Intersectionality Policymaking Toolkit:
Key Principles for an Intersectionality Informed Policymaking Process to Serve Diverse Women, Children and Families
Co-I: Shawnika Hull, PI: Lisa Bowleg
Health and economic inequities among U.S. racial/ethnic minority women and children are staggering. The maternal mortality rate for Black women was nearly three times that of White women. Black women also have the highest rates of infant mortality in the U.S.; an inequity that persists among highly-educated and middle class women. In line with burgeoning advocacy about the need to emphasize intersectionality’s potential for praxis, particularly in the U.S., we propose to develop the Intersectionality Checklist (IC), a user-friendly tool that U.S. policymakers and/or their aides, practitioners, and other interested stakeholders can use to develop and/or enhance more equitable maternal and child health (MCH) policies and programs for diverse women and children in the U.S. In this three phase project we use community engaged participatory methods to develop, refine, and concept test the toolkit. We anticipate that policymakers and practitioners who use the toolkit will be equipped to develop and improve policies and programs that address the racial inequities in MCH.