WOMEN’S HEALTH CAMPAIGN
GENERAL W MEN’S HEALTH A go-to guide for women to become holistically healthier. A must-have manual for those around them to become better allies.
ABOUT US
Holisticly is a progressive health and technology company focused on empowering people from all around the world to live consciously, healthily, and enthusiastically. Our international team of experienced researchers, practitioners, and creators work closely to bring you high-quality, extensively researched content that can expand your knowledge about different aspects of holistic, preventive, and integrative health. You can be confident that you are making sound decisions about your health based on facts, studies, and scientific research, as our number one priority is to consistently provide scientifically proven content. Holisticly has created this Women’s Health Awareness Campaign in partnership with the World Health Innovation Summit (WHIS). The aim is to increase public visibility and increase awareness of how women can achieve a healthier lifestyle and be aware of their rights.
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SHORT GLOSSARY
WOMEN’S HEALTH CAMPAIGN
SHORT GLOSSARY Women’s Health Women's health refers to the branch of medicine that focuses on the diagnosis, treatments, and prevention of diseases and conditions that are of exclusive concern for women, affecting both their physical and emotional wellbeing. Holistically, it embodies their physical, social and financial health, as well as their emotional, cultural and spiritual wellbeing.
Sex And Gender Gender and sex are two different concepts that are often mistakenly conflated. Sex refers to the biological and physiological characteristics of males, females, and intersex people (people that are born with physical or biological sex characteristics that do not fit the traditional definitions of male or female), including but not limited to hormones, chromosomes, and reproductive organs. Gender, on the other hand, comprises roles, norms, behaviors, and attributes associated with being a woman, a girl, a man, a boy, or any other gender identity.
Gender Identity Gender identity is the term used to refer to a person’s innate, deeply felt, internal and individual experience of gender. A person’s gender identity may or may not correspond to their designated sex at birth or the gender attributed to them by society.
WOMEN’S HEALTH CAMPAIGN
SHORT GLOSSARY
Transgender Transgender is an umbrella term used to describe people whose gender identity and expression don’t conform to the norms and expectations traditionally associated with the sex assigned to them at birth.
Sexual Orientation Sexual orientation refers to a person’s individual capacity for emotional, affective, and sexual attraction (or lack therof) toward other people. A person’s sexual orientation cannot be assumed from their assigned sex at birth, their gender identity, or their gender expression.
GENDER EQUALITY: AN INTRODUCTION
WOMEN’S HEALTH CAMPAIGN
Gender Equality: An Introduction
What is gender equality? The official wording of the United Nations’ (UN) fifth Sustainable Development Goal invokes the need to “achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.” Gender equality occurs when people of all genders have equal rights, responsibilities, and opportunities. Everybody should have the power to shape their own lives and contribute to the development of society equally.
As a woman, I feel like equality is my right and should be part of my future. What are the challenges and barriers to gender equality? Unfortunately, women today face many challenges along the road to achieving gender equality.
WOMEN’S HEALTH CAMPAIGN
Gender Equality: An Introduction
Worldwide, nearly 1 in 4 girls between the ages of 15 and 19 are neither employed nor in education or training – compared to 1 in 10 boys.
Gender-based violence is violence directed against a person because of their gender. Both women and men experience gender-based violence, but the vast majority of victims are women and girls.
Women do three times as much unpaid care and domestic work as men.
Women hold less than 25% of parliamentary seats worldwide.
Only 53% of women that are married or in a union freely make their own decisions about sexual relations, contraceptives, and health care.
Divorced women are twice as likely to be poor in comparison with divorced men.
I am not a woman, but I want to help. What can I do? Gender equality has often been a battle for women by women, however, everyone has an important role to play. The UN Women Organization attests to the fact that without the contribution of every member of society, gender equality will not be reached. Every person of every gender and age should support women’s rights and equality. It is imperative that we all advocate for the end of discriminatory traditions and support initiatives that aim to empower women to live their lives the way they choose to.
