# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
"There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives." ― Audre Lorde (Sister Outsider)

Last year at the Golden Globes, many Hollywood actors got on stage in an act of unity for #TimesUp and #MeToo. Together they wore black and, in an attempt to bring together a diverse range of women, used the word "intersectionality."

The Hollywood starlets were reflecting a current conversation within progressive and not-for-profit circles. Intersectionality has been recently used within academic fields such as psychology, human rights and political science.

My field - anti-racist, anti-oppression/colonial-centred health equity -relies heavily on the idea of intersectionality. As a concept, the term can help communicate complex realities.

What exactly is intersectionality?

Kimberle Crenshaw, legal scholar and critical race theorist, is generally credited with originating the term in the late 1980s.

Some activists and scholars, however, trace the earliest articulations of intersectionality back to the '70s in the manifesto by the Combahee River Collective, a collective of Black (lesbian-identified) feminists who, in 1977, said:

"We ... find it difficult to separate race from class from sex oppression because in our lives they are most often experienced simultaneously."

To understand intersectionality and how to apply it, I believe it is essential to understand four concepts:

1. All of who I am: Factors of identity

Intersectionality embraces the idea of "all of who I am."

One of the main critical concepts is "location:" To locate oneself politically and socially means to identify specific factors about your identity. These factors include: race, indigeneity, socioeconomic status, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, (dis)ability, spirituality, immigration/refugee status, language, and education.

One of the ideas of intersectionality is for individuals, groups and communities to self-identify. This allows people to choose what they share about themselves.

For example, I locate myself within the African diaspora, as a woman who has survived African enslavement, a feminist from a working-class background, daughter of Caribbean immigrants, mother, living with a visual disability in Turtle Island (Canada). I also locate myself as a researcher, educator, therapist and community organizer.

Another factor of location is to identify power and unearned privilege. Dependent on one's location(s), one may have power and privilege over others.

For instance, white men have more power and unearned privilege than white women based on systemic oppression supported by patriarchy, sexism and misogyny. Based on anti-Black racism, Black men have less power and unearned privilege than white men, but because of sexism, they have more unearned privilege than Black women.

Even though they experience sexism, white women have more power and unearned privilege than Black women due to anti-Black racism.

If you want to be an ally and support emancipatory changes, it is important to reflect on your location.

Allies are folks who actively support individuals and communities experiencing multiple forms of oppression; they share and give up their power to help make changes in the lives of the disempowered. However, it is important to note: an ally-centred person dependant on time, place and their location can also experience disempowerment.

2. Oppressions

What is oppression?

Oppression is ways of knowing and doing by those with power and authority as individuals, in governments and cultural institutions that create marginalization and subjugation of those who do not have institutional authority or power - often African/Black, Indigenous and racialized folks.

We need to understand systemic forms of disempowerment and brutality so we can actively create room for an intersectional analysis.

3. Violence

An intersectional analysis has to connect the human experiences of violence, historically and currently.

Violence includes the exercise of power to oppress and discriminate against communities individually and collectively. Violence is any abuse of power (public, private, and/or structural) that inflicts harm.

Violence includes physical, sexual, and psychological harm including: anti-Black racism, anti-indiegenity, classism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia and ableism.

Violence by police in Black communities is an example of public and private, race-gender-class based violence. The result is physical, psychological and financial violence against Black men, women, children and our families.

4. Resistance

Actualizing resistance is critical to intersectionality. Resistance is the struggle to survive, exist, persist and fight to eradicate ideologies and practices of colonialism, anti-Black racism, and all other forms of intersectional violence in the lives of Black, Indigenous and racialized folks and our communities.

A brief genealogy of intersectionality

In the '80s, many scholars elaborated on the limitations of the isolation of categories such as race, class and gender as the primary category of identity, difference or oppression and their legal implications for Black communities.

Feminist scholar Moya Bailey at Northeastern University has coined the term "misogynoir" over the past decade on social media: it is used to describe the intersection of sexism and racism. But many before Bailey spoke of similar issues.

Many Black women in the 1800s and 1900s were discussing how racism and sexism intersect to create a racialized noir misogyny. In 1851, Sojourner Truth, a former enslaved Black woman, talked in her now famous speech "Ain't I a woman" about the complexities and violence that Black, enslaved and poor women experienced living in America.

Other women who made these connections during that time period include: Mary Church Terrell, Nannie Burroughs, Fannie Barrier Williams, Anna Julia Cooper, Ida B. Wells and Harriet Tubman.

More recently, Black women who have influenced our knowledge base on intersectionality include: Shirley Chisholm, Angela Davis, bell hooks, Fannie Lou Hamer, Assata Shakur, June Jordan, Audre Lorde, Patrica Hill-Collins, Viola Desmond, Carol Boyce-Davies, Ama Ata Aidoo, Dionne Brand, Amina Mama and Afua Cooper.

