Gender Sensitivity Training

          Gender sensitivity as stated by the DSWD, "paves the way for equality, empowerment, self-respect and sustainable development."  It is important to learn it so that we can better understand the different needs of different people and destroy gender stereotypes that have plagued our society.  Gender sensitivity has been a hot issue over the past few years and even until now, it continues to be one.

         I missed the lecture on Gender Sensitivity Training but I have ample knowledge on the subject.  My mother worked as a local coordinator of the Great Women's Project (until its completion) and as you can predict, gender talks are common in our home.  She scolded us every time we reinforce societal stereotypes like and we were changed for the better.

       She always spoke of how people should be sensitive to the needs of women and how we should treat them with respect and with a sense of equality.  She also focused on topics like equal rights for both men and women which I found interesting; we are all created equal by God after all.  But she also said that even though men and women are equal in their rights, there are some roles in society that are exclusive to men and to women only (like pregnancy for women) and we should be sensitive to the needs that these roles require.

       One important lesson that my mother showed me in terms of gender sensitivity is respect for others and their decisions.  This lesson has also manifested in the way my family does things; we are a Christian family, my father is a pastor and we believe that same-sex marriage is not right.  Yet, despite our beliefs, we do not discriminate homosexuals but we respect their rights.  I think this is the core of gender sensitivity: respect.  We should respect others the way we want them to respect us.

       To summarize, gender sensitivity is critical in the present times.  We must look out for the needs of other people, and have respect for each other.  We must also help stop discrimination and strive for equality.  Let us keep making our society a better place.