Week 9: Part 1 Flashcards
Why focus on women?
-Social Work is a gendered profession
-Approximately 78% of social workers are women
-Statistically, women are more likely to be on both sides of the social encounter
Workers: Social work is a female dominated profession
Clients: Women are more likely to rely on public services
Intersectionality
This concept refers to an approach used in critical social work that takes into account the complex interplay of race, class, gender, sexuality, and other factors that impact life experiences.
-Gender as a category cannot be in isolation. Gender intersects with other aspects of identity.
Intersectionality
This concept refers to an approach used in critical social work that takes into account the complex interplay of race, class, gender, sexuality, and other factors that impact life experiences.
-Gender as a category cannot be in isolation. Gender intersects with other aspects of identity.
Sex
A set of biological attributes in humans and animals. It is primarily associated with physical and physiological features including chromosomes, gene expression, hormone levels and function, and reproductive/sexual anatomy.
Sexism
Sexism refers to prejudice or discrimination based on a person’s sex- it can be blatant or subtle.
Patriarchy
literally means “rule by the father”, or the domination of society by men and male interests.
Gender
Refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviours, expressions and identities of girls, women, boys, men, and gender diverse people. It influences how people perceive themselves and each other, how they act and interact, and the distribution of power and resources in society.
Gender Identity
is not confined to a binary (girl/woman, boy/man) nor is it static; it exists along a continuum and can change over time.
Gender equality
Equal opportunity to realize full human rights; to contribute as equal citizens to national, political, economic, social, and cultural development.
The Four Waves of the Feminist Movement/ First Wave (1840s- 1920s)
Included the temperance movement, women’s missionary and charitable activities, and the suffragette movement.
The Four Waves of the Feminist Movement/ Second Wave (1960s- 1980s)
Had a profound impact through the creation of consciousness-raising groups that questioned gender roles and traditional power relations.
The Four Waves of the Feminist Movement/ Third Wave (1980s- 2000s)
Focused more attention on the idea of intersectionality, calling for a recognition that gender, ability, age, race, sexuality, class, and nationality intersect in shaping women’s experiences.
The Four Waves of the Feminist Movement/ Fourth Wave (emerging)
Embraces digital technologies, including social media, as tools in women’s advancement.
Equal Pay and Employment Equity
-Moving very slowly toward Employment Equity
-From the 1950s onward, increasing numbers of Canadian women entered the labour force, although rarely on equal terms with men.
-The industries and occupations open to women were generally less prestigious
-Women’s incomes were inferior to those of men in same occupations.
-Women were expected to tend to their children, husband, and household affairs, as well as earn an income outside the home.
Fostering Greater Equality for Working Women
Many policy initiatives in the post-World War II period were aimed at fostering greater equality for women at work:
Equal-pay policies. Every province enacted legislation requiring equal pay for similar or substantially similar work.
Equal employment and employment equity. All provinces have employment legislation in place which prohibits discrimination (race, age, religion, nationality, or sex).
Equity-driven legislative and policy changes. Divorce laws, policies against sexual harassment at work,
extended maternity leave, policies to protect part-time and temporary workers, and equal access to higher education.
The Double Burden
The overriding concern that women leave work at the end of the day only to find that they must still assume the “double burden” of work at home and in the family.
Much more needs to be done to ensure wage parity and equal job opportunities for women in Canada.
Lack of Funding
There has been much discussion about the daycare crisis in Canada.
-There is a lack of government funding for child care.
-Costs are prohibitive and spaces are limited (with the exception of Québec, which has a public child-care system in place).
-The parents who most need help, often single mothers, face long waiting lists and struggle to find alternatives.
Unequal Labour Markets
The problems Canadian women face in (and out) of the labour market are still widespread and persistent:
-Under-representation in management roles
-Large proportion of part-time workforce
-Low-wage employment
-Inadequate pensions
-Vulnerability during economic recessions
-Ineligibility for employment insurance
Sexual assault
Sexual assault is any form of unwanted sexual activity, including fondling, touching, and penetration, that is forced upon another person without that person’s consent.
Sexual harassment
Sexual harassment is any unwanted behaviour, comment, gesture, or contact of a sexual nature that treats the person receiving it as a sexual object.
Date Rape
Many sexual assaults occur when women are on a date.
-Acquaintance sexual assault is high in Canada
-The perpetrators were current or former partners, friends, or acquaintances.
-7% of sexual assaults on women were perpetrated by a family member or an authority figure.