WOMEN’S HEALTH CAMPAIGN
Gender Equality: An Introduction
I want to live in an environment where every woman and girl can exercise their human rights and live up to their full potential. What are the first steps? Every single one of us can play a part in helping to make the world a safer place for women to freely live their lives and express themselves on their own terms. Some examples of the many efforts you can undertake as an individual to support gender equality include: speaking up in the face of inequality encouraging open and honest discussion about what gender equality is and why it is important volunteering to help out with initiatives that offer support to women, such as mentoring programs or domestic abuse shelters taking a look around your educational and work environments and thinking about the actions you could take to promote equality and create a balanced atmosphere engaging in social media and spreading the word around your community
At a community level, in order to promote gender equality: global organizations, governments, and companies must promote gender equality in elections, careers, salary income, education, and responsibilities governments must strive to fulfill their obligation to invest in programs and policies that work for women and girls companies should promote equal work environments, talks, events, and training sessions for women’s equality universities should promote on-campus activities and projects to raise awareness
GENDER AND HEALTH
WOMEN’S HEALTH CAMPAIGN
Gender and Health
How does gender affect an individual’s healthcare experiences? Biological sex plays a significant role in the incidence and prevalence of certain diseases, their treatment, and recovery. Furthermore, the manner in which a person identifies in terms of their gender can also have a major impact on their wellbeing and access to health services.
How does gender equality relate to women’s health? Gender, as a social construct, varies from society to society and produces inequalities and discrimination that directly affect women and girls. This can result in their health and wellbeing being put at risk, since they are often faced with greater barriers than men and boys in terms of accessing health information and services. Women make up more than approximately 67% of the world’s 750 million adults that are without basic literacy skills. They often also lack the freedom and power of decision-making and face discriminatory attitudes ingrained in communities and held by some healthcare providers.
WOMEN’S HEALTH CAMPAIGN
Gender and Health As a direct result, women are more susceptible to several conditions, such as:
sexually transmitted infections, including HIV
unintended pregnancies
sexual violence
malnutrition
impaired vision
respiratory infections
elder abuse
early and forced marriage
For these reasons, overcoming discrimination against women and girls is critical to ensure equality in relation to an individual’s human right to healthcare.
WOMEN’S HEALTH CAMPAIGN
Gender and Health What kinds of conditions and disabilities are women more susceptible to? Biological factors highly contribute to the different susceptibility rates of some diseases. For example, when comparing men and women, women are more susceptible to cervix cancer and breast cancer, while men are more susceptible to prostate cancer. However, social factors also affect the health status of women and men differently. According to the European Institute for Gender Equality, women are more likely than men to present diseases that are not adequately recognized by healthcare systems, such as: depression eating disorders disabilities related to home accidents, sexual violence, and old age
On average, women live longer than men. Doesn’t that mean women are generally healthier than men? According to the European Institute for Gender Equality, women generally live longer than men in all parts of Europe. In 2013, the average life expectancy at birth in the EU was 83.1 years of age for women and 77.5 years for men. However, while more likely to live longer, women are also more likely to experience a greater number of years living with a disability. According to the WHO, women are expected to live a smaller proportion of their years in a state of good health in comparison to men. That means the extra years women live are not necessarily healthy years.
WOMEN’S RIGHTS
WOMEN’S RIGHTS
WOMEN’S HEALTH CAMPAIGN
Women’s Rights
As a woman, what are my rights? Nearly 70 years ago, the UN proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights for every human being on the planet. These rights include:
the right to live free of violence, slavery, and discrimination the right to enjoy the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health the right to be educated the right to own property the right to vote the right to earn a fair and equal wage Although all human rights are women’s rights, many women and girls face discrimination across the globe based on their sex and gender identity.
How severe is the global crisis of violence against women? According to the UN Women Organization’s data, 1 in 3 women worldwide experiences physical or sexual violence in their lifetime, mostly at the hands of an intimate partner. Violence against women directly affects women’s health, having immediate and long-term physical, sexual, and mental consequences.
STOP
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, emerging data and reports have shown that all types of violence against women and girls, particularly domestic violence, have increased.
WOMEN’S HEALTH CAMPAIGN
Women’s Rights
What can I do on a personal and community level to help end violence against women? In the current scenario where only 40% of women seek help after experiencing violence, we must create awareness about the importance of this global issue. Laws must be created worldwide to protect women and girls, and they must have access to justice, health care, and shelter.
