What if gender became an essential, standard element of vulnerability assessments?

This article show how a gendered vulnerability assessment can support women’s rights and gender-equality agendas, as well as the impact that women (both as individuals and through women’s organisations), can have on improving the quality of the analysis in vulnerability assessments. It discusses Oxfam’s vulnerability & risk assessment (VRA) methodology as an example of a gendered vulnerability assessment that attempts to address gender inequality and women-specific risks explicitly, and to include women more actively in the assessment process. It debates and suggests ways to ensure women systematically participate in, and influence, vulnerability assessments.