Transnationally, many nameless Black women in our communities and professional spaces spoke about the intersections of their lives as women, as Black, as poor. Their experiences stem directly from shared histories of colonialism, enslavement, industrialization and democratization on the backs of African and Indigenous peoples.

Different phrases were used to describe their conditions. But their words and actions mobilized Black, Indigenous and racialized women globally to examine how race, gender and class simultaneously impact our lives and how we resist.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What is intersectionality? All of who I am

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Last year, the word 'intersectionality' hit the mainstream at the Golden Globes as actors attempted to raise awareness for #MeToo and #TimesUp. But what exactly does intersectionality mean?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Opinion: What is intersectionality and why does it make feminism more effective?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
An intersectional approach, one where multiple social categories overlap and intersect with each other, allows social policy to become more inclusive and just, writes Professor Ann Phoenix (IOE, UCL’s Faculty of Education & Society) in The Conversation.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Mental health is a complex topic. It can be impacted by a variety of experiences, stressors, and situations. On top of that, our identities can shape how we view and cope with mental illness. Mental health can be affected by our gender, age, religion, spoken language, sexuality, and more. Understanding how these intersecting identities work together to make up a person is essential. Since we are all unique individuals, we all respond and react to the world differently. By recognizing how intersectionality plays a role in mental health, you can come to a better understanding of yourself, the world, and those around you.

What Is Intersectionality?

Intersectionality: it's a term that gets tossed around often nowadays. Though it may be an important concept to understand, few people grasp it entirely. It can be hard to define intersectionality. Sociology defines it as an acknowledgment that all groups of people with a common identity will still experience intragroup differences based on their unique identities. These individual identities could be made up of factors like gender, sexuality, spoken language, immigration status, age, race, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and more.

The concept of intersectionality was first coined by legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989 to describe how different aspects of a person can affect their exposure to good or bad experiences. At first, few people paid attention to this definition. Today, though, intersectionality is a popular term used not only in academic circles, but on social media and in everyday life. More and more conversations are centering around this important topic as society works to eliminate inequalities and disparities that have harmed minority groups for years. Intersectionality calls on us to acknowledge all the intersecting identities that individuals have and how that intersection causes greater marginalization and disparities for certain groups.

The Importance Of Intersectionality

Intersectionality is important because it recognizes that every person is an individual with unique experiences, perspectives, and obstacles. No one can be defined by a singular identity marker alone. Rather, there are a variety of factors that contribute to someone's experience and interactions with the world around them.

Since intersectionality refers to the complex ways in which discrimination affects different groups, it can help us recognize where change is needed in our social systems. It helps promote acceptance, understanding, and empathy for people who differ from us, and it can also help us see a perspective contrary to our own.

What Is Intersectional Equality?

Intersectional equality refers to the idea that all people should be treated as equals in society. It is a framework for guiding decisions that can promote equal rights for all individuals, regardless of their unique identity. Identity includes factors such as race, socioeconomic status, religion, age, gender, ethnicity, language, immigration status, and more. Intersectional equality looks at all of the identity markers of a person and attempts to pinpoint which traits put them at an advantage or disadvantage.

Examples Of Intersectionality In Society

Below are two examples of how intersectionality can affect a person depending on their specific identity markers.

Intersectionality of race and gender: A black woman and a white woman apply for a job, but neither one gets the position. They research the company and see that it employs mostly white men. They read past employee reviews that mention discrimination. Let's look at this situation from an intersectionality standpoint. The black woman may have been ignored because of race or gender, or both identity markers together. The white woman might not have been hired because of gender, but not because of race. From an intersectionality viewpoint, the black woman has more factors to consider that may have put them at a disadvantage in getting the position.

Intersectionality of age, gender, and class: A local football club is compiling a list of what players they want to be on their team. Applicants have sent in an informational profile that includes their age, annual income, and gender. Sarah, a 38-year-old woman who makes less than $25,000 per year has applied to play; however, Sarah doesn't make the team. Here, a few identity markers may have put Sarah at a disadvantage. The group choosing the team participants may not have picked Sarah because of her age relative to other applicants. They might have assumed the higher the age, the lower the stamina. Sarah's low income may also prevent her from buying the fancy equipment the team wants. Finally, Sarah is a woman, and the team only wants men because they assume men are always faster and stronger. These three factors put Sarah at a disadvantage in making the cut.

Looking Through The Lens Of Intersectionality

Intersectionality allows us to see how people can experience the world in different ways. It also lets us recognize how people can be disadvantaged by things out of their control. In many cases, multiple factors can create a negative outcome for a person, even though they don't have the power to change those things about themselves. Whether race, class, gender, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, or language, each of these can harm or help an individual depending on the situation.

Most importantly, intersectionality allows us to see how minority groups are impacted by discrimination, inequalities, and oppression. Through this lens, we are better equipped to understand how people from the same group can have completely different experiences while interacting with the world. Instead of seeing everything through our own experiences, we can step into someone else's shoes and see how the world may treat them differently based on their unique identity.

Marginalized Groups

Intersectionality provides us with the opportunity to break down the experiences of marginalized groups even further and in more detail. Rather than assuming that everyone from a specific group has the same experience, we can see how different identity markers create even more complexity. When someone belongs to multiple marginalized groups, for example, they may face greater discrimination and harassment. Instead of only looking at one identity marker, intersectionality takes them all into consideration so the picture is clearer.

Identity

Intersectionality can help us see how different aspects of ourselves make us the unique individual that we are. We can look at how each of these identities overlaps with one another and gain more insight into why we interact with the world the way we do. We can also see why our experiences might look different from the person next to us, even if we seem to have many similarities. Intersectionality can help us find a sense of belonging and acceptance in a world that often leans toward conformity.

Intersectionality And Mental Health

Many mental health disparities exist among marginalized populations. For those belonging to multiple disadvantaged or minority groups, these disparities are often even more prevalent. Some of the inequalities that exist in the mental health care field include lack of reach to care, lack of resources, discrimination, underdiagnosis, and stigma. These disparities can be explained by a lack of minority representation, lack of awareness and education, and institutional and systemic racism, among other causes.

For marginalized groups, it's usually a lot more difficult to recognize, treat, and recover from mental illness. This may be because people belonging to certain racial groups are more likely to carry a stigma around mental illness. Those living in poverty often have a difficult time seeking proper care for their mental health. Individuals in the LGBTQ+ community may face discrimination at a higher rate and be exposed to harmful therapies. Older populations may not have the resources they need to get help when they need it most.

Each of these populations faces challenges because of a singular identity marker. Imagine, however, someone who has more than one. For example, a gay black man in his 80s who lives below the poverty line will likely face even more challenges than most when trying to seek mental health assistance. Without an intersectional lens to look through, it might be harder to spot all the potential disadvantages the man may face.

Mental health care providers can use an intersectional framework to help treat their clients. By considering all the ways in which the client might be marginalized, the provider can gain a new perspective and understand where they might be coming from. This can help break down initial barriers that might hold someone back from receiving care and make the treatment process more comfortable overall.

Incorporating Intersectionality Into Daily Life

Intersectionality can help explain why we might have certain advantages or disadvantages compared to other people. If we recognize that we have more advantages than other groups, we can use that footing to help others who may be oppressed, disadvantaged, or discriminated against. While these groups can speak out for themselves, they often need the help of more advantaged groups to elevate their voices. Incorporating intersectionality into daily life means consistently doing the work to notice which voices need the most elevation.

Practically, you can help by supporting businesses that are owned by minority groups. You can also support or join organizations for a cause or issue you're passionate about. Staying up to date with the latest social issues is also important as is committing to continual learning about marginalized groups.

Using an intersectional approach allows us to interact with people as individuals instead of making assumptions or giving into harmful stereotypes. By listening to the unique experiences of different people from different marginalized groups, we can gain insight into inequalities that exist that we may not have been aware of before. Instead of operating around a single perspective, intersectionality forces us to be aware of all of the factors at play in someone's experience with the world. Without intersectionality, the most marginalized individuals of society may be forgotten or neglected.

Taking Care Of Yourself

Sometimes, the everyday responsibilities and stressors of life can get in the way of living happily and productively. Other times, personal problems can feel overwhelming, and people can cause you to feel down. Luckily, there are ways you can take care of yourself from the comfort of your home. Here are just a few of those ways:

Practice a healthy lifestyle: Eating right, getting enough sleep, and moving your body daily are all important for staying physically healthy. Each of these habits can also improve your mental health. Fueling your body ends up fueling your mind and vice versa, so make sure to prioritize both.

Volunteer: Feeling like you're a part of something bigger than yourself can give you a confidence boost and make you feel happier. You might make friends, meet new people, and feel more connected with those in your community. Giving back can help you appreciate what you do have and create lots of feel-good emotions.

Build connections: Having friends or family you can go to in times of distress is good for your mental health. It can be a reminder that you do have people in your life who love you and fill you with a sense of purpose. These people may be able to give you good advice, listen when you can't make sense of things, or provide resources when you need them most. Lean into the friendships you already have if you'd like, or go out and make new connections.

