What is equity and equality?
Equity is giving everyone what they need to be successful.
Equality is treating everyone the same or providing the same help to everyone.
The World Health Organisation recognises gender equity as “more than formal equality of opportunity, gender equity refers to the different needs, preferences and interests of women and men. This may mean that different treatment is needed to ensure equality of opportunity.
Gender equity is often used interchangeably with gender equality, but the two refer to different, complementary strategies that are needed to reduce gender-based health inequities”. It often requires women-specific programs and policies to end existing inequalities.
Violence against women is defined as any act of gender-based violence that causes or could cause physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of harm or coercion, in public or in private life. Gender-based violence is violence specifically ‘directed against a woman because she is a woman or that affects women disproportionately’. It can occur in homes, in social and recreational contexts, on the street, in workplaces, schools or online, and at the hands of perpetrators either known or unknown to the victim.
Violence against women occurs across the whole community; however certain groups of women experience much higher rates of male violence than others. These groups include women with disabilities, Aboriginal women, women in rural and remote areas, and immigrant and refugee women.
Sexual health is an important element of health and wellbeing. Sexual health requires respect, safety and freedom from discrimination and violence. It is critically influenced by power dynamics, gender norms and expectations and is expressed through diverse sexualities.
Sexually transmissible infections and blood-borne viruses place a significant burden on the Victorian community.