More Than 100 Million Women Are Missing

On the same token, women face unique challenges that throughout their different life stages that places them into the Special Population group when compared to men. Women still face challenges today in areas of social, economic, sports, political and cultural despite the fact that there has been success in empowering women and shattering the glass ceiling for employment promotions. They live 7 years longer than men, make up majority of the world’s population but yet they are greatly ignored. Some women are subjected to part time jobs and lower wage position than their male counterparts. Likewise, women face ageism and sexism in the media on the average profile of a woman.

“Women aren’t the problem but the solution. The plight of girls is no more a tragedy than an opportunity” (Kristof & WuDunn, 2009, p. xviii). This quote does an excellent job of introducing the issues discussed in the book Half the Sky. In this book, Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn present us with the issue of the unjust and cruel treatment of women in today’s world. Women throughout the world are treated in unthinkably bad ways, but the majority of people are not even aware of the suffering these women face on a daily basis. According to Kristof and WuDunn (2009), “Women aged fifteen through forty-four are more likely to be maimed or die from male violence than from cancer, malaria, traffic accidents, and war combined” (p. 61). However, Kristof and WuDunn (2009) also point out that if something dramatic such as a school shooting or bombing takes place, it makes breaking news, and everyone is aware of it all at once (p. xiv). Plenty of women are being mistreated every minute of

“Without a lifespan view of women’s health… we are unlikely to be successful in advancing women’s health” (Woods 2009, pg. 400). A Global Health Imperative (2009) by author Nancy Fugate Woods explains the issues about health status and opportunities for the health of girl-children world-wide, which includes sex and gender disparities. Girl and women’s health is important, but just not as important as men’s health. Woods gives example of women’s health issues that are extremely serious. “Health issues or problems that occur predominantly in women are breast cancer and menopause” (Woods 2009, pg. 400). Women all over the world have the risk of getting breast cancer, HIV and Aids. Women that are affected by these diseases in some countries may

Throughout history, women were labeled as the inferior sex. It wasn’t until 1920—less than one hundred years ago—that women obtained the right to vote in the United States with the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment (History, par. 11). In recent years, women have obtained much more respect than their ancestors, but sexism still runs rampant in various parts of the world. The social realm is not the only thing affected by male dominance; birth rates and population growth rates in countries such as India and China are also greatly altered by gender imbalance. Mara Hvistendahl provides information on the negative impact of global gender imbalance in her essay, Missing: 163 Missing Women. Alternatively, Kwame Anthony Appiah suggests in his

Health related policy (HRP) targets two of the fundamental causes, medical and health systems laws and policies, making it the primary solution for decreasing the maternal mortality rate (MMR). However, a wider discussion has emerged about the importance of social determinants of health, the second fundamental cause, at a global level. The Report of the World Health Organization 's Commission on Social Determinates of Health (CSDH) (2008) importantly acknowledged that poverty, exploitation, oppression, and injustice damage health (CSDH, 2008). This document expanded the discussion on the

Health and social justice have continued to be a major problem that affects the way people live and chance of illness, and consequent risk of premature death. The recent report from the World Health Organization shows that health disparities have continued to persist within and among countries and different regions of the world. For example, infectious diseases and undernutrition are common in poor and developing countries (WHO, 2018). The gap is even much worse between the rural and urban dwellers because of the economic differences and availability of healthcare services. Although some of the developed nations have attempted

Gender roles have caused strain over decades to not only females, but recently males as well. There are many attributes that humans have associated with each gender, causing a divide between sexes not only with each other, but also separating the two into almost completely different species. Due to this categorizing which is placed on gender, there can be a declining value of a person or even a higher hand given to the one gender which is seen as more powerful to society.

Ann Levine and Naomi Neft's article "Women in Today's World" asserts that although the status of females in developed countries has vastly improved with society's movement toward a more gender-equal condition, the majority of women remain in a dire state of oppression. Women are more impoverished, illiterate, unemployed, and more destitute than men. In spite of some women's improvements under developed countries' more progressive, gender-equal regimes, education, literacy rates, employment, civil rights, health, and public representation remain substandard for most of the world's females.