Therapy Is An Option

You may find that you need more than just self-care to navigate issues surrounding intersectionality. While therapy is available, it is not always easy or convenient to obtain. For example, many disadvantaged individuals of society are forced to work more than one job to make ends meet. This can make it difficult to arrange traditional therapy appointments. With online therapy, though, more flexible appointment times are often available. In addition, you can meet with an online mental health professional from the comfort of your home.

Research in the field of mental health has revealed similar outcomes associated with online therapy when compared to in-person counseling. This is particularly true when online therapy employs a cognitive behavioral approach combined with video conferencing technology. Studies like these confirm that individuals who prefer to receive therapy online do not have to sacrifice quality of care.

Takeaway

Have you been trying to cope with life on your own? Are your efforts falling short of where you'd like to be? If so, speaking with a mental health professional could be a smart step for you. One option to look into is BetterHelp. BetterHelp specializes in online therapy and helps people address all sorts of mental health concerns. Since everything is virtual, you'll speak with your therapist using some type of smart device and a Wi-Fi connection. You can choose to have a phone call, video conference, or simply talk through a messaging feature on the site.

If you're experiencing challenges that are interfering with your everyday life, consider reaching out for help. Your mental health is worth it.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Intersectionality & Mental Health: Using An Intersectional Lens | BetterHelp

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Mental health is a complex topic. It can be impacted by a variety of experiences, stressors, and situations. On top of that, our identities can shape how we view and cope with mental illness. Mental health can be affected by our gender, age, religion, spoken language, sexuality, and more.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
When Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the term 30 years ago, it was a relatively obscure legal concept. Then it went viral.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Intersectionality is an analytic framework that addresses identify how interlocking systems of power impact those who are most marginalized in society. Taking an intersectional approach means looking beyond a person’s individual identities and focusing on the points of intersection that their multiple identities create. The term was coined by black feminist and legal scholar Kimberle Crenshaw to describe how individuals with multiple marginalized identities can experience multiple and unique forms of discrimination that cannot be conceptualised separately1.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Clinical relevance: New research confirms that poverty and mental illness are causally linked, with each exerting influence on the other.

Mental illnesses like schizophrenia and ADHD can contribute to financial instability.

Financial hardship can worsen conditions such as major depressive disorder and schizophrenia.

Addressing socioeconomic disparities could significantly improve mental health outcomes.

Poverty and mental health present a classic "chicken and the egg" conundrum. Does mental illness hamper economic success? Or do financial failures threaten one's mental well-being?

Those are the questions a multinational group of researchers sought to answer with a groundbreaking study in the journal Nature Human Behaviour . And the short answer is, yes. The two aren't just linked; they're part of a causal relationship.

"This study indicates that certain mental health problems can make a person's financial situation uncertain," Amsterdam UMC psychiatrist Marco Boks said. "But conversely, we also see that poverty can lead to mental health problems."

Making Sense of a Complex Relationship

Earlier research hinted at a strong link between poverty and mental illness, but extricating cause from effect remained a challenge. Mental illness can endanger one's financial stability if, for example, it prevents one from reporting to work or faces pressure from climbing healthcare costs.

On the other hand, financial hardship can lead to psychological issues.

Leveraging data from the U.K. Biobank and the international Psychiatric Genomic Consortium, the researchers - hailing from Amsterdam UMC, the University of Edinburgh, and the University of Modena - extracted a poverty factor based on multiple factors. The teams then applied Mendelian randomization to gauge causality.

"We were able to capture aspects of poverty shared between the individual, the household, and the area in which one lives. This enabled us to better identify the causal effects of poverty on mental illness," University of Edinburgh statistical geneticist David Hill added.

What they found is, well, complicated:

Finally, it's worth noting that once the researchers adjusted for cognitive ability, poverty's influence on mental illness fell by about 30 percent.

"There is often confusion about the use of genetic data to investigate the relationship between poverty and mental illness. We emphasize that this does not mean that poverty is genetic. On the contrary, with genetic data, we were able to identify poverty as a modifiable environmental factor for mental health," Boks concluded.

Methodology of Poverty

This study builds on the foundation laid by August Hollingshead and Frederick Redlich back in 1958. The pair were the first to show a link between lower socio-economic status and severe mental illness.

Decades later, socioeconomic disparities continue to shape mental health worldwide. Multiple epidemiological studies confirm the strong association between socioeconomic status and mental health. But evidence for a causal relationship remained elusive - until now.

Social causation and social selection have long competed as the two leading predominant hypotheses. Social causation posits that socioeconomic adversity triggers mental illness in vulnerable individuals. On the other hand, social selection suggests that mental illness leads to downward social mobility.

Randomized controlled trials to explore this causality aren't just impractical, they're ethically problematic. That's why the researchers turned to Mendelian randomization.

