Equity = One-Size-Fits-One

The two E words, equality and equity, are sometimes used interchangeably, but did you know they don’t mean the same thing?

According to the UN Women website, gender equality is defined as “the equal rights, responsibilities, and opportunities of women and men and girls and boys.” 

On the other hand, gender equity refers to “fairness, impartiality, and justice in the distribution of benefits and responsibilities between women, men, and non-binary people.”

While gender equality provides equal opportunity, gender equity actively promotes ways to address historical and social disadvantages experienced due to one’s gender.

Gender equity attempts to level the playing field by providing women and non-binary people with the means to achieve equality of opportunity.

At Covenant House Vancouver, we put equity in action through our one-size-fits-one approach to supporting young people.

We recognize that each youth we serve has unique needs, whether that need is a hot meal, a safe place to connect and heal, temporary shelter, or long-term housing.

We recently spoke to Kathleen Cashin, Manager of Program Innovation at Covenant House Vancouver, about the role that equity plays in our programs.

Kathleen: “Equity speaks to the need to build people up because the world doesn’t hold opportunities for people in an equal space. If there wasn’t any discrimination in the world, if there wasn’t any privilege, then equality would work. Equity speaks to recognizing the context in which we seek equality and accounting for it in ways that support people.”

“Kids who aren’t homeless have a support network. Just because someone’s homelife was unsupportive, they went through the foster care system, or they’re a newcomer to Canada, they need access to the same resources that most people do.”

She also points out that more men appear to experience homelessness than women. But when gender is taken into consideration, women experience survival living or hidden homelessness more often than men. Women may live in unsafe situations behind closed doors and therefore aren’t included in homeless counts.

Covenant House Vancouver’s programs serve all youth with absolute respect and unconditional love, help youth who are experiencing homelessness, and protect and safeguard all youth in need.

This one-size-fits-one support is available in many ways, including:

Thank you, Kathleen and all the Covenant House Vancouver staff and volunteers, for helping to provide programs and services for youth based on equity and individual need.