Adispo | donne | gender | empowerment * Gender is a social construct: People are born male or female, but they acquire a gender identity as women and men.* Gender is a product of human culture and the result of a persistent strengthening of the social and cultural identity: it’s created daily through a series of interactions that tend to define the differences between men and women. In essence, gender is an acquired and not an innate character. The Association for Gender mainstreaming (www.adispo.ch) is independent, nonpartisan, nonsectarian and carries out its activities without profit. The Association's activity is to ensure the success, recognition and promotion of social, cultural and economic independence of women and men, according to the principle of equal opportunities between men and women.