Think Tank

We believe gender analysis is key to understanding the complexities of the modern world and producing meaningful social change. Our cutting-edge research sheds light on matters of crime, sexuality, violence, media, employment relations, entrepreneurship, technology and social innovation.

Our work as a gender think tank is inspired by intersectional gender research.

Education Can End Abuse

Comprehensive sex and relationship education is crucial to counteracting gender-based violence

However, successfully delivering educational programmes on gender, sexual consent and abuse prevention often eludes both policy-makers and educators.

Our Education can end abuse project focuses on:

  • assessing current provisions for sex, relationship and gender education at the national and international level
  • mapping innovative teaching and awareness-raising practices, locally as well as globally
  • unpacking the relationship between good quality education and effective violence prevention
  • identifying appropriate policy interventions.

We also pay special attention to inclusivity, and make a point to acknowledge the multiple ways in which sexuality and gender intersect with issues of race, religion, class and disabilities.

The main outputs of this ongoing research programme include

And What About The Men?

Fostering collaborations between women and men towards a more gender equal world

At GenPol we deem important to acknowledge that we live in an unequal society, where women (especially BAME, queer, disabled and economically vulnerable ones) experience violence and discrimination disproportionately more often, and more intensely, than men. However, we passionately believe that men, too, are affected by gendered stereotypes, norms and culture.

This research and advocacy programme focuses on raising awareness on how patriarchy harm us all, and on fostering collaborations between people of all genders towards equality and social justice. We use this framework to inform training, educational and advocacy initiatives, as well as in our work with various partners.

To know more listen to our podcast “What role can men play in gender equality activism?” (co-produced with US social enterprise SOS Music Media).

Our approach to getting men involved in feminist work has also been featured by the BBC.

Gender & Organised Crime

Organised crime and patriarchy intersect

Gendered identities, rules and practices are crucial to the way mafia groups work, to their recruitment system, and to how discipline is maintained within their ranks. At the same time, insights on the gendered side of mafia can be of huge help to those fighting against various forms of violence and oppression.

This project, which adds an advocacy dimension to the academic study carried out by our CEO Dr Lilia Giugni and her colleague Prof. Paul Tracey at the Cambridge Centre for Social Innovation, unpacks the relationship between patriarchal and mafia power. It also investigates the potential for feminist resistance in vulnerable districts with a strong mafia presence.

Read about our research here and here. Listen to Lilia speak about gender and mafia on this podcast and this radio programme, and have a look at some press coverage here.

When Technology Meets Misogyny

Digital violence is real, and harms millions worldwide

Online abuse is a specific form of violence against women, it works intersectionally, and includes phenomena as serious as revenge porn, cyber stalking, unsolicited pornography, gender-based harassment and cyber trafficking.

However, the gendered nature of the problem is still poorly understood, and its impact vastly underestimated. Our ongoing research programme focuses on:

  • raising awareness about digital violence as a type of gender-based abuse
  • identifying pragmatic solutions and best practices at multiple levels
  • mapping effective educational tools, preventive policies, legislative interventions and strategies to support survivors and the organisations that work with them.

Among our main outputs:

Tackling Gender-Based Violence in Organisations

Organisations are gendered…

…and discrimination and violence against women (as well as minorities and other historically marginalised groups) play out in many, more and less visible ways

We are passionate about unveiling inequalities within organisations’ practices, cultures and discourses. Using an intersectional perspective, our researchers, activists and guest authors have studied sexism and social injustice (and taken action against these) across spaces as diverse as academia, socialenterprises, the technology and publishing industries, the arts and entertainment sector, politics and policy making.

We also looked into issues of representation, the gender pay gap, the role of feminist networks, care workand parental care reforms, the gendered side of migration policy, and into redefining mental health as a political, and gendered issue. Above all, we devoted special attention to different ways to research, monitor and tackle gender-based violence.

Some of our outputs include:

Insights from this broad, collective project inform our approach to advocacy, training, public speaking and consultancy. You can read what media have written about our work in this area here, here and here.”

Civil & Social Rights: Connecting the Dots, Building Coalitions

 Intersectional feminism is not only a precious analytical tool, but also a solid ground on which to build progressive alliances towards social change

In these years, we have worked with local, national and international groups to explore, foster and maintain synergies between women’s rights and other social justice movements.

Among the main outputs of this ongoing work there are:

  • Connecting the Dots – an action research project carried out by GenPol  and Italian civil society organisations Zero 81, Cooperativa Giancarlo Siani, ALFI. Through workshops, public talks, training and writing, it aims to stimulate reflection on the intersections between various forms of oppression, and encourage and strengthen collaborations between activists, researchers and civil society actors in Italy.
  • Our research, training and advocacy initiatives on cross-movement and cross-sector alliances internationally, which inform our consultancy work with various organisations. Read more about our perspective here.

Our research programmes combine a wide range of research methods and build on the principles of Action Research. Relying on the expertise of our team of multilingual and transdisciplinary researchers, we collect and analyse robust and insightful data at multiple levels and in different countries.

Our research outputs include:

  • Tailored policy recommendations (reports, audits, guidelines, expert advice, commissioned research)
  • Workshops and facilitation meetings
  • Training, Conferences, Mentoring

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Contact

If you would like to find out more about our research, advocacy and consultancy work, we warmly invite you to get in touch. We are not advertising for vacancies at the moment. Please note that we may not able to respond to unsolicited applications.

Contact Info

Gender & Policy Insights (10783588)
Registered address: 11 Peterhouse Mews
High Street Chesterton
CB4 1UW Cambridge
United Kingdom

GenPol is also a registered Italian charity (1269/3)
GenPol e' un'associazione culturale registrata
Registered address: via Schipa 91
80122 Naples
Italy