Working with Women Gender-sensitive Social Work Practice

Assignment Task

Part I: Working with Particular Groups and Communities of Interest

Introduction to the field

Why is it critical in a text on social work practice to present information on working with women? As social workers we deal with people of all ages and genders-aren't the issues similar for everyone, you might ask? Perhaps surprisingly, they are not. There are a number of structural factors that shape the lives and circumstances of women, and social workers must be aware of these so that their interventions do not add to the vulnerability of clients through benign neglect. Let's examine some of these in order to understand the necessity for gender-sensitive practice. Working with women requires us to be sensitive to structural factors that exacerbate women's vulnerability. Gender-sensitive practice requires social workers to be conscious of the factors that shape gendered vulnerability.

Curiously, for a nation that prides itself on its egalitarianism, Australia, like other Western societies, is fundamentally gendered. Men dominate positions of power and authority, and women, who represent almost half (46 per cent) of the Australian paid workforce, earn on average 17 per cent less than men (WGEA 2016). Further, women are over-represented in low-paid occupations, vastly outnumbering men in

History and context

Women-centred services have a lengthy history in post-colonial Australia. Early services were developed for female convicts sent to Australia following white settlement in 1788. Notable facilitators of services to women were middle class, philanthropic women motivated by a desire to deliver charitable services, while disregarding their own class and privilege. These women included Elizabeth Fry and Caroline Chisholm. In 1812, Fry discovered the appalling conditions of female convicts held in British jails and proceeded to visit all transport ships carrying convict women to Australia. Through Fry's efforts, children were allowed to be transported with their mothers and, from 1815, women and children were sent on separate ships to male convicts.

The ideology and philosophy of services

As well as the ideologies that dominate society more generally, service delivery to women is very much guided by the ideologies and philosophy of the agency through which the service is offered. In contrast to women-centred services, many non- governmental organisations are church-based; hence, they have a particular moral philosophy that impacts not only on the way women are viewed but also on the type of service offered. The increasing influence of non-governmental community organisations may result in a hardening of attitudes about women's rights, and service delivery may continue to reinforce women's dependence. For workers, the challenge is to analyse critically the ideological filters in the wider political landscape, in the agency and in their own practice that affect how services are developed, and to acknowledge that the oppression of women is multi-layered. If workers are to challenge this oppression through their critique of ideologies that marginalise women, they must be willing to remove themselves from the ranks of the oppressors.

Backlash

Australian women are now experiencing a backlash, most palpably evident in the treatment of the first female Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, named by Anne Summers in her biting analysis as The Misogyny Factor (Summers 2013). Summers describes misogyny as 'a set of attitudes and entrenched practices that are embedded in most of our major institutions ... that stand in the way of women being included, treated equally and accorded respect' (2013: 7). This backlash-and its most tangible representation in the increase in violence

CASE STUDY

1 What are the competing pressures on the social worker in relation to agency context and professional ethics?

2 How do gender and ideology impact on the perception of the issue and the advice given?
Adopting a feminist position in social work practice necessarily politicises the client- worker relationship as the worker becomes more attuned to the structures and processes affecting their clients. Thus feminist practice includes interventions such as counselling and group work, but also extends to advocacy, lobbying and activism to address structural disadvantages, and actions to facilitate social change. Feminist social workers centralise the concept of gender and are therefore able to reflect on the way the political context impacts on women's personal experiences. Thus the disadvantages experienced by women, the punitive social security arrangements, the feminisation of poverty, the lack of recognition of caring work and the backlash against women are understood to reflect women's position in society and motivate

Women's services

adopt a feminist framework and operate from a women-centred approach to service delivery. They prioritise the empowerment of women and understand the dynamics of violence against women. For example, the Women's Health Goulburn North East Service notes on its website that it is committed to a feminist approach in order to empower women and hear their stories (WHGNE 2016). Weeks (2003: 112; 1994: 36) notes that feminist women's services are 'run for and by women'. These have been developed by feminists in recognition of the oppression of women and also as a response to the inappropriate services offered by some mainstream organisations-or the lack of services for women experiencing issues such as violence. Women's services are historically underfunded and under threat, and this exacerbates uncertainty in service delivery. For social workers working with women, women's services are in stark contrast to mainstream and traditional services because of the challenge they pose to ideologies about women, and because they confront issues.

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