This method used genetic data from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to test causal models. The study's comprehensive approach involved calculating a poverty factor based on criteria such as household income, occupational income, and social deprivation.

Forward and backward Mendelian randomization analyses showed significant causal effects of poverty on ADHD, anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and schizophrenia. Conversely, it showed the opposite effects on anorexia nervosa and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The study also examined each poverty indicator separately, confirming the bidirectional effects between poverty and some mental illnesses.

These findings highlight the complex interplay between poverty and mental illness and underscore the importance of addressing socioeconomic disparities with comprehensive poverty measures. The results suggest that public health interventions targeting poverty could significantly enhance mental health, especially when cognitive ability is considered.

Further Reading
Depression in the US Population During the Time Periods Surrounding the Great Recession Cognitive Decline Threatens Financial Stability of Older Americans Health Care-Seeking Behaviors of African American ADHD Patients and Their Families

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
New Study Confirms Causal Link Between Poverty and Mental Illness

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
New research confirms that poverty and mental illness are causally linked, with each exerting influence on the other.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What Is Intersectionality? | Queer 101 | The Advocate

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What Is Intersectionality and Why Is It Important?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Coined by Kimberle Crenshaw, intersectionality is an approach that can ensure the fight against extreme poverty is all-encompassing.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What is intersectionality, and what does it have to do with me?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Here at YW Boston, intersectionality is central to the work we do.
We know that everyone reading this has come to follow YW Boston’s work from different entry points. Some of us hold women’s empowerment close to heart, perhaps seeking a more equitable world for ourselves or our daughters. Some of us

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Kimberlé Crenshaw - On Intersectionality - keynote - WOW 2016

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Kimberlé Crenshaw: The urgency of intersectionality

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Now more than ever, it's important to look boldly at the reality of race and gender bias -- and understand how the two can combine to create even more harm. Kimberlé Crenshaw uses the term "intersectionality" to describe this phenomenon; as she says, if you're standing in the path of multiple forms of exclusion, you're likely to get hit by both.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
From the disparate impacts of the COVID-19 crisis in communities around the globe to international protests against racism and discrimination, current events have shown that we are far from achieving equality. Trying to interpret and battle a multitude of injustices right now may feel overwhelming. How do we take on all these issues, and why should we? Intersectional feminism offers a lens through which we can better understand one another and strive towards a more just future for all.

Kimberlé Crenshaw, an American law professor who coined the term in 1989 explained Intersectional feminism as, "a prism for seeing the way in which various forms of inequality often operate together and exacerbate each other," in a recent interview with Time.

"All inequality is not created equal," she says. An intersectional approach shows the way that people's social identities can overlap, creating compounding experiences of discrimination.

"We tend to talk about race inequality as separate from inequality based on gender, class, sexuality or immigrant status. What's often missing is how some people are subject to all of these, and the experience is not just the sum of its parts," Crenshaw said.

Intersectional feminism centres the voices of those experiencing overlapping, concurrent forms of oppression in order to understand the depths of the inequalities and the relationships among them in any given context.

In Brazil, Valdecir Nascimento, a prominent women's rights activist, says that, "The dialogue to advance black women's rights should put them in the centre." For 40 years, Nascimento has been fighting for equal rights, "Black women from Brazil have never stopped fighting," she says, noting that black women were part of the feminist movement, the black movement, and other progressive movements. "We don't want others to speak for black feminists-neither white feminists nor black men. It's necessary for young black women to take on this fight. We are the solution in Brazil, not the problem," she says.

Using an intersectional lens also means recognizing the historical contexts surrounding an issue. Long histories of violence and systematic discrimination have created deep inequities that disadvantage some from the outset. These inequalities intersect with each other, for example, poverty, caste systems, racism and sexism, denying people their rights and equal opportunities. The impacts extend across generations.

Sonia Maribel Sontay Herrera is an indigenous woman and human rights defender from Guatemala where systematic discrimination against indigenous women has gone on for decades. Herrera has felt the consequences of these historical injustices since she was a girl.

At ten years old, she moved to a city to attend school, an opportunity most indigenous girls don't get, she says. However, Herrera was forced to abandon her native language, K'iche', and learn in Spanish, which she experienced as an unjust burden for an indigenous woman, since it was the language of the colonizer. After finishing her studies, as Herrera searched for professional work, she immediately encountered racism and sexist stereotypes. Since she was an indigenous woman, some said that they only had work for her in the home.

"They see us as domestic workers; when they see an indigenous woman, they assume that's all we can do," she explains, outlining the ways in which she experiences compounding forms of discrimination based on her identity.

