School of Public Health, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa.
Int J Equity Health. 2023 Feb 24;22(1):36. doi: 10.1186/s12939-022-01819-w.
Gender equality remains an outstanding global priority, more than 25 years after the landmark Beijing Platform for Action. The disconnect between global health policy intentions and implementation is shaped by several conceptual, pragmatic and political factors, both globally and in South Africa. Actor narratives and different framings of gender and gender equality are one part of the contested nature of gender policy processes and their implementation challenges. The main aim of this paper is to foreground the range of policy actors, describe their narratives and different framings of gender, as part exploring the social construction of gender in policy processes, using the Adolescent Youth Health Policy (AYHP) as a case study.
A case study design was undertaken, with conceptual underpinnings combined from gender studies, sociology and health policy analysis. Through purposive sampling, a range of actors were selected, including AYHP authors from government and academia, members of the AYHP Advisory Panel, youth representatives from the National Department of Health Adolescent and Youth Advisory Panel, as well as adolescent and youth health and gender policy actors, in government, academia and civil society. Qualitative data was collected via in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 30 policy actors between 2019 and 2021. Thematic data analysis was used, as well as triangulation across both respondents, and the document analysis of the AYHP.
Despite gender power relations and more gender-transformative approaches being discussed during the policy making process, these were not reflected in the final policy. Interviews revealed an interrelated constellation of diverse and juxtaposed actor gender narratives, ranging from framing gender as equating girls and women, gender as inclusion, gender as instrumental, gender as women's rights and empowerment and gender as power relations. Some of these narrative framings were dominant in the policy making process and were consequently included in the final policy document, unlike other narratives. The way gender is framed in policy processes is shaped by actor narratives, and these diverse and contested discursive constructions were shaped by the dynamic interactions with the South Africa context, and processes of the Adolescent Youth Health Policy. These varied actor narratives were further contextualised in terms of reflections of what is needed going forward to advance gender equality in adolescent and youth health policy and programming. This includes prioritising gender and intersectionality on the national agenda, implementing more gender-transformative programmes, as well as having the commitments and capabilities to take the work forward.
The constellation of actors' gender narratives reveals overlapping and contested framings of gender and what is required to advance gender equality. Understanding actor narratives in policy processes contributes to bridging the disconnect between policy commitments and reality in advancing the gender equality agenda.
距离具有里程碑意义的《北京行动纲要》出台已有 25 年多，但全球仍在努力实现性别平等这一突出的全球优先事项。从全球到南非，在全球卫生政策意图和实施之间存在脱节，这是由若干概念性、务实性和政治性因素造成的。行为体的叙述和对性别与性别平等的不同框架是性别政策进程及其实施挑战具有争议性的部分原因。本文的主要目的是突出政策行为体的范围，描述他们对性别的叙述和不同框架，以此作为探索政策进程中性别社会构建的一部分，以青少年健康政策（AYHP）为例。
本研究采用案例研究设计，从性别研究、社会学和卫生政策分析中汲取概念基础。通过目的性抽样，选择了一系列行为体，包括来自政府和学术界的 AYHP 作者、AYHP 咨询小组的成员、国家卫生部青少年和青年咨询小组的青年代表，以及政府、学术界和民间社会的青少年和青年健康以及性别政策行为体。2019 年至 2021 年期间，通过深入的半结构化访谈收集了 30 名政策行为体的定性数据。使用了主题数据分析，并对受访者以及 AYHP 的文件分析进行了三角测量。
尽管在政策制定过程中讨论了性别权力关系和更具性别变革性的方法，但这些并没有反映在最终政策中。访谈揭示了相互关联的多样化并列行为体性别叙述，范围从将性别视为等同于女孩和妇女、性别视为包容、性别视为工具、性别视为妇女权利和赋权以及性别视为权力关系。这些叙述框架中的一些在政策制定过程中占据主导地位，因此被纳入最终政策文件，而其他叙述则没有。政策进程中性别框架的构建方式受到行为体叙述的影响，这些多样化和有争议的话语构建受到南非背景和青少年健康政策进程动态互动的影响。这些不同的行为体叙述进一步从需要在青少年和青年健康政策和方案中推进性别平等方面进行了背景化。这包括将性别和交叉问题列入国家议程的优先事项，实施更多具有性别变革性的方案，以及具备推进工作的承诺和能力。
行为体性别叙述的组合揭示了对性别和推进性别平等所需条件的重叠和有争议的框架。了解政策进程中的行为体叙述有助于弥合政策承诺与推进性别平等议程的现实之间的脱节。
