As an organisation committed to promoting health for all, and especially for those most socially excluded by health systems, Médecins du Monde fights for healthcare which is non-discriminatory and free of inequality. We promote and implement actions to promote gender equality both in our field work and through our internal policies.
The Médecins du Monde Gender policy
In April 2020, we adopted a Gender Policy. The result of a collective effort, this text defines our principles and our organisational and operational commitments.
Healt : a gender issue?
Gender as a social determinant of health
Médecins du Monde considers health to be a biopsychosocial fact determined by people’s environments and way of life. Various factors condition people’s vulnerability to disease, their use of healthcare and their opportunities to access and exercise their right to health: these are the “social determinants of health”.
These determinants include gender, in conjunction with other factors such as social class, age, ethnicity and sex. Gender is considered to be one of the social determinants that will have the greatest impact on people’s health. It will determine how women, men and non-binary people will fall ill and how they should be treated.
Gender at the heart of our health actions
Médecins du Monde mainstreams the gender approach throughout the project cycle, adapting its actions and responding to the gender-specific needs of the people we work with and questioning and transforming gender inequalities that have an impact on health and the right to health.
To achieve this, we use many strategies related to the gender approach, as well as complementary actions and methods:
Rapid gender analysis in our humanitarian responses. As part of our humanitarian response to the crisis in northern Burkina Faso, we conducted a rapid gender analysis at the beginning of the mission, which enabled us to identify the needs of women, girls, men and boys in relation to sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence. This analysis allowed us to adapt our response to the reality on the ground and the impact of the crisis on the evolution of gender relations.
Adapting our services to people’s needs. In 2019, the Midi-Pyrénées regional office carried out an analysis of the needs of women living on the streets and who are supported by Médecins de Monde teams. This diagnosis made it possible to identify the specific and practical needs of these women and to adapt the services by addressing, among other things, the issue of period poverty and the overexposure to gender-based violence that they were experiencing.
Promoting empowerment. Médecins du Monde works with sex workers (SWs) to support them in identifying and protecting themselves from the different types of gender-based violence they may experience. Through self-help and feminist self-defence groups, the organisation brings together sex workers in Paris with the aim of reducing the risks associated with sex work.
- For more information on the work we do through Projet Jasmine, visit the website.
Work on co-responsibility in health. The work carried out between 2016 and 2018 in Madagascar on the prevention of unwanted teenage pregnancies enabled us to set up actions that specifically target boys, so that they take responsibility for their sexual and reproductive health and that of their couple.
Gender in society
Physical, sexual and psychological autonomy
As part of its commitment to feminism, Médecins du Monde adopts a holistic approach to health that includes promoting and defending the sexual and reproductive rights of all, combating all forms of violence and more specifically gender-based violence that have an impact on the health of women, men and LGTBQI+ people who experience it, and promoting positive mental health that enhances everyone’s well-being.
Gender-based and sexual violence in the workplace
Among the organisational measures that Médecins du Monde has taken in relation to gender, we are committed to promoting a culture of gender equality, non-discrimination and non-sexism. In line with this commitment, a policy against harassment, abuse and sexual and gender-based exploitation has been established.
This policy defines sexism as “a discriminatory attitude towards a person because of their sex and/or, by extension, their gender” and distinguishes between ordinary, benevolent and hostile sexism. It makes it helps identify gender-based violence, sexual assault, sexual abuse, sexual harassment and sexual exploitation. It also highlights the mechanisms that exist to prevent this type of violence and to protect the people involved at Médecins du Monde by making our institution a violence-free place.
