PHOTO: PAUL HERRMANN/PROFILE.

COURTESY OF CHURCH ACTION ON POVERTY

Ripe for regeneration? Housing

estate in Manchester, England.

Gender: at the heart

of regeneration
ORE women than men live in poverty on deprived estates.

M Women in general have lower incomes than men. They are

more likely to be carers and they make up 91 per cent of lone
parents. And while they are the majority in community groups, women
are in the minority when it comes to making the decisions.
Meanwhile, more men are beaten up in the street, and boys are doing worse than girls
at school. It is clear that social exclusion and regeneration cannot be addressed without
taking gender issues into account, because men and women experience poverty differently.
Gender lies at the heart of urban regeneration, which covers a wide range of services
housing, transport, education, health and crime. All these have different impacts on men
and women. And yet gender issues are not always recognised when it comes to
regeneration schemes.

Why the silence? Gender matters

So why is this? The UK has had some form
of regeneration policy for at least 35 years.
But throughout that time, gender has only
been used to highlight problems such as
single parents and underachieving boys.
Research has shown some of the reasons
for this:1
Lack of government requirements
for regeneration projects to tackle
gender issues.
Too few statistics broken down by
gender; too little monitoring or evidence
of good practice on gender issues.
Barriers to participation and
consultation with communities,
and women in particular.
Failure to set gender-specific targets
and outputs.
In recent years regeneration work has
started to look at social exclusion and
community participation. This has opened
up the possibility of putting gender on
the agenda.
When gender issues have been taken on
board, it has made a significant difference.
Better targeting and results are obtained
for the whole community through an
awareness of women and mens differing
needs. Womens confidence, skills and
participation have grown. Communities have
gained greater understanding on which to
build programmes and funding applications.
The projects outlined on the next pages
give a glimpse of the many facets of
regeneration policy and how it can be
improved by making gender central to
all aspects of its work.

UK Poverty
Programme
 PHOTO: RACHEL MORTON/OXFAM
Graffiti on Gellideg
housing estate in Wales.

1 Participation
and social inclusion
PHOTO COURTESY OF WOMEN'S DESIGN SERVICE

F women are single pensioners, unemployed, Pakistani

I or Bangladeshi, teenage heads of household, or tenants,

they are more likely to be poor than men with the same
characteristics. They are also likely to be excluded from
decisions about their lives. The following projects illustrate
how involving them can make a big difference
Gellideg is an estate in Merthyr Tydfil, an area with some
of the highest indices of deprivation in Wales. In 1998,
six local women got together and formed the Gellideg
Foundation Group. With Oxfams help, they began to ask
Somirun Bibi (right) and Rukban some fundamental questions about the 3,500 people who
Rouf, Women and Regeneration
Project volunteers. lived on the estate. Did women and men experience poverty
differently? How could they be involved in improving their
Since Ive been

situation? What had to happen to bring about change?

working on this Interviews looked at the different needs of men and women
project Ive done and issues around training and employment, childcare,
all sorts of things I stereotyping, low self-esteem and low expectations. Gender
analysis focused on how women and men, old and young,
havent done before.

coped differently with their different situations.
Somirun Bibi, volunteer,
Women and Regeneration project The Foundation made recommendations for change at local,
regional and national levels. They successfully applied for
European funding to carry some of these out. And they found
that the process had changed them as well.
The Women and Regeneration Project was part of the
Womens Design Service. The project aimed to build the
capacity of women to influence the decisions and policies of
their regeneration partnership boards and develop guidance
for good practice. It focused on the involvement of specific
groups, including elderly women, disabled women, ethnic
minority women and women on low incomes. Case studies
included community consultation exercises where local
women undertook surveys of womens perceptions and
We dont recognise needs in regeneration. For example, one of their findings

was that Black and minority ethnic women experience racism

ourselves were
and discrimination when using the built environment. One
so gender aware now, disabled woman noted how difficult it was to get around:
we even heckled the You can only wait so long at a bus stop after the third or fourth
stand-up comic on our bus goes past, when the driver says the ramp does not work, its
Christmas night out for much more tempting to turn around and go home.

sexual stereotyping! The project resulted in increased skills for the women
Mark Connolly, involved and better information for policy makers.
Gellideg Foundation Group
2 Gender mainstreaming:
building in not building on
UTTING gender at the centre of regeneration schemes