Remember, no action or voice is too small to make a difference! At a personal level, we should learn about the issue and challenge gender stereotypes and harmful masculinities. We are responsible for educating our friends, family, and people in our local communities about the services and resources available to them. We should also make it a priority to know how to safely, effectively, and appropriately assist any woman or girl that appears to be in a dangerous situation. If we can, we should volunteer at or support trustable organizations.
What is female genital mutilation (FGM), and why is it important to raise awareness of this topic?
WOMEN’S HEALTH CAMPAIGN
Women’s Rights
How can education and gender equality help make the world a better place? The education of women and girls of all ages is a human right that, if honored, helps to reduce inequalities and allows everyone to achieve their full potential in life.
Educated women: are less likely to marry young have an increased likelihood of leading healthier lives can employ greater personal agency and autonomy
The impact of women receiving an education on a socio-economic level results in: an increase in lifetime earnings of women a rise in National Growth Rates a decrease in rates of maternal mortality rates a fall in child mortality rates
The right to education for girls means more than just access to school. It also involves the right to feel safe in the classroom and the right which asserts that girls and women be supported in the careers and life paths they choose to pursue. However, despite education being a human right, more than 129 million girls around the world are still out of school. Although we have been seeing important progress in recent decades, securing the right to education is still far from reality for many girls and women. A lot of work still needs to be done to reduce the barriers to girls’ education, particularly in relation to poverty, child marriage and pregnancy, and gender-based violence.
WOMEN’S HEALTH CAMPAIGN
Women’s Rights
What is the gender pay gap and what are the causes? In many countries, when women and men do the same work but don’t earn the same amount, they are experiencing what is known as the gender pay gap, a measure of what women are paid relative to men. In the European Union, women earn 86 cents for every 1 euro men earn. In other words, women in the EU would need to work two extra months to make up for that difference! There are a vast number of causes for the gender pay gap. For one, women are underrepresented in leadership positions. In 2019, women made up just under 25% of parliamentarians worldwide. As well as that, women spend at least twice as much time as men on domestic work, such as household work and caring for children. As a result, when considering all work, both paid and unpaid, women generally tend to work longer hours than men and are often segregated in terms of education and labor markets.
Gender equality benefits everyone, and recent evidence shows it significantly contributes to advancing economies and sustainable development. Many countries in the world are now proving that it is possible to close the gender pay gap!
Iceland is one of these countries, and they’ve been doing so by implementing several policies.
Since 2018, companies in Iceland are now required to demonstrate they pay men and women fairly.
All companies and institutions with more than 25 employees need to prove they pay men and women equally for a job of equal value.
WOMEN’S HEALTH CAMPAIGN
Women’s Rights Child marriage is a serious problem that threatens the lives, wellbeing, and futures of girls around the world. According to the WHO, child marriage refers to any formal marriage or informal union between a child under the age of 18 and an adult or another child. This practice jeopardizes the lives and health of young women, since girls who marry before 18 are more likely to experience domestic violence, are less likely to remain in school, and face more severe economic and health consequences. They are also more likely to become pregnant during adolescence, which increases the risk of complications during pregnancy and childbirth, affecting both themselves and their children. The prevalence of child marriage has been decreasing around the world, but the practice is still far-reaching across borders, especially in sub-Saharan African countries, such as Niger, Central African Republic, and Chad, where 76%, 68%, and 65% of women were married before their 18th birthday respectively. Worldwide, 650 million girls and women were married during their childhood, and five countries account for about half of this total number: India, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Brazil. The UN’s fifth Sustainable Development Goal highlights the need to ‘‘achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls” and aims to end early and forced child marriage by 2030. A lot of progress has recently been made in this area, resulting in the prevention of 25 million child marriages in the last decade, yet there is still much to do regarding promoting and safeguarding the education rights of women and girls, their access to health and social services, and a higher degree of inclusivity.
