop.png "Bangladesh: Munni is a tea garden worker and earns just 170 Taka [AU$2.30] per day. She has to take out loans in order to buy groceries and then struggles to pay these loans back. Munni attended training run by Oxfam partner organisation, Breaking the Silence, and says she has gained courage through this training. Photo: Fabeha Monir/Oxfam")
“When meetings started here, I attended those and gradually gained courage.”
Meet Munni
“When I became involved with the VPride … it also helped to build up my confidence.”
Meet Yannick
“I’m working with Oxfam on a project that supports women in rural areas to respond and adapt to natural disasters.”
Meet Magda