P can make them more successful. Glasgow Women and

Social Inclusion Working Group (GWSIWG) has been
working with regeneration decision-makers to raise awareness
of gender issues and to use gender impact assessment tools
to support improved regeneration.
Individual meetings with Social Inclusion Partnership (SIP)
members led to the commissioning of a study into the
awareness of gender equality and gender mainstreaming in
SIPs. An agreement followed that a gender impact assessment
would be undertaken in a SIP. Greater Govan SIP, Oxfam and
others are currently working on a longer-term Gender
Development Programme, including gender impact assessment
and capacity building for participants. Also planned is work on
learning and advocacy, to ensure that lessons learnt from the
programme can inform regeneration practice in Scotland and

elsewhere more widely in the future. Mainstreaming
is a strategy that
Projects are beginning to emerge in other SIP areas that
aims to make equality
respond to the different needs of men and women. The
Healthy Living Project, while broadly constructed, has considerations a
specifically targeted mens health issues in the Gorbals, and regular part of the
Greater Easterhouse has undertaken a review of womens mainstream policy
services in the area.2 process. It entails
In 2000, South Yorkshire obtained European funding through building in equality
Objective 1. As such funding includes a requirement to main- rather than building it
stream gender, this became central to all regeneration projects. on to existing policies
As a result, there have been a number of initiatives including:

and programmes.3
A cross-cutting themes team whose role is to embed Engendering the work of SIPS in
gender equality in all aspects of the funding process. Glasgow, Rona Fitzgerald, 2002

A Gender Task Group which scrutinises and coordinates

activity throughout the programme.
A fund for positive action projects to tackle labour market
segregation; promote work-life balance in employment;
to advance gender balance in decision making and target We must be more

unemployed men and womens employment.
organised. We need
A gender manager to oversee projects and progress
a structure to broaden
on mainstreaming.
out involvement and to
A gender champion to actively promote understanding
build a strong lobbying
among staff, partners and project applicants.

organisation.4
Research on baseline information to monitor gender,
Laura Moynahan, Netherthorpe and
ethnicity and disability and monitor the gender balance Upperthorpe Community Alliance
of all programme structures.
DAVID ROSE/PANOS PICTURES
C
Poor quality 1950s
housing regeneration
in Drumchapel,
Glasgow, Scotland. 3 Employment and training
On a personal note
this period (2002 -
2003) ends with an air
of optimism because
I have seen the huge
opportunities available
to us as women and
as an organisation.
Isadora Aiken, South Yorkshire
Womens Development Trust
Facts on gender,
poverty and regeneration
HILE almost half of housing employees are women,
W they tend not to work in the professions that construct
the environment in which we live. In 1996, only 9% of
chartered surveyors, 12% of architects, and 23% of registered
town planners were women.5 Projects which encourage and
train women in such professions are therefore crucial in
getting womens ideas and skills into the built environment.
In April 2002, the South Yorkshire Womens Development
Trust was established to provide a voice for women across
the region, to provide links between different people and
organisations, and to look at accessing funding and sharing
resources and expertise. The Trust coordinates a number
of projects related to regeneration and gender under the
European Unions Objective 1 funding. One of these projects
is WITBE Women in the Built Environment, which works
directly with women to provide professional guidance.
Jennie Fortune, an architect from Sheffield Hallam Universitys
School of Environment and Development says: Many women
and girls are put off jobs in the built environment because of the
macho image and perceptions of the behaviour that goes on. We
offer structured support to women and girls going into training
and jobs in the built environment.
One WITBE initiative took sixth form girls from South
Yorkshire schools to a day event. In the morning, the girls
surveyed a dilapidated old shop with a brief to turn it into a
snazzy new cafe/bar. They were shown how to look for damp
and defects, how to change the structure, and think about
access and building regulations. Later, they designed the
cafe/bar, taking everything theyd learned in the morning into
account. The day ended with a visit to a Gleesons building
site in Sheffield. The girls verdict on the day: a brilliant day;
thank you for the experience; it has made me seriously consider
construction as a job and as a result I am going to apply for
the architecture course at Hallam University.6
Almost half of all women have total individual
incomes of less than 100 a week, compared with
less than a fifth of men.7
In one survey, 16.5% of women and 9.2% of men
said they did not have even a small amount of money
to spend on themselves each week.8
PHOTO: WITBE (www.shu.ac.uk/schools/sed/witbe)

Sixth form girls learning

about building renovation.

