Learning from Women’s Movements to Develop Intersectional Policy-Making and Inclusive Policies: the Belgian Women’s Strike

Abstract

This policy brief aims to explore ways to operationalise the concept of intersectionality in policy- making in Europe. It takes into consideration the lessons brought by women’s movements in the world, and in particular in Belgium. The Belgian Women’s Strike drafted a set of policy claims which focuses on the needs and experience of the most vulnerable and marginalised women in Belgium. This recent movement also developed an intersectional approach to organise the strike, with dedicated mechanisms tasked to ensure the operationalisation of intersectionality in all its activities. While there is an increased attention given by policy-makers to the concept of intersectionality, they still face structural barriers to put it into practice. The scarcity of disaggregated data, insufficient participation of marginalised people in policy-making and the absence of effective mechanisms to operationalise intersectionality are strong obstacles to achieve intersectionality in policy-making. The recommendation for policy-makers are centered first on increasing the visibility of marginalised people, through data collection and the use of inclusive language. It is also recommended to increase their participation in the policy-making process. Finally, this policy brief recommends to establish mainstreaming processes and to enable existing equality bodies to develop an intersectional approach when monitoring and implementing equality policies.