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Intersectionality in gender inequality

Gender intersects with other factors such as SES, age or ethnicity. The experience of gender inequality can be particularly compounded by the way gender-based discrimination intersects with other forms of diversity such as: disability, cultural diversity, Aboriginality, gender diversity and sexual orientation. Understanding how the intersections between diverse experiences impact safety, economic security, work and leadership is critical for policy making.

Disaggregated data has been used wherever possible within the Baseline Report – breaking down information by Aboriginality, disability, SES and cultural and linguistic diversity. Sample size requirements mean that there are limits to how much data can be disaggregated and still remain robust.

The framework includes six priority areas for disaggregation, namely:

Aboriginal women

Aboriginal women face systemic disadvantages. Compared to non- Aboriginal women, Aboriginal women are 32 times more likely to be hospitalised as a result of family violence1 and are almost 10 times more likely to die from assault.2 Aboriginal women are also at far greater risk of homelessness and incarceration.

Women with disability

It is estimated that in Australia, women with disability are three times more likely to experience sexual violence, and twice as likely to experience partner violence, than women without disability.3 Women with disability are less likely to be in paid employment and are paid less than men with disability and women without disability.4

CALD women

Women from CALD backgrounds face additional barriers to education and employment and may have limited information about their rights. CALD women are over- represented in low paid and insecure work.

For example, migrant women are 7% less likely to be employed than those born in Australia. 37.5% of women accessing domestic violence support services are of non-English speaking backgrounds but represent only 17.3% of the total population in Victoria.5

Age

The impacts of gender vary over a lifetime. For example, during adolescence, expectations of girls are increasingly shaped by gender norms that impact girls’ social, educational and leisure choices.6 Women retire with half the superannuation savings of men, and older women are at greater risk of homelessness than older men.7

Women from low SES backgrounds

Women from low SES backgrounds face barriers in accessing essential services and supports which can compound other gendered disadvantages. For example, socio-economic inequality heightens the risk of violence against women.8

LGBTIQ

LGBTIQ communities face significant barriers to accessing essential inclusive services and supports in the community and are more likely in all Australian workplaces to experience sexual harassment.9 The LGBTIQ community experience discrimination when attempts are made to access essential services, or when attempting to support friends, partners or other individuals who identify as LGBTIQ within the service system.10 This community experiences family violence, and significant discrimination, which have negative implications for individual and collective mental health, general health and wellbeing.11

Footnotes

  1. Steering Committee for the Review of Government Service Provision 2016, Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage: Key Indicators 2016, Productivity Commission, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra.
  2. Department of Premier and Cabinet 2016, Safe and Strong: A Victorian gender equality strategy, Victorian Government, Melbourne.
  3. Krnjacki, L, Emerson, E, Llewellyn G & Kavanagh AM 2016, ‘Prevalence and risk of violence against people with and without disabilities: Findings from an Australian population- based survey’, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, vol 40, no. 1, pp. 16-21.
  4. Department of Premier and Cabinet 2016, Safe and Strong: A Victorian gender equality strategy, Victorian Government, Melbourne.
  5. El Matrah, J 2011, Muslim Women, Islam and Family Violence: A guide for changing the way we work with Muslim women experiencing family violence, The Australian Muslim Women’s Centre for Human Rights, Northcote, Victoria.
  6. ODI 2018, ‘Adolescence and Gender Norms’, Gender & Adolescence: Global evidence, London.
  7. Department of Premier and Cabinet 2016, Safe and Strong: A Victorian gender equality strategy, Victorian Government, Melbourne.
  8. Department of Premier and Cabinet 2016, Free from Violence: Victoria’s strategy to prevent family violence and all forms of violence against women, Victorian Government, Melbourne.
  9. Australian Human Rights Commission, 2015, Face the facts: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex People, https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/education/face-facts-lesbian-gay-bisexual-trans-and-intersex-people
  10. Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, 2007, Stories of discrimination experienced by the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex community, https://www.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/content/pdf/human_rights/lgbti/stories.pdf
  11. Victorian State Government, GLHV, Our Watch, 2017, Summary report: Primary prevention of family violence against people from LGBTI communities, https://www.ourwatch.org.au/getmedia/13fded0c-851b-4935-b402-e00fdb9b6e4b/ Summary-report_Preventing-FV-against-people-in-LGBTI communities-(Accessible-PDF).pdf.aspx, p. 5.

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