Equality and Equity

The terms ‘inequality’ and ‘inequity’ are often used synonymously. The European Institute for Gender Equality gives the following definitions:

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Gender Equity

Provision of fairness and justice in the distribution of benefits and responsibilities between

women and men

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Gender Equality

Equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities of women and men and girls and boys

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We can therefore think of gender equality as being the end goal, and gender equity as

the means of achieving that.

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In certain spheres, such as health, a distinction is made between whether a disparity is

avoidable or not. As Professor Sir Michael Marmot succinctly explains: “where inequalities

in health are avoidable, yet are not avoided, they are inequitable”. This takes into

account that some inequalities in health are unavoidable e.g. the fact the women have a

longer average life expectancy than man is driven by biological factors and hence not

inequitable.

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Because equity is about fairness, it is often necessary to take measures that directly promote opportunities for those who need them most: it is not about treating everyone in the same way. One of the best, and most widely known ways to illustrate this is with the image below: