A policy that does not take gender into account is also a wasted opportunity to close the gender gap which is costing us in human and economic terms. Just like using only male subjects in medical trials produces results which are statistically incorrect and medically dangerous, not looking at the gender factor produces skewed policies. Still, we generalize those medical results to prescribe drugs to women, and we adopt or abolish programs with little concern for the impact on gender equity. Governments and researchers mostly strive to be gender neutral, to treat women and men exactly alike. When that means treating everyone like men, then women are not being treated equally.
Every good parent knows that each of their children is different.
They do not treat their children the same all the time - to do so would be to ignore the needs of each. Likewise, gender neutrality perpetuates gender inequality. Generally, the experiences and living conditions of women and men are significantly different. If gender is overlooked when it is indeed significant, it is a form of discrimination. If we ignore the poverty or the child care needs of women, that is not neutrality but bias.