4 Crime and disorder

EAR makes it a problem for many women to go out on

F the streets, especially in deprived areas. In one survey,

42% of women but only 16.5% of men felt restricted
because they felt unsafe,9 although men are more at risk
from violence on the streets. Becoming aware of such
gender issues can help to combat crime and fear of crime.
A report on gender mainstreaming in Thurrock, in South
Essex, recognised that crime was an issue for women and
Where have the

that measures needed to be taken by the council to reduce
crime and fear of crime against women. last 25 years gone
In 2001 members of the voluntary and statutory agencies and what have we
established a Violence Against Women Alliance (VAWA). seen for it? From
The VAWA Joint Investment Plan addresses the needs of childcare to eldercare
women, and offers a gender-sensitive approach.
the barriers remain
The police have specific targets to cut street crime and
We need a steam-
car crime. Locally they operate a proactive policing policy,
and are working to increase police responses to incidents
roller to move
of domestic violence. womens issues
The police, working in partnership with Thurrock Life Line forwards in

Community Call centre, established a new service aimed regeneration.10
at providing support and assistance for people suffering Pat Midgeley,
Lord Mayor of Sheffield
from domestic violence, crime and racial harassment.
South Essex Rape and Incest Crisis Centre (RESPECT)
works with young people using drama and discussion to
raise issues such as power and control within
relationships, sexual and domestic violence, pregnancy,
and drug and alcohol misuse.

Work at Oak Wood has been undertaken to improve Women (of all
visibility into the forest from the road to enhance safety ages) are
for women users. largely invisible in
Five street wardens had been appointed (with one more the National Strategy
waiting to take up their post). As a result of a conscious for Neighbourhood
diversity policy, these were two women and three men

Renewal.11
from white, Asian and Black African ethnic backgrounds. Young, urban and female,
YWCA, 2001

Only 30% of minority ethnic women are managers
or professionals, compared to 40% of black men,
even though 52% of black women have further and
higher education qualifications, compared to 28%
of white women and 36% of black men.12
Men are twice as likely as women to be sacked or
13
made redundant.
91% of lone parents are women: lone mothers and
older single women are most likely to suffer from
chronic or persistent poverty.14
 Fundraising stall held by
Cae Mawr (FOJ) community
group, Llandudno, Wales.
It is essential that
the big spending
priorities have
women involved.15
Janet Dean, Director of Environment
and Leisure, Doncaster MBC
Through our
workshops with
ReGender we now know
our voices can be
listened to... We have
gained confidence and
we are getting to know
people who make
decisions in our local
community. We are
gaining respect
for our efforts.
Woman from
Cae Mawr (FOJ) group, Llandudno
Boys are losing out in education: 57% of girls but
only 46% of boys gained five or more A*- C grades
at GCSE or grades 1/3 SCE Standard NQ.16
Men are the victims of 57% of muggings and 82%
of stranger assaults. 81% of victims of domestic
violence are women.17
5 Recommendations
T is obvious from these examples just how much the
I projects and the people involved in them have benefited
from bringing an awareness of gender to their work. They
recognise that gender lies at the very heart of what they are
doing in regeneration. Taking into account the everyday lives
of men and women has helped them to reach their targets
more effectively and sustainably. The following
recommendations have emerged from people who want
to pass this realisation, and ideas for its practical
implementation, on to others.
Developing a gender perspective
1. Introduce gender guidelines and requirements
in government and UK funding agencies.
2. Make gender central to all stages of the
regeneration process.
3. Analyse programmes by gender, acknowledging
that women and men have different needs.
4. Provide training, toolkits and checklists to enable
practitioners to do this.
5. Ensure that each project has a gender champion a
key decision-maker who can make things happen and
be held accountable.
6. Involve decision-makers at all levels in gender-
awareness training.
7. Set targets for positive action; whether this is improving
employment prospects for women, ensuring that the
same percentage of boys and girls pass their exams,
or making buses more user friendly for the elderly, those
with restricted mobility and those travelling with children.
In one survey, 9.6% of women and 15.0% of men
said they had no daily contact with family and
friends. 11.1% of women and 16.5% of men
said they felt disengaged from all activities.18
PHOTO: RACHEL MORTON/OXFAM

Mural from Gellideg estate,

Merthyr Tydfil, Wales.

