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Gender

According to the United Nations, gender equality is fundamental to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, affecting access to quality health care, exposure to health risks, and the outcomes of disease and disability—for children and parents alike. Improvements in health, from lower child mortality to greater access to reproductive care, can alter the power to access gender-related rights and freedoms. This section examines the new ways in which health and gender intersect and reinforce each other.

Gender

48 Million

82.4 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced by the end of 2020—more than half were women and girls

Displaced girls and women Displaced girls and women

38 Percent

Globally, 38 percent of males between the ages of 15 and 49 are drinking harmful amounts of alcohol

Young Men and Alcohol Young Men and Alcohol

70 Percent

70 percent of health-care workers are women

Women health-care workers Women health-care workers

11 Percent

Women and girls were 11 percent more likely to drop out of school during the COVID pandemic compared to boys

Education, girls, and COVID-19 Education, girls, and COVID-19

1 in 4

One in four U.S. women will have an abortion by age 45

Abortion in the United States Abortion in the United States

Featured

Gender
REUTERS/Erik De Castro

Bringing Personal Experience With Sexual and Reproductive Health to Work
by Nandita Thatte - April 16, 2023

How one woman’s experience with maternal care shaped her professional understanding

Gender
Women delegates in ethnic minority costumes leave the Great Hall of the People following the opening session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in Beijing, China March 4, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

Women in China After Zero-COVID

by Chen Chen

China’s future will be determined by its gender policies

Gender
A family member holds a photograph of Rosivel Elisabeth Grande in Quezaltepeque, Honduras, on July 2, 2013. Grande was killed by an unidentified man who shot her five times when she was going to work

When Love Becomes Violence

by Isabella Rolz, Jorge Rodriguez

Countries in Central America should build resilient institutions capable of implementing programs that support women

People stand in queues at a registration center at a hospital on a hot summer day in Ballia District in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India, June 21, 2023.
Gender

Easing the Cervical Cancer Disease Burden In India

by Sneha Khedkar

A potential solution to the country’s cervical cancer problem

A volunteer paints a mural on a wall in Irbid, Jordan, February 25, 2023.
Gender

Women’s Labor-Force Participation in the Middle East

by Christina Bouri

How to bridge workplace gender gaps in the region

people demonstrate against Uganda's proposed antigay legislation
Gender

Tackling Anti-LGBTQ+ Laws and Tackling Pandemics in Uganda

by Matthew M. Kavanagh, Alice Mutebi Kayongo, Adi Radhakrishnan

Collective action is needed to protect vulnerable communities

A mother kisses her child as she walks past graffiti in Mumbai March 27, 2014.
Gender

Breaking Barriers, Building Leaders

by Sai Mandlik, Tanya Dikshit

Youth-driven change in Jharkhand’s health system

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Gender

The Searing Disparity Between Burn Patients

by Natalie Meyers, Laura Hoemeke, Rose Alenyo

A hidden gender equity issue

Surrogate mothers (L-R) Daksha, 37, Renuka, 23, and Rajia, 39, pose for a photograph inside a temporary home for surrogates provided by Akanksha IVF centre in Anand town, south of of Ahmedabad, India.
Gender

How to Save Mothers

by Anoushka Arora, Vidhi Wadhwani, Siddhesh Zadey

Addressing perinatal depression can improve pregnant women’s mental health     

metoo placard next to a yellow handbag
Gender

Health Practitioners Say #MeToo

Unmasking widespread sexual harassment and abuse in the global health sector

A woman exhales after vaping in Times Square, during the COVID-19 outbreak, in New York City, on March 31, 2020.
Gender

Tracking Tobacco

by Gabriela F. Gil, Louisa Johnson, Marissa Reitsma, Emmanuela Gakidou

New ways to light up tobacco research

Ashley Karungi 33, a member of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTQ) community and a single mother of two poses for a picture with rainbow colours at the offices of Rella Women's Empowerment Program, for LGBTQ rights advocacy, after a Reuters interview in Kulambiro suburb of Kampala, Uganda April 4, 2023.
Gender

LGBTQI+ People Need a Permanent End to the Global Gag Rule

by Beirne Roose-Snyder

The Global Gag Rule disrupts health services and relationships for LGBTQI+ people and harms LGBTQI+ rights globally

A health worker sits outside a makeshift camp for blood tests on the outskirts of Kolkata, India, on November 30, 2006
Gender

Addressing Contraceptive Needs for Women Living With HIV

by Preetika Banerjee, Ipsita Bhattacharjee, Shalini Singh

How community health workers can help promote choice in reproductive health care

A child attends a protest against the rape of an eight-year-old girl, in Kathua, near Jammu and a teenager in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh state, in New Delhi, India, on April 15, 2018.
Gender

Silent Suffering

by Christianez Ratna Kiruba

Unveiling the culture of child sexual abuse in Indian families

Jill Biden listens as Namibia's first lady Monica Geingos speaks, at a conversation with spouses of leaders attending the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, in Washington, DC, on December 14, 2022.
Gender

Women Leaders in Global Health

Three women discuss why they chose a career in global health and what inspired them to become leaders