A/HRC/33/49 they felt unsafe.9 The reaction of Governments and others to these situations is considered inadequate and there is an emphasis on the urgent need to scale up such response efforts.10 14. In line with international human rights law, States should therefore use an “intersectionality lens” in all policy initiatives, to ensure that special attention is given to those persons most disadvantaged in the enjoyment of their rights. IV. Adopting gender-responsive measures 15. Substantive equality demands policy responses that address women’s material and strategic needs. Therefore, next to women’s practical necessities (including, for example, for menstrual hygiene management), gender-responsive measures by the State and interventions by non-State actors should challenge customary relationships of unequal power and control, as well as stereotypes, between genders. 11 Owing to the disproportionate role that they play in domestic and caregiving responsibilities, for example, women are more affected by the absence of water, sanitation and hygiene. Meeting the material need for water, sanitation and hygiene may make it easier in many respects for women to perform the roles assigned to their gender, but it does not in and of itself lead to greater gender equality in relation to unpaid care work. A. Redressing socioeconomic disadvantages 16. Worldwide, women perform unpaid jobs — mostly domestic and caregiving responsibilities — three times more than men do. 12 Therefore, as caregivers, women are also more affected when family members get ill as a result of inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene. Women’s disproportionate share of unpaid work makes them financially dependent on others and leaves them less time for education and paid work. This again reinforces gender-assigned roles and women’s financial dependence on men, including in terms of their ability to pay for water, sanitation and hygiene services. In addition, States do not value or reflect unpaid domestic and care work in economic indicators. Any governmental or civil society approach that seeks to address gender inequalities needs to question existing social norms and develop measures to encourage men to share responsibilities with women. 17. Social prejudices deny women equal opportunities in technical and managerial jobs in the water and sanitation sector and general norms work against girls and women in terms of enrolment in technical or engineering studies. 13 States can invest in reskilling and retraining women for these jobs, and stimulate increased access to higher education. Proactive recruitment efforts can reduce barriers that stop women from applying for jobs 9 10 11 12 13 6 See https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/01/female-refugees-face-physical-assaultexploitation-and-sexual-harassment-on-their-journey-through-europe/. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, United Nations Population Fund and Women’s Refugee Commission, “Initial assessment report: protection risks for women and girls in the European refugee and migrant crisis — Greece and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”(2016), pp. 3-10. See A/HRC/22/50, para. 42. Human Development Report 2015: Work for Human Development (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.15.III.B.1), p. 12. Catherine Hill, Christianne Corbett and Andresse St. Rose, Why So Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (Washington, D.C., American Association of University Women, 2010), p. xiv.