"Those who are most impacted by gender-based violence, and by gender inequalities, are also the most impoverished and marginalized-black and brown women, indigenous women, women in rural areas, young girls, girls living with disabilities, trans youth and gender non-conforming youth," explains Majandra Rodriguez Acha, a youth leader and climate justice advocate from Lima, Peru. That marginalized communities are the most impacted by natural disasters and the devastating effects of climate change is not a mere coincidence, she stresses.

While issues ranging from discrimination based on gender identity to disparate environmental burdens may seem separate at first, intersectional feminism illuminates the connections between all fights for justice and liberation. It shows us that fighting for equality means not only turning the tables on gender injustices, but rooting out all forms of oppression. It serves as a framework through which to build inclusive, robust movements that work to solve overlapping forms of discrimination, simultaneously.

As concurrent, ongoing crises unfold across the globe today, we can use an intersectional feminist lens to understand their linkages and build back better.

Intersectional feminism matters today because:

The impacts of crises are not uniform.

Countries and communities around the world are facing multiple, compounding threats. While the sets of issues vary from place to place, they share the effect of magnifying pre-existing needs such as housing, food, education, care, employment, and protection.

Yet crises responses often fail to protect the most vulnerable. "If you are invisible in everyday life, your needs will not be thought of, let alone addressed, in a crisis situation," says Matcha Phorn-In, a lesbian feminist human-rights defender from Thailand who works to address the unique needs of LGBTIQ+ people, many of whom are indigenous, in crisis settings.

In the context of the coronavirus pandemic, the challenges of the virus have exacerbated long standing inequities and decades of discriminatory practices, leading to unequal trajectories.

Rather than fragmenting our fights, taking on board the experiences and challenges faced by different groups has a unifying effect; we are better able to understand the issues at hand and, therefore, find solutions that work for all.

Injustices must not go unnamed or unchallenged.

Looking through an intersectional feminist lens, we see how different communities are battling various, interconnected issues, all at once. Standing in solidarity with one another, questioning power structures, and speaking out against the root causes of inequalities are critical actions for building a future that leaves no one behind.

"If you see inequality as a "them" problem or "unfortunate other" problem, that is a problem," says Crenshaw. "We've got to be open to looking at all of the ways our systems reproduce these inequalities, and that includes the privileges as well as the harms."

A new 'normal' must be fair for all.

Because crises lay bare the structural inequalities that shape our lives, they are also moments of big resets - catalysts for rebuilding societies that offer justice and safety to everyone. They provide a chance to redefine 'normal' rather than return to business as usual.

Taking an intersectional feminist approach to the crises of today helps us seize the opportunity to build back better, stronger, resilient, and equal societies.

"COVID-19 has presented us... with a rare opportunity," says Silliniu Lina Chang, President of the Samoa Victim Support Group, who has been advocating for improved services for victims of domestic violence during the pandemic. "[It is] a time for all of us to reset. Think outside of our comfort zone and look beyond to the neighbour that is in need."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
explainer-intersectional feminism-what it means and why it matters

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Intersectional feminism: what it means and why it matters right now

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
From the disparate impacts of the COVID-19 crisis in communities around the globe to international protests against racism and discrimination, current events have shown that we are far from achieving equality. Trying to interpret and battle a multitude of injustices right now may feel overwhelming.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Intersectionality describes how different elements of a person's identity can be discriminated against - with negative outcomes.

Businesses that don't consider intersectionality in diversity and inclusion programs may ultimately lose out from high staff turnover.

Here are five impacts intersectionality can have in the workplace.

It's been 30 years since Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the term 'intersectionality' to describe how discrimination against different facets of a person's identity can overlap and impact their lives.

In her 1989 work Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex, the US lawyer and civil rights advocate wrote: "Because the intersectional experience is greater than the sum of racism and sexism, any analysis that does not take intersectionality into account cannot sufficiently address the particular manner in which Black women are subordinated."

The colour of your skin, your gender, disability and sexual orientation all interact to affect your lived experience and contribute to unequal outcomes in ways that cannot be attributed to one dimension alone.

Black and Latina trans women are victims of homicide at much higher rates than white cisgender women or Black or Latina cisgender women, for example, while maternal mortality is 2-3 times higher for Black, American Indian, and Alaska Native women in the US.

The effects of intersectionality are also felt in the workplace, where employees who belong to two or more underrepresented categories experience oppression and lack of opportunity in unique ways.

Company diversity and inclusion programs that do not take intersectionality into account risk overlooking these experiences, which include:
1. Greater wage inequality
In 2020, while white women in the US earn 81 cents for every dollar a white man earns; the same figure for American Indian, Alaska Native, Black, African American, and Hispanic women is 75 cents.

Read another way, while white women will reach gender parity with men in the States in 2059, the data shows that for Black women this date is 2130, and 2224 for Hispanic women.