Family Violence & Domestic Violence
-Women are often the victims of police-reported violence
-Intimate partner violence includes spousal and dating violence
-People in same sex relationships are also vulnerable to violence by their partners
How to Prevent it
Teach safe & healthy relationship skills
Engage influential adults & peers
Disrupt developmental pathways toward partner violence
Create protective environments
Strengthen economic support for families
Support survivors to increase safety & lessen harm
The Aftermath of Sexual Assault/ How Social Workers can Help
Social workers play an important role in:
-sexual assault crisis centres
-sexual assault helplines
-sexual assault and domestic violence care and treatment centres
-sexual assault survivor centres, and
shelters or transition houses.
Social workers educate the public about sexual violence, advocate for women, and campaign for policy and systemic change.
The Social Worker’s Role
The role of social workers in helping women who are survivors of abuse may include:
Intervening directly in a crisis
Facilitating an empowerment approach
Listening to the woman and empathetically responding
Sharing personal experiences if appropriate
Connecting the woman to a support group
Making appropriate referrals
Advising on legal rights and link to legal resources
Mobilizing safety, legal, and community resources
Providing full follow-up and counselling
Supporting Survivors of Abuse/ Keeping Accurate Records
Practitioners who work with abused women often find it difficult to keep accurate records because they know that these records might be entered as evidence in court proceedings.
Social workers must be mindful of this possibility.
Social workers are expected to keep records or written documents that detail:
-The client’s situation
-The intervention(s) used, and
-The outcomes
The Feminization of Poverty
Two Thirds of the Adult Poor Are Women
Groups Vulnerable to Poverty
-Single mothers. The children of single mothers are almost 4 times more likely to be poor than in two-parent families.
-Visible minority women. 28% of women belonging to visible minority groups live in poverty. (Visible minority women = racialized women)
-Aboriginal women. 37% of Indigenous women in Canada live in poverty.
-Women with disabilities. 33% of women living in poverty have a disability.
-Older women. The biggest increase in old-age poverty occurred among older women, especially those who were divorced or separated (OECD, 2013).
Racialization of Poverty
-Recent acts of racial violence have sparked global outrage and many conversations about systemic racism in many countries
-Systemic racism means that resources, power, & opportunity are systemically distributed to people who are white at the exclusion of people of colour
-Racial disparities therefore occur in employment, housing, education, healthcare, government, & incarceration
-As a result, racialized individuals and Indigenous communities in Canada experience poverty at disproportionately high rates.
-1 in 5 racialized families live in poverty, compared to 1 in 20 non-racialized families (Canada Without Poverty, 2020).
Men’s Poverty vs. Women’s Poverty
-Women’s poverty is caused by different factors compared to men’s poverty.
-Men’s poverty is usually more directly related to low-wage employment.
-Intersectionality also affects men’s wages
-Women’s poverty arises from additional factors, such as:
-divorce and separation
-their responsibilities as mothers, homemakers, & caregivers.
Advocating for Women’s Escape from Poverty
Spreading awareness about the scope of the problem is a critical step toward helping women move out of poverty.
-Social workers should challenge governments at all levels to develop specific strategies to deal with women’s employment, childcare, old-age security, family law, social assistance rates, and general income security.
-Investing in education and career-training programs for women can be of great aid to those who may be struggling to find adequate, full-time employment.
-Changes in policy that address employment discrimination against Indigenous women and women belonging to minority groups can directly improve their living conditions.
The Components of Feminist Social Work Practice
-A belief that social structures & gender stereotypes perpetuate women’s subordination
-Many feminist principles and concepts are similar to those of social work practice, such as empowerment and examining society through a critical lens.
-In her 1995 book Feminist Practice in the 21st Century, Helen Land, an accomplished feminist clinical practitioner & professor, outlines 13 components of feminist social work practice.
Thirteen Components of Feminist Social Work Practice
These 13 components offer a framework for understanding women’s experiences.
-They help social workers support women through difficult times and challenge wider structures and policies that foster gender inequality.
-The 13 principles are becoming an accepted part of standard social work practice.
- Validating the social context.
- Re-valuing positions enacted by women.
- Recognizing differences in men’s and women’s experiences.
- Readjusting perceptions of normality and deviance.
- Taking an inclusive stance.
- Heeding power dynamics in the client-worker relationship.
- Recognizing how “the personal is political.”
- Taking a deconstructive stance.
- Taking a partnering stance.
- Fostering inclusive scholarship.
- Challenging reductionist models.
- Adopting empowerment practice.
- Countering the myth of neutral psychotherapy.
