Women's health and gender justice
1. Where are we when it comes to women's health
2. Indicators of women's condition
3. Social devaluation of women
4. The importance of health in gender-based justice
5. Obstacles to effective action
6. Which way to solve
Where are we when it comes to women's health
The position of women in the health index of our country is still quite weak. So the question remains as to how far the issue of equal rights for all in health has been touched. Touching it requires another social revolution.
The position of women in health, education and employment in India has improved significantly. Nevertheless, women are much weaker in terms of health than men. Recognizing this situation, every government has taken various programs to protect women's health. This includes the Rural Health Mission. The project mainly treats women during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum. Family planning projects mainly help women with contraception and their health. Apart from this, women's health is also the target of several projects taken for the public.
Nevertheless, as evidenced by community-based programs, women's health is greatly improved, not directly by medical intervention, but by economic development. Therefore, the main goal of such programs is the education and employment of women. In both cases, the main target of the nationwide campaign (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) is girls and women. Self-help schemes, micro-credit schemes help women to increase their skills, as well as help them increase their own resources by making them financially self-sufficient by showing them alternative ways of life.
Indicators of women's condition
Analysis of national data shows that the number of maternal deaths in the country is gradually decreasing. On the other hand, various indicators of newborn health are also improving. But there is gender inequality in many indicators. Deaths before birth, neonatal deaths, and deaths before the age of five are higher in girls. There are instances of female feticide and infanticide. Infants are brought to the hospital much later than their infants when they are sick or suffering from malnutrition. Giving birth to a daughter and not being able to give birth to a son is often one of the causes of postpartum depression in girls. In addition to this, suicide is increasing due to various social reasons. Significantly, the suicide rate of young women is three times higher than that of young men. Violence against women and girls has become a common occurrence nowadays.
School enrollment, attendance and literacy rates are significantly lower among women. In all these cases, there are several reasons for the low rate of women. Due to the distance of the school from the area, many people are afraid to go to school in a long way. Lack of separate bathrooms for girls in schools. There is a shortage of teachers. With this, there is the matter of keeping the baby girl in a dilemma.
Social devaluation of women
The girls do the housework. So their work is not given any importance. But a girl works twice as hard every day as a man. Advances in technology and the market economy are having a negative impact on women. They are not getting employment because they are incompetent and uneducated. Women and child laborers are getting less wages than men even after working for the same period. Working women are victims of social discrimination and uncomfortable situations in many ways. Which includes sexual harassment. The work of girls is seen as very unimportant socially. Very few girls have the freedom to make any decision in the family.
Gender equality and justice is one of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (UNMDG). But its implementation in India is very slow. Gender equality is not considered a major issue in India. Instead of being partners in development, women are becoming victims in most cases. The social, economic and cultural context of women's health is not being taken into consideration.
The importance of health in gender-based justice
In general, the context of gender justice is considered in the context of socio-culture and in terms of social norms. Judging by women's health information, one can understand the importance of gender and its impact on women's health. In India, women are the most discriminated against. As a result, they are not only in a negative social position, they are also lagging behind in terms of health.
Social determinants affect the health of women and infants. If women's health problems are generally viewed as an individual's health problems and private treatment is suggested to solve them, the issue will be taken lightly. From a medical point of view, the issue of public health related to women remains a major shortcoming in the public health movement. At the heart of all health and prevention programs should be the social perspective because private medical solutions have little effect on public health.
Obstacles to effective action
Socio-cultural issues are barriers to gender justice in the field of health and the elimination of gender inequality. The well-planned discrimination against women based on culture and tradition needs to be eliminated in order to benefit from the medical system. Although latent, gender and culture have a serious impact on treatment and outcomes. Understanding the relationship between gender and culture and the success or failure of dealing with related issues depends on the health of women. The issue of gender inequality is firmly rooted in our traditions and culture. The debate over gender equality often culminates in discussions of culture, tradition, and religion. Conventional patriarchal structures stand in the way of discussing the alternative perspectives needed to reach the goal of gender-based justice for women.
Which way to solve
The Constitution of India guarantees the equality and legal protection of girls. But in reality the culture is moving in its own way. Many researchers and social workers do not want to admit that we can only improve women's health and their status in society if society tries to address gender inequality openly. For a long time we have been avoiding clear discussions with society on women's issues. But now it seems that without a social revolution, improving the health of Indian women will remain virtually elusive.
Many methods have been proposed in this regard. But it must include understanding and dealing with social, religious and cultural inequalities. In addition, it is important to enforce the law to eliminate gender inequality. It is also necessary to monitor whether the law is being enforced at all.
The right to health is a fundamental right. But if the health status of half the population is down, it is a cause for concern. Analysis of all public health data in India by gender and area is required. In addition, a number of policies and programs need to be put in place to deal with adverse trends. The next goal has to be decided from the information that has come up through the analysis. Improvements are visible and standards are kept very high.
The amount of inequality in health is often underestimated even in the medical community. In Indian society, women are seen as second class citizens. As a result, women's issues are either ignored or ignored in various cases. There is a need to engage the whole group and the public to break this traditional table. Gender equality programs should not be limited to giving women equal or greater opportunities, but should also aim to bring about gender equality in a given period of time. Only then will it be possible to measure results in general and health in particular.
All social plans and projects to eliminate gender inequality must be viewed from a gender perspective. In order to improve women's health, all programs need to take into account the social context, such as home, school, workplace, law and politics. The issue of normalizing gender inequality in India needs to be taken up as a challenge. In order to bring about change in the social and cultural context with the aim of early prevention of inequality, the issue of public health should be the focus. Along with this, intervention through medical system will continue. Real gender justice is needed in the near future for women in India to have equal access to health care and equal social status