Gender Issues In Health Projects and Programmes: Report from Agra East Meeting, 15-19 November 1993, the Philippines (Oxfam Working Papers Series) - Softcover

Ravindran, Sundari

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0855982950 ISBN 13: 9780855982959

Verlag: Practical Action Publishing - IPSUK, 1995

Inhaltsangabe

Oxfam carries out original research on various aspects of its overseas programme, as part of a constant monitoring process, and in an effort to gain greater understanding of development programmes and practice. Although primarily a tool for institutional learning, some of the resulting reports are of wider interest. As part of its commitment to sharing experience of good practice, Oxfam publishes those reports which describe innovative research projects, evaluate particularly interesting projects or programmes, or are the proceedings of workshops or seminars. This paper sets out some of the major gender issues arising from considerations of health care and health care provision. It draws on the experience of participants in a workshop in the Philippines. The broad objectives of the workshop were to increase understanding of the concepts and issues arising in connection with gender and health, and to develop tools for analysing these issues in any given context, in order to plan and implement appropriate interventions.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Dr. Sundari Ravindran, Honorary Professor Achutha Menon Centre for Health Science Studies & Founding member of Rural Women's Social Education Centre, India

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Gender Issues in Health Projects and Programmes

Report from AGRA East Meeting, 15–19 November 1993, The Philippines

By T K Sundari Ravindran

Oxfam Publishing

Copyright © 1995 Oxfam UK and Ireland
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-85598-295-9

Contents

Preface, 
1 Introduction, 
2 Identifying women's health needs: an analytical framework, 
3 Reproductive health care, 
4 Gender issues in primary health care, 
5 Addressing gender and health issues in NGO programmes, 
Appendix Questions for assessing the gender sensitivity of health projects, 

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

1.1 Women's health in context

Health is not only a medical issue, confined to natural and biological factors which can be addressed by medical interventions. Rather, good health or illness are products, not only of biology, but of the social, cultural, economic and political environment in which we live and act. Health, thus, cannot be viewed in isolation from the context within which it is defined.

Good health is far more than just the absence of illness. Many factors affect our health, including how we live, what we do, the people with whom we choose to interact, and the nature of these relationships. Feeling unhealthy is not only associated with suffering from an infection or disease, but more often with feeling tired and overworked, being under stress, and living in a hostile atmosphere. Feeling healthy is closely associated with feeling relaxed, productive, and useful; being creative, living in healthy, active, and pleasant surroundings, and amidst supportive relationships with people whose company we enjoy.

Why should women's health demand a special focus? There is a perception that both sexes are equally vulnerable to disease, within a given context and setting. However, once we acknowledge that illness has a social dimension as well as a biological cause, it becomes imperative to address the impact of gender relations on health. Given the different social realities for men and women, their experiences of health and their health needs must also be different. Gender analysis shows that differences based on social and cultural relations ('gender'), exist between men and women that go far beyond the differences based on biology ('sex') (Oakley 1971).

Women have a vastly different status from men in every society: one of subordination. Women typically have less control over resources; the 'sexual division of labour', which is regarded by most societies as natural, burdens women with multiple demanding roles. Equally important is the fact that women and men undergo very different processes of socialisation; these give them such disparate social identities that they have different perceptions and definitions of good health and ill health. Consequently, not only do men and women have differing health needs, health problems, and access to health services, but also varying perceptions of health itself.

People's health problems are not only based on biology, but on structural factors, including socioeconomic status, and their own status as individuals within their households and communities. Both the cause of women's ill-health, and women's ability to obtain health care, are related to these factors. Some of the reasons why it is important to focus specifically on women's health needs are as follows:

• Women have special health needs because of their biological role as bearers of children.

• The sexual division of labour, which places multiple roles on women's shoulders, tends to make women more vulnerable to certain diseases than men.

• Certain conditions, such as sexually transmitted diseases, are more difficult to detect in women.

• Women may have greater difficulties in using health services.

• Women's specific health issues are neglected by health services.

1.2 Women's life-cycle and their health

Traditional frameworks for the analysis of women's health tend to concentrate exclusively on the childbearing years, and, further, on problems directly related to pregnancy and childbirth, but women's health needs extend throughout their life cycle, and beyond their reproductive role. Besides the special health needs related to reproduction and childbearing, women are also exposed to most of the health hazards that affect men. Reproductive health problems are compounded, or sometimes even caused, because of the heavy manual labour undertaken by rural poor women. Control over female sexuality dictates an early marriage for women, followed by early and frequent childbearing, often while shouldering an active productive role, and managing a household plagued by poor living conditions and chronic shortages.

Often, the roots of health problems which women experience later in life lie in their neglect in childhood. Discrimination against the female child starts early in many cultures: girl children are less welcome than a male 'heir'. The girl is socialised to accept her subordinate position, and is given fewer material and nonmaterial resources than the boy. If the household is poor, this may mean undernourishment for the girl, less health care, and illiteracy. Early malnutrition causes stunting, leading to poor development of the girl's pelvic bones, and this considerably increases the risk of obstructed labour in pregnancy.

Women's productive roles may begin as early as four or five years old; girl children typically help at home from a very early age: cooking, cleaning, fetching water and fuel, and caring for younger children. This places them at risk of burns, and other accidents in the course of domestic work. By the time they are eight or nine years old, children in rural communities are often regular workers in the farm. They may be exposed to respiratory infections because of working in marshy and water-logged fields; and poisoning from pesticides and fertilisers is a growing problem. Another common health problem is infection by parasites such as hookworms. Infections may be contracted from animal bites, and there is a risk of accidents with equipment. Occupational health hazards associated with industry are burns, eye problems due to intricate work, lack of relaxation, exhaustion, poor posture and back problems. Sale of girls for prostitution exposes them to sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS.

Girls who begin their productive and reproductive duties early will lack the opportunity to attend school. Girls are expected to adhere to sex-role stereotypes, as 'mother's helpers' and 'little ladies' in community gatherings, and may face more constraints on playing and having fun. This lack of relaxation or stimulation through learning also causes mental stress and fatigue. All in all, the workload of many female children throughout the world exposes them very young to continual and excessive physical stress, which will last throughout their lives into old age. In adolescence, young women continue the roles begun in childhood, only do more work than before. They carry out heavy agricultural work, and are exposed to respiratory and parasitic infections. These have implications for their health during pregnancy and following delivery: severe infection can lead to miscarriages.

As members of a community, there may be serious restrictions on women's sexual behaviour. which have consequences for their reproductive health. Girls and women are isolated during menstruation in some communities, making it difficult to maintain menstrual hygiene, and thus causing severe infections.

Productive work does...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Practical Action Publishing - IPSUK
• Erscheinungsdatum: 1995
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0855982950
• ISBN 13: 9780855982959
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 28
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: GPSR Kontakt; gpsr@libri.de; ; Europaallee 1; Bad Hersfeld; 36244; Deutschland