The quality of gender equality policies. A discursive approach

Can quality of gender+ equality policies be defined in ways that apply across different policy contexts and different policy moments? In light of different scholarly debates and empirical material from gender violence policy debates in Southern and Central Eastern Europe, this paper discusses dilemmas around defining the quality of gender+ equality policies. It proposes a two dimensional model. The first dimension links quality to procedural aspects: empowerment of women’s rights advocates at different stages of the policy process, and transformation with reference to prevailing contextual legacies. The second dimension is more substantive, and includes genderedness, intersectionality, and structurally transformative focus of policies. The paper illustrates how within the framework set by these criteria, quality of gender equality policies is constructed through policy debates in ways that are dependent on the different discursive, institutional, and structural factors specific to various policy contexts.