ABSTRACT
Practice occurring in projects and groups from which boys and men are excluded may be informed by the principles of separate and autonomous provision. This is often referred to as `separate work’ or ‘gender-specific work’. It is youth work with girls and women, by girls and women, controlled by girls and women. The term ‘separate work’ can easily be taken to mean no more than work in which only girls participate. However, from the point of view of practice which advocates feminism, the term has a stronger meaning. It suggests the independence of girls and women from boys and men, and a commitment to enable girls and women to set and control the agenda. ‘Separate work’ might better be termed ‘autonomous work’, as the act of separation and exclusion of men from groups needs to be understood as an action in the direction of empowerment, not ‘on our own’ so much as ‘with one another’. It is not ‘separatist’, as it remains in dialogue with wider networks of provision for both boys and girls.