Information
8. Break down information, statistics, targets and monitoring
by gender. Analyse and use this information.
9. Commission more research on gender and regeneration.
10. Use a gender analysis in evaluations of
regeneration schemes.
11. Collect and disseminate examples of good practice.

Involvement
12. Involve organisations focused on gender and ethnic
minority concerns in strategy, delivery and monitoring
of regeneration projects.

Training women to
13. Encourage and fund networks around gender, social go to regeneration
inclusion and regeneration. meetings and panels
14. Ensure that women and men are equally represented would help to get
on decision-making bodies, which should also contain women more involved
members with disabilities and from black and ethnic
and benefit from
minority groups. There need to be more women at
national level and more men at community level. the New Deal for
Communities.

15. Recognise that meeting such targets will require a
Woman from ReGender
willingness to change, and to share power more equally. project in Manchester

Who am I exercise with sticky notes. Cae Mawr (FOJ) group, Llandudno, Wales.

We are involved

with politics with

a little p on the
ground, but we get
no recognition for
it from the politicians
who are involved
in politics with a

big P.19

In Scotland, a survey found that households with
a male head of household are more likely to be
buying their homes with a mortgage or a loan,
while female-headed households are more likely
to be renting from a social landlord and also
more likely to be dependent on state benefits.20
Women travel about less than men and use public
transport more.21
In construction and plumbing, only 1% of apprentices
are women, 99% are men; in engineering, 6% are women,
94% are men. Those sectors with the lowest numbers of
women are also those suffering the worst skills shortages.
PHOTO: RACHEL MORTON/OXFAM

Mosaic created as part of

regeneration scheme on Gellideg
estate, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales.

Oxfam and ReGender

Oxfam UK Poverty Programmes ReGender project supports and encourages the
equal participation of women and men in regeneration schemes in the UK by:

Working with grassroots women to hold

local regeneration bodies to account and For more information contact:
ensure that gender needs are being met.
Influencing key regeneration decision- ReGender
makers at national, regional and local Oxfam UK Poverty Programme
government level to commit resources 274 Banbury Road
to meeting the different needs of the
Oxford, OX2 7DZ
poorest men and women.
Tel: +44 (0) 1865 313184
Influencing government to include women
at senior levels and men at community Email: ukpp@oxfam.org.uk
levels of regeneration programmes.

1 Rich Mix inclusive strategies for urban regeneration, 11 Young, urban and female: young women and city
Sue Brownill and Jane Darke, Policy Press Joseph Rowntree regeneration Rachel Alsop, Suzanne Clisby and Gary Craig,
Foundation, 1998. YWCA, 2001

2 From Re-moving the goalposts: perspectives on women and 12
regeneration, Sarah Clement, WDS, 2002 www.wds.org.uk
3 Engendering the work of SIPs in Glasgow gender impact
assessment and its application to social inclusion in 13
Scotland, report to the Glasgow Women and Social Inclusion
14
Working Group, Rona Fitzgerald, January 2002
4 Celebrating womens contribution to social and economic
development in South Yorkshire, The Source, Meadowhall,
April 2003.
15
5 Social Town Planning, Clara Greed, Routledge, 1999.
16
6 http://www.shu.ac.uk/schools/sed/witbe/ 17
7 The Press Association, Wednesday September 17 2003. 18
8 Poverty and Social Inclusion Survey, Gordon et al, 2000 19
9 as 8 20
Public Management journal Black Women Into Leadership?
Issues of Gender Blind Race Equality Post Macpherson,
Heidi Safia Mirza www.sourceuk.net/articles/f00353.html
Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (ONS 2000)
Gender and poverty in Britain, Jonathan Bradshaw, Naomi
Finch, Peter A Kemp, Emese Matthew and Julie Williams,
Social Policy Research Unit, University of York, Equal
Opportunities Commission, Spring 2003.
as 4
Regional trends 37, Office for National Statistics.
British Crime Survey, 2001/2
as 8
as 11
Scottish Household Survey, Bulletin no 5

10 as 4 21 www.dft.gov.uk
Printed on environment-friendly paper

ReGender is funded by
the Barrow Cadbury Trust and Oxfam Oxfam GB is a member of Oxfam International. Registered charity no. 202918. 2075