Sara Tadasse, explains in her peer reviewed analysis of the Tikur Anbessa Hospital, that the continued tradition of Early Marriages in Eurasian and African Countries results in 50% of Cervical Cancers. She believes that if there is a change to tradition which allows for less child marriages, one would see a decrease of mortality rates in these rural areas. Her fellow, Limin X. Clegg also explains that those on the poverty line in Europe also have a 1.7 times chance to have cancer compared to those with economic backing. He explains that those on the poverty line can not afford to receive regular clinical treatments and physicals and can not predetermine their risks for cancers. Because of monetary problems, they avoid finding treatments for their diseases and instead choose to find assistance when they are on the brink of their death. Clegg explain that this causes direct financial loss to governments who are forced to pay for the medical care of these citizens who could have avoided this issue if they took the initiative to have health care. Though Clegg brings an important perspective, his biases against those on the poverty makes him unable to analyze the reasons that the government does not provide its country for

As discussed previously women tend to have lower incomes then men this leads to higher levels of poverty in women. In the U.S 56% of people living in poverty are women, globally that percentage jumps to 70%. Not surprisingly women responsible for children are the largest group of people living in poverty. The combination of financial insecurity, heavy workloads with minimal pay and the emotional responsibility of caring for children can exact a heavy toll on women’s emotional health. Poverty also has an effect on a women’s physical health. Adverse health outcomes are two times higher amongst people in disadvantaged social position compared to those in advantaged social position. With a lack of access to proper housing and nutrition many women living in poverty experience distressing medical conditions and have no access to proper medical care. These issues can lead to adverse effects on mental health and psychological disorders (Astbury,

This eventually results in disparities in the quality of the health care services available for women in such places. Political and economic forces have somehow promoted this inequality, and their decisions make it hard for women from countries like India to access health care as needed. Farmer however argues that the European and American anthropologists are facing the challenge of eradicating malnutrition and hunger issues all of which are directly linked to poverty (Hogikyan, 2013). The policy makers are not able to ensure food security in a country like Haiti. This hence makes it difficult to ensure that the public health is

Globalization has improved the lives of women around the world, specifically, those in developing countries. However, women consistently remain at a disadvantage when it comes to many things such as: employment, education, and overall societal treatment. According to “Gender Statistics”, an article by the United States Agency for International Development, girls are four percent less likely than boys to complete primary school. Additionally, due to the fact that maternity care is not offered in several different countries across the globe, 529,000 women die each year due to pregnancy complications and childbirth. (Gender Statistics.) These challenges are not only faced in the United States, but all across the world, and that needs to change.

There are a number of global trends that are affecting poor women. Gender, biology and poverty are linked together and are causing women to be more vulnerable to infectious diseases and reproductive tract infections. Poor women are being denied the health care and reproductive care that they desperately need. By ignoring the care that they need, we are deteriorating their lives, the lives of their families and their communities.

Throughout history, countless acts of gender inequality can be identified; the causes of these discriminating accounts can be traced back to different causes. The general morality of the inequity relies on a belief that men are superior to women; because of this idea, women have spent generations suffering under their counterparts. Also, a common expectation is that men tend to be more assertive and absolute because of their biological hormones or instinctive intellect. Another huge origin is sexual discrimination; even in the world today, many women are viewed by men as just sex objects rather than a real human being with

The Women’s Health Issues course this semester have been interesting and informative. I gained great perspective on health topics affecting women’s health status and ways biological and social factors put women at a higher stake for health issues. One of the most important thing I am taking away from this class is the importances of understanding women’s health, as a Public Health student women’s health has been a topic of interest for a long time. Coming from a developing country where many women grapple with health issues from discrimination and prescribed roles, it has been important for me to take this class and to have better understanding on health disparities that exist globally between women and men. In the following paragraphs I