BTL 743 - Gender Sensitivity

 

The Banking Tutor’s Lessons

BTL 743                                                                          12-01-2025

Gender Sensitivity

Gender sensitivity is the ability to understand and respect the differences between men and women, and to act in a way that avoids discrimination. It involves:

Considering the impact of decisions on women and men

Taking action to address inequalities between men and women

Acknowledging the different roles, responsibilities, and rights of men and women

Ensuring that the views of both men and women are taken seriously

Gender sensitivity is important because it can help improve living and working conditions for all gender groups, and lead to more effective medical care.

Gender sensitivity can be taught through gender sensitivity training, which is becoming more popular in the United States, especially in the service industry.

Some examples of gender sensitivity in action include:

Using gender-neutral honorifics like "Mx." instead of gendered honorifics like "Mr." or "Mrs."

Using gender-neutral terms like "folks", "friends", or "colleagues" instead of gendered terms like "ladies and gentlemen" or "boys and girls.

Gender Criteria

Gender Criteria identifies the social relations between men and women. It refers to the relationship between men and women and how this is socially constructed. Gender roles are dynamic and change over time.

Gender finance is the field of finance that considers gender-based factors in investment decisions and management. It includes:

Gender Lens Investing (GLI)

Gender lens investing (often abbreviated to GLI) has been around for over a decade. It is the integration of gender analysis into a new or existing investment process for better social and financial outcomes. “Gender finance” is the field of finance viewed from the perspective of gender lens and gender-smart investing.

An investment strategy that integrates gender analysis into the investment process to improve social and financial outcomes. GLI can include investing in women-owned businesses, enterprises that promote workplace equity, or enterprises that offer products or services that improve the lives of women and girls.

Gender Budgeting

A performance-oriented approach that provides evidence on performance from gender perspectives. Gender budgeting can help ensure that public funds are used more effectively.

Gender-responsive budgeting is a strategy that creates budgets that work for everyone. By considering and analyzing the unique and diverse needs of every person, gender-responsive budgets strive for a fair distribution of resources.

Financial Inclusion

A goal that can benefit women, households, communities, and society. However, gender dynamics can hold women back from financial inclusion.

Other initiatives related to gender finance include:

The Gender Financing Project

A project that aims to improve the publication of gender-related financial and programmatic data.

The Denarau Action Plan (DAP)

An action plan adopted by the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) to halve gender gaps in financial inclusion. AFI members committed to the Denarau Action Plan (DAP) to increase women’s access to quality and affordable financial services globally — bridging the financial inclusion gender gap.

The Denarau Action Plan targets to accelerate the progress of women’s financial inclusion by halving the financial inclusion gender gap across AFI member jurisdictions by 2021. 

Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI)

AFI is the world’s leading organization on financial inclusion policy & regulation. A member – owned network, it promotes and develops evidence – based policy solutions that improve lives of the poor through the power of financial inclusion.

The Gender Lens Investing Initiative (GIIN)

An initiative that supports investors in implementing gender lens investing.

Gender and Diversity Finance

Defined simply, Gender and Diversity Finance is the investment practice of intentionally considering how a business affects women and other diverse and marginalised people as part of investment decision-making and management.

The goal of Gender and Diversity Finance is to increase the participation of women and underrepresented groups across the private-sector by promoting more inclusive practices at all levels of business operations (ownership, governance, leadership, workforce, supply chains) and to encourage the development of products and services that meaningfully support all segments of society, particularly those that have been traditionally under-served.

The ultimate impact goal of our Gender and Diversity Finance approach is to improve the lives of women and other systemically under-served groups in our markets by intentionally opening economic opportunities to them.

Until the past few years, most investors (including ourselves) did not consistently consider gender  or other dimensions of diversity as part of standard investment processes, but today that is changing as more investors realise that adopting this approach is not only impactful by reducing inequalities and providing economic benefits to underserved groups, but also a smart investment strategy to realise commercial returns.

There are two primary ways that, as investors, we can increase diversity in our portfolios:

1. Origination - actively seeking investments that are already gender-balanced and inclusive, so that our capital supports inclusive businesses and helps to fill existing finance gaps.

2. Value Creation – working with our investments to help support and ‘nudge’ them to make improvements in gender balance and diverse representation across their business, or to design products and services for women or other underserved consumer segments.

Sekhar Pariti

+91 9440641014