Although the world has committed to ending the practice of child marriage, the COVID-19 pandemic has seen a worsening of the situation. Financial struggles, school closures, death of parents, among other personal factors, are likely to push more girls toward early marriage. According to UNICEF, before the pandemic began, 100 million girls were expected to become child brides. The number of girls affected is now set to increase to 110 million. Source: https://www.unicef.org/stories/child-marriage-around-world
WOMEN’S HEALTH CAMPAIGN
Women’s Rights
Are LGBTQIA+ women more likely to face barriers to essential healthcare? While all women face specific health risks, LGBTQIA+ women face even more social determinants which affect their health. These largely relate to oppression, discrimination, and the denial of their civil and human rights. It is important to eliminate these health disparities and enhance efforts to reduce the inequalities, stigma, phobia, and discrimination they face every single day. LGBTQIA+ individuals must have safe access to health services, health insurance, employment, housing, marriage, adoption, retirement benefits, recreational facilities, and activities. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), safer and more equal access in this regard will lead to: reductions in disease transmission and progression increased mental and physical wellbeing reduces health care costs increased longevity
Everyone everywhere, regardless of gender identity and/or gender expression, should have the same opportunity to live a life free from violence and discrimination. It is, after all, a fundamental human right. No cultural, moral, or religious belief justifies the violation of anyone’s human rights, but, unfortunately, there are still laws around the world that prevent the open expression of LGBTQIA+ identity, and more than 70 countries still criminalize same-sex relations.
WOMEN’S HEALTH CAMPAIGN
Women’s rights
LGBTQIA+ health requires specific attention f rom health care and public health professionals to address a number of disparities, including: LGBTQIA+ youth are 2 to 3 times more likely to attempt suicide.
LGBTQIA+ youth are more likely to be homeless.
Lesbians are less likely to get preventive services for cancer.
Gay men are at higher risk of HIV and other STDs, especially among communities of color.
Lesbians and bisexual females are more likely to be overweight or obese.
Transgender individuals have a high prevalence of HIV/STDs, victimization, mental health issues, and suicide and are less likely to have health insurance than heterosexual or LGBTQIA+ individuals. Elderly LGBTQIA+ individuals face additional barriers to health because of isolation and a lack of social services and culturally competent providers.
LGBTQIA+ populations have the highest rates of tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use.
“We speak up against human rights violations everywhere, so it’s natural to us to support the LGBTQIA+ agenda… Women and people with non-binary gender identities must have their own spaces in which to speak, to exercise power, to act, and to own and drive their own movement.” Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka - Former Executive Director, UN Women
WOMEN’S HEALTH CAMPAIGN
Sources Amnesty International (n.d.) Women's Rights. Available from: https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/discrimination/womens-rights/ European Commission (2021) Equal Pay. Available from: https://ec.europa.eu/info/policies/justice-and-fundamental-rights/gender-equality/equal-pay/equal-pay-day_en European Institute for Gender Equality (n.d.) What is Gender-Based Violence? Available from: https://eige.europa.eu/gender-based-violence/what-is-gender-based-violence http://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=5590&langId=en Global Fund for Women (n.d.) Women’s Human Rights. Available from: https://www.globalfundforwomen.org/womens-human-rights/ UN Women (2020) COVID-19 and Ending Violence Against Women and Girls. Available from: https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2020/04/issue-brief-covid-19-and-ending-violence-against-women-and-girls UN Women (2018) Infographic: Why Gender Equality Matters to Achieving All 17 SDGs. Available from: https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/multimedia/2018/7/infographic-why-gender-equality-matters-to-achieving-all-17-sdgs Unicef (2020) Child Marriage Around the World. Available from: https://www.unicef.org/stories/child-marriage-around-world Unicef (2021) Child Marriage. Available from: https://www.unicef.org/protection/child-marriage Unicef (n.d.) Girls’ Education. Available from: https://www.unicef.org/education/girls-education UN Women (n.d.) Economic Empowerment. Available from: https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/economic-empowerment UN Women (n.d.) Ending Violence Against Women. Available from: https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/ending-violence-against-women World Health Organization (2015) Beyond The Mortality Advantage: Investigating Women’s Health in Europe. Available from: https://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/health-determinants/gender/publications/2015/beyond-the-mortality-advantage.-investigating-womens-he alth-in-europe World Health Organization (n.d.) Gender and Health. Available from: https://www.who.int/health-topics/gender#tab=tab_2 World Health Organization (2016) Frequently Asked Questions on Health and Sexuality Diversity: An Introduction to Key Concepts. Available from: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/WHO-FWC-GER-16.2 WomenKind Worldwide (n.d.) Facts about Women’s Rights. Available from: https://www.womankind.org.uk/womens-rights-facts/