Wage inequality is also seen for people with disabilities in the workplace, and increases with intersectionality: in the UK, men with disabilities from the Bangladeshi community experience a pay gap of 56% (compared with non-disabled white British men).
2. Lack of professional development
Research shows that Black women have less access to training, have received less mentorship and sponsorship, and have less frequent opportunities to interact with senior leaders. These all result in fewer opportunities to develop their careers, compared to white women.

As a result, while only 21% of C-suite leaders in the US are women, only 4% are women of colour, and only 1% are Black women.

Image: McKinsey & Company

When San Francisco Bay Area technology companies implemented diversity programs, the representation of white women in management significantly improved, exceeding their representation as employees.

But the same was not true for any racial minority women group, and race played a more significant role than gender in breaking the glass ceiling.
3. Hiring discrimination and inequities in unemployment
Intersectionality also affects who is on the job market, and who is hired.

An experimental study in Belgium found a 'double jeopardy' problem for Maghreb/Arab women applying for high-cognitive demanding jobs. Their resumés were overlooked by HR professionals even though they were as well qualified for the roles as native/Belgian applicants.

People with disabilities, especially those from underrepresented groups, are overrepresented in the ranks of the unemployed: Data from the 2018 Annual Disability Statistics Compendium showed only 28.6% of US African Americans with disabilities aged 18-64 had a job, compared to 73.7% of African Americans without disabilities.

More recently, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Black women in the US have been nearly twice as likely as white men to report that they'd either been laid off, furloughed, or had their hours and/or pay reduced.

Immigrant women in Canada, and those from racial minorities, are more likely than any other group to be either unemployed or underemployed in jobs that do not reflect their education or experience.
4. Increased sexual harassment
Research from the UK has shown that LGBTQI+ people's experience of sexual harassment and assault at work varied significantly depending on their ethnicity.

More than half of lesbian, bisexual and trans Black and minority ethnic women (54%) reported unwanted touching compared to around one third of white women (31%).

LGBTQI+ women with disabilities reported significantly higher levels of sexual harassment than both men with disabilities and non-disabled men and women.

Black women were found to be much more likely to be subjected to sexual harassment in the workplace than their white peers, in a US study looking at data from 1997 to 2016.

"The shift from sexual harassment of white women to African-American women indicates that harassers are conscious of power relationships, and choose to target more vulnerable women in their workplaces," the authors wrote.

It's bad news for employers, too, as employees who face discrimination linked to intersectionality are more likely to leave the organization.

People of colour who experienced microaggressions in the workplace were more likely to quit: more than a third (35%) of Black professionals intended to quit within two years compared with 27% of white professionals, with rates slightly higher for Black women (36%) than Black men (33%).

This could be due to the "emotional tax" Black women bear at work, where the inequalities they face lead to an environment in which they are always "on guard to protect against bias, discrimination and unfair treatment", according to nonprofit Catalyst.

In general, women of colour (24%) are more likely than men of colour (11%) to be on guard because they expect both gender and racial bias.
What companies can do to address intersectionality
Today, most diversity and inclusion efforts include equity as a dimension, giving everyone equal opportunities to develop and considering their background and the unique challenges they face.

To make sure no one is left out, companies need to collect and analyze data on pay and employee engagement, separating out variables of race, gender, sexual orientation, or physical ability.

Targets for diversity and inclusion programs must include gender representation but also racial inclusion at different levels of the organization, and any unconscious bias training must be designed with intersectionality in mind.

Companies should be willing to try new approaches if the usual initiatives do not result in people with intersectional lived experiences receiving equal access to opportunities for pay, recognition, and advancement, measures that can only be assessed through disaggregated data.

Addressing intersectionality starts from the top. CEOs and senior executives need to acknowledge their unconscious bias, which makes talent at the intersections at times invisible to them, and publicly state their intention to create an inclusive workplace, particularly for people at the intersections of unique identities.

Implementing a diversity and inclusion program with measurable targets is a first step in ensuring that companies can reap the many benefits of an inclusive workplace, including greater productivity, profitability, and employee engagement.

However, we can go a step further in examining how intersectionality complicates these issues and use this lens to create and refine innovative and meaningful solutions that truly include everyone.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
5 ways intersectionality affects diversity and inclusion at work

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Intersectionality describes how different elements of a person's identity can be discriminated against - with negative outcomes. Businesses that don't consider intersectionality in diversity and inclusion programs may ultimately lose out from high staff turnover. Here are five impacts intersectionality can have in the workplace.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Intersectionality is a term that’s caught on in the last few years, but what does it even mean and what’s it got to do with women’s rights? This year for 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, Womankind Worldwide is focusing its activities on intersectionality. So before you start seeing the term all over our website and social media feeds, we’re answering some keys questions you might have.

