Global Women's Health Issues

Why This Matters

Global women's health isn't just about biology—it's about power, access, and systemic inequality. When you study these issues, you're examining how intersecting oppressions (gender, class, race, geography, colonialism) create vastly different health outcomes for women around the world. The concepts you'll encounter here—structural violence, reproductive justice, the social determinants of health, and gendered labor—form the analytical backbone of feminist health scholarship and activism.

You're being tested on your ability to connect individual health outcomes to larger systems. Why does a woman in rural sub-Saharan Africa face a maternal mortality risk 50 times higher than a woman in Sweden? The answer isn't just "better hospitals"—it's about education access, economic autonomy, colonial legacies, and who gets to make decisions about women's bodies. Don't just memorize statistics; know what structural factors each issue illustrates and how feminist frameworks help us understand and address them.

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Reproductive Autonomy and Bodily Control

These issues center on who controls women's bodies—and who profits from that control. Reproductive justice, a framework developed by women of color, argues that bodily autonomy requires not just legal rights but also the social and economic conditions to exercise those rights.

Maternal Mortality and Morbidity

• 99% of maternal deaths occur in developing countries—this disparity reveals how poverty, healthcare infrastructure, and colonial legacies shape who survives childbirth
• The "three delays" model explains most preventable deaths: delay in deciding to seek care, delay in reaching care, and delay in receiving adequate treatment
• Obstetric fistula affects over 2 million women globally, a condition virtually eliminated in wealthy nations but persistent where surgical care remains inaccessible

Access to Reproductive Healthcare

• Reproductive justice extends beyond abortion access to include the right to have children, not have children, and parent in safe conditions
• The global gag rule (Mexico City Policy) demonstrates how U.S. foreign policy directly impacts women's health worldwide by restricting funding to organizations that discuss abortion
• Contraceptive prevalence varies dramatically by region, with unmet need highest in sub-Saharan Africa—reflecting both supply issues and gendered power dynamics in relationships

Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting

• Over 200 million women and girls alive today have undergone FGM/C, concentrated in 30 countries across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia
• Medicalization (when healthcare providers perform the procedure) has complicated eradication efforts, raising debates about harm reduction versus zero tolerance
• Community-led abandonment has proven more effective than top-down legal prohibitions, centering women's voices rather than imposing Western frameworks

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Violence as a Public Health Crisis

Gender-based violence is now recognized by the WHO as a global public health emergency. Feminist scholars emphasize that violence isn't random—it's structural, patterned, and functions to maintain patriarchal control.

Gender-Based Violence

• 1 in 3 women worldwide experiences physical or sexual violence in her lifetime, making GBV more common than many diseases we treat as epidemics
• Intimate partner violence accounts for 38% of all murders of women globally—the home is statistically the most dangerous place for women
• Structural violence (the term coined by Paul Farmer) helps explain how poverty, discrimination, and lack of legal recourse create conditions where interpersonal violence thrives

Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation

• 71% of trafficking victims are women and girls, with sexual exploitation accounting for the majority of detected cases
• Demand-side analysis shifts focus from "rescuing victims" to examining the economic systems and male entitlement that create markets for exploitation
• Carceral feminism debates arise here: does criminalizing sex work protect or further endanger women? Feminist scholars remain divided

Child Marriage and Early Pregnancy

• 12 million girls marry before age 18 each year, effectively ending their education and autonomy
• Pregnancy complications are the leading cause of death for girls aged 15-19 in developing countries—their bodies aren't physically ready for childbirth
• Bride price and dowry systems reveal how marriage functions as an economic transaction that commodifies girls' bodies

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Structural Determinants of Health

The "social determinants of health" framework shows that healthcare access alone doesn't determine outcomes—education, income, housing, and political power matter just as much. Feminist analysis adds gender as a critical determinant that intersects with all others.

