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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

678

In Kenya, at least 678 women and girls were murdered by intimate partners from 2016 to 2024

Gender-Based Violence in Kenya and U.S. Foreign Aid Gender-Based Violence in Kenya and U.S. Foreign Aid

190 M

More than 190 million women worldwide live with endometriosis

When Endometriosis Causes Mental Illness When Endometriosis Causes Mental Illness

8%

Online-only abortion clinics were found to account for 8% of abortions in the first half of 2023

U.S. Supreme Court Challenge to Abortion Pills Could Boost Illegal Imports U.S. Supreme Court Challenge to Abortion Pills Could Boost Illegal Imports

Four Times

Women do up to four times more unpaid care work than men, a gap that will take 210 years to close

Seeking Gender Equality in the Global Health Workforce Seeking Gender Equality in the Global Health Workforce

16%

Unsafe abortions already make up 16% of all maternal deaths in sub-Saharan Africa

Roe's Repeal Inspires Abortion Rollbacks in Other Countries Roe's Repeal Inspires Abortion Rollbacks in Other Countries

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
a gradient map showing where stillbirths are most common

A Stillbirth Every 10 Seconds
by Haley Comfort, Theresa A. McHugh - November 8, 2024

A new study estimates global stillbirths down to 20 weeks' gestation

Gender
Catalina Leano, a licensed vocational nurse at Houston Women's Reproductive Services, performs an ultrasound with the clinic doctor present.

A Kansas Physician on Post-Roe Abortion Care

by Alejandra Martinez

An OB-GYN explains the realities of abortion care after Dobbs and how providers are handling the patient overflows

Gender
Access to Abortion Has Increased Globally

Post-Roe Era Tests Abortion Laws Worldwide

by Mariel Ferragamo

As abortion comes under fire in the United States, some countries have taken a stance toward expanding access

Kristia Rumbley of Birmingham, Alabama used in vitro fertilization to have three children, and has kept two embryos on ice for eight years. Photo taken February 23, 2024.
Gender

The Money and Risks Behind Human Egg Donation

by Ferrukh Faruqui

U.S. egg donation is a $400 million sector, but a dearth of federal oversight means some health risks go unmeasured

A man watches a movie on his phone, in Delhi, India, on November 16, 2016.
Gender

Netflix's Adolescence: Social Change Through Edutainment

by Amber Peterman, Alessandra Guedes, Christine Kolbe-Stuart

The evidence behind the power of educational entertainment to prevent violence against women and children

A world map titled "Countries Missing Data on Gender-Based Violence." Various countries are shaded in different tones of green to indicate missing data, with darker shades representing less significant data gaps. Some countries are marked with diagonal stripes, indicating unavailable data. The map illustrates a global pattern of data insufficiency on gender-based violence.
Gender

Using AI to Track Gender-Based Violence

by Erin DeGraw

Artificial intelligence allows safe GBV monitoring and reporting in low- or middle-income countries where data is scarce

A young couple chat as they drink beer and smoke cigarettes, in Moscow, Russia, on August 8, 2004.
Gender

A Gender Levy for Tobacco, Alcohol, and Other Health-Harming Products

by Kent Buse, Jeni Klugman, Elhadj As Sy

Industries hijack gender norms to sell harm—let's flip the script and fund gender-smart health with sin tax revenue

Project HOPE Mexico country director Corina Martínez (right) and health promoter Yoseline Perez (left), along with nursing students from CONALEP Tlalnepantla, provide a mobile health screening clinic to residents in the town of Tlalnepantla de Baz. Mexico.
Gender

Women Bear Mexico's Diabetes Crisis

by Corina Martínez Sánchez

Nearly 10% of Mexico's population lives with diabetes, and women are diagnosed at higher rates than men

Women attend a talk on sexual health and HIV prevention organised by the Jesuit-founded Association Solidarite Vie e Santa (ASVS - Association of Solidarity, Life and Health) at their welcome centre and clinic in the Tanghin neighbourhood of Ouagadougou April 13, 2013
Gender

Reimagining Sexual and Reproductive Health Without U.S. Involvement

by Anu Kumar, Pansi Katenga

The Helms Amendment and the Mexico City Policy, also known as the Global Gag Rule, are moot without U.S. aid funding

Cervical cancer patient lays on a bed in the female ward of a cancer institute, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on November 11, 2009.
Gender

USAID Cuts Could Sever HPV Prevention

by Binay Shah

Slashing global aid will limit access to the HPV vaccine and widen disparities in cervical cancer

Point map showing women killed in Kenya in 2024.
Gender

Gender-Based Violence in Kenya and U.S. Foreign Aid

by Frank Burkybile

Losing U.S. support will jeopardize access to essential services in Kenya that combat gender-based violence and femicide

Chilean Senator Francisco Chahuan presents an HIV self-test kit, in effort to encourage people to check their health, in Valparaiso, Chile, on December 11, 2018.
Gender

How Dating Apps Could Unlock At-Home HIV Testing

by Tegan Mosugu, Jen Hecht, Steph Niaupari

A consortium is working with dating apps to support HIV and STI prevention online and at home

Michell, granddaughter of Rosalia Reyes who was sentenced to eight years in prison after her baby died during a home childbirth, plays with balloons during the welcome party for Rosalia after she was transferred home where she will serve the rest of her time under house arrest
Gender

Defending the Global Right to Choose

by Tlaleng Mofokeng, Sarah L. Bosha

Academics and UN bodies should strategize to counter the renewed threat to women's rights

Surja Devi Saud practices Chaupadi outside her house, in Achham District, Nepal, on February 16, 2014. Chaupadi is a tradition observed in parts of Nepal, where women sleep outside while menstruating.
Gender

When Endometriosis Causes Mental Illness

by Mohammad Saeed Gharaati Jahromi

Despite endometriosis's links to psychiatric conditions, health systems fail to train doctors to spot these connections

Tsegy Kiday, a 34-year-old displaced single mother of five, holds her 14-month-old daughter Mebrihit Hintsa, in Nebelet, Tigray region, Ethiopia, on July 11, 2021.
Gender

"Power of Joy": New Film on Childbirth During Ethiopia's Civil War

by Mariel Ferragamo

The documentary follows a girl who survived a harrowing childbirth to become an ambassador for women's health