To mark International Women’s Day this weekend and to draw attention to ongoing challenges faced by women all over the world, researchers from LSTM are taking part in a number of events, while continuing their work to improve the lives of women and girls in the global south.
The Gender, Equity and Health group, based at LSTM, is a multidisciplinary group who apply gender analysis and planning in the health sector focussing on health sector reform and management in terms of health equity and ethics, clinical research and health systems development, in collaboration with partners in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Dr Kate Jehan, post-doctoral researcher, explained the significance of March 8th: “Since its origins in the women’s suffrage movement which campaigned for women’s rights to vote, hold public office and end discrimination, International Women’s Day has grown to be a day of worldwide celebration. On March 8th, people come together to celebrate the social, political and economic achievements of women across the globe. It’s a day for the recognition of past struggles, reflection on progress made, and an opportunity to look forward. On this day, the international women’s movement calls for changes still needed to ensure equality of opportunity for women and men.”
She continued about the work of the group, “In the area of health, opportunities that await future generations of women are vast, many of whom still lack access to adequate health care. The barriers women face are numerous and overlapping, and in neighbourhoods and countries across the world, major problems affecting women’s use of health care persist. These include: the barriers posed by conflict and post-conflict situations; the costs of care and a wide socioeconomic gap between rich and poor; a lack of information about how, where and when to seek care; long distances required to travel to health facilities; socio-cultural norms concerning women’s ability to seek care, discrimination faced by women in health facilities, and women’s ability to demand high quality care. These issues are being addressed by the group through multiple projects in Asia and Africa seeking to tackle the social determinants of health which are often overlooked.”
Events in the next few days include:
On Friday 7th March, Sally Theobald is presenting a talk, ‘Building gender responsive health systems in post conflict contexts: Opportunities and challenges’, at the 11th International Conference on Urban Health, Manchester.
On Saturday 8th March, members of the Gender, Equity and Health group including Sally Theobald, Rachel Tolhurst, Jo Raven, Eleanor MacPherson, Kate Jehan and Esther Richards are attending the event ‘Inspiring Change: International Women's Day 2014’ at the Bluecoat, School Lane, Liverpool. At midday, Sally will be presenting the variety of work that the group do with their southern partners.
On Saturday 8th March, a post by Eleanor MacPherson will appear on the Lancet Global Health Blog, ‘International Women’s Day: An opportunity to reflect on the importance of meeting women’s health needs’.
Dr Jehan explained that everyone