Lack of Access to Education

• Each additional year of schooling reduces a girl's likelihood of marrying before 18 by 5-10% and increases her future earnings
• Health literacy determines whether women can navigate healthcare systems, understand medication instructions, and advocate for themselves
• Opportunity cost keeps girls home: when families can't afford school fees, they prioritize boys' education and rely on girls' domestic labor

Malnutrition and Food Insecurity

• Women eat last in many cultures—intra-household food allocation means women and girls receive less protein and fewer calories even when food is available
• Anemia affects 33% of women globally, impairing cognitive function, work capacity, and pregnancy outcomes
• Agricultural labor is predominantly performed by women in developing countries, yet they own only 13% of land—production without ownership creates vulnerability

Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) Issues

• Women and girls spend 200 million hours daily collecting water globally—time that could be spent on education or income generation
• Lack of private sanitation exposes women to violence when they must relieve themselves outdoors, particularly at night
• Menstrual hygiene management requires adequate water and private facilities; without these, girls miss school and women miss work

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Healthcare Systems and Access

These issues highlight how healthcare systems themselves can perpetuate inequality—through what conditions they prioritize, who can access services, and whose knowledge counts as legitimate.

HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections

• Women account for 53% of people living with HIV globally, with young women in sub-Saharan Africa at particularly high risk
• Biological vulnerability (larger mucosal surface area, semen remaining in the body) combines with social factors like inability to negotiate condom use
• Treatment as prevention has transformed HIV from a death sentence to a manageable condition—but only for those with healthcare access

Cervical and Breast Cancer Screening

• Cervical cancer is nearly 100% preventable with HPV vaccination and regular screening, yet it remains a leading cause of cancer death in low-income countries
• The "inverse care law" applies: those with greatest need have least access to screening and treatment
• Self-collected HPV tests represent a feminist innovation—removing the barrier of clinical exams and giving women control over their own screening

Mental Health Issues

• Women are twice as likely as men to experience depression and anxiety, reflecting both biological factors and the mental health toll of oppression
• Trauma-informed care recognizes that many women's mental health struggles stem from violence, discrimination, and chronic stress
• Global mental health gap: 75% of people with mental disorders in low-income countries receive no treatment, with women facing additional barriers of stigma and caregiving responsibilities

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The Life Course Perspective

Feminist health scholars emphasize that health is cumulative—disadvantages compound across a woman's lifetime. Childhood experiences shape adolescent outcomes, which shape adult health, which shapes aging.

Menstrual Health and Hygiene

• Period poverty affects an estimated 500 million women and girls who lack access to menstrual products, sanitation, or education
• Menstrual stigma leads to school absenteeism (girls miss up to 20% of school days), workplace discrimination, and social isolation
• The "tampon tax" debates reveal how policy frameworks often fail to recognize menstruation as a basic health need rather than a luxury

Occupational Health Hazards

• The "double burden" means women perform paid work plus unpaid domestic labor, leading to chronic stress and physical strain
• Feminized industries (garment work, domestic labor, care work) often lack safety regulations and expose women to toxic chemicals, repetitive strain, and harassment
• Informal economy employment leaves women without health insurance, sick leave, or workers' compensation protections

Aging and Elder Care

• Women live longer but sicker—higher life expectancy combined with less lifetime income means more years of chronic disease without resources
• Caregiving burden falls disproportionately on women across the life course, leaving them with depleted savings and health when they themselves need care
• Widow poverty affects millions globally, as women may lose property rights, social status, and family support upon a husband's death

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Quick Reference Table

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Self-Check Questions

1. Which two issues best illustrate how structural violence (rather than individual choices) creates health disparities? Explain the systemic factors involved in each.

2. Compare and contrast maternal mortality and cervical cancer as examples of preventable deaths. What do they reveal about healthcare infrastructure in the Global South?

3. How does the concept of gendered labor connect WASH issues, malnutrition, and occupational health hazards? Identify the common thread.

4. If an essay prompt asked you to analyze bodily autonomy as a global women's health issue, which three topics would you choose and why?

5. Using an intersectional framework, explain why a poor, rural woman in the Global South faces compounding health risks. Reference at least four issues from this guide.