What is intersectionality?

Put simply, intersectionality is the concept that all oppression is linked. More explicitly, the Oxford Dictionary defines intersectionality as “the interconnected nature of social categorisations such as race, class, and gender, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage”. Intersectionality is the acknowledgement that everyone has their own unique experiences of discrimination and oppression and we must consider everything and anything that can marginalise people – gender, race, class, sexual orientation, physical ability, etc. First coined by Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw back in 1989, intersectionality was added to the Oxford Dictionary in 2015 with its importance increasingly being recognised in the world of women’s rights.

So, what’s it got to do with women’s rights?

Without an intersectional lens, our efforts to tackle inequalities and injustice towards women are likely to just end up perpetuating systems of inequalities. Feminist writer Zoe Samudzi reminds us that “intersectionality is such a vital framework for understanding systems of power, because ‘woman’ is not a catchall category that alone defines all our relationships to power”. A black woman may experience misogyny and racism, but she will experience misogyny differently from a white woman and racism differently from a black man. The work towards women’s rights must be intersectional – any feminism that purely represents the experiences of white, middle class, able-bodied, heterosexual etc. women will fail to achieve equality for all.

What’s intersectionality got to do with violence against women and girls?

To eliminate violence against all women and girls we have to address how violence differs between groups of women, because the violence women and girls experience isn’t just based on their gender. 44% of lesbian women experience intimate partner violence, compared to 35% of heterosexual women. Women and girls with disabilities are 2 to 4 times more likely to experience domestic violence than women without disabilities. For more information on women with disabilities’ experiences of violence in Nepal, check out ‘Invisible Realities’, a report from Womankind partner Nepal Disabled Women Association.

How does Womankind incorporate intersectionality into its work?

We know that it’s the voices of the most marginalised that are often silenced. We purposefully ensure diversity in our own leadership and in our team while working in solidarity with Women’s Rights Organisations who focus on marginalised women and girls in their communities. For example, in Zimbabwe we partner with Pakasipiti who aim to increase the visibility and improve the lives of lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons. In Nepal we partner with Feminist Dalit Organization (FEDO) who promote the rights of Dalit women. Intersectionality is also one of the movement strengthening pillars of our Theory of Change. This means each of our projects and initiatives considers issues of intersectionality, and a range of diverse women and their particular needs and priorities inform our work. We strive for an inclusive, feminist movement and we know that means listening to and involving all women, in all their diversities.

What can I do?

No matter how you’re involved in women’s rights, you can always work to be a more intersectional ally. Here are just a few ideas:

Check your privilege: And look beyond just skin colour. Middle class? University level education? Able-bodied? Cis-gender? All your social identities play into your ‘privilege’, even if you didn’t ask for it. Reflect on these and consider how this impacts the discriminations you do and don’t experience.

Listen and learn: At its very core, intersectionality is about learning and understanding views from other women. Listen to, include and meaningfully collaborate with diverse groups of women. Hear and honour their words. But remember it’s not the responsibility of marginalised groups to do all the work in educating people on their experiences. This often takes up lots of emotional labour and should never be taken for granted so be prepared to help undertake some of the labour by doing your own research.

Make space: Ask yourself if you’re the right person to take up space or speak on certain issues. Centre stories and actions on those with the lived experiences. Don’t speak for them, don’t speak over them.

Watch your language: So many of the words we use every day are ableist, exclusionary and downright offensive to marginalised communities. When was the last time you said “ah, that’s so lame!” when you were annoyed about something? Consider how someone with a physical impairment might hear this. Recognise and correct your use of such terms. Accept criticism and call others out. As we become more intersectional and better at understanding differences, our language evolve to simply reflecting experiences from people of a singular identity.

What can women’s rights practitioners and donors do?

In funding and designing programmes to support women’s rights, Womankind recommends that women’s rights practitioners and donors take an intersectional approach to women’s rights. This can include:

Ensuring diverse women and women’s rights organisations closest to the ground take the lead in project design and implementation.

Recognising and trusting the expertise and lived experiences of women’s rights organisations and women’s movements, especially those representing marginalised women.

Funding diverse women’s rights organisations and women’s movements to facilitate safe spaces where particularly marginalised communities can feel empowered to speak freely.

For more recommendations for intersectional movement strengthening, take a read through our new learning paper ‘Making Visible: The Lived Realities of LBTQI+ across Nepal, Uganda and Zimbabwe’. We’ve launched the paper as part of our 16 Days 2019 activities to highlight the need for an intersectional approach to women’s rights programming and funding.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The biopsychosocial model is a holistic approach to mental and physical healthcare that considers physical, mental, and environmental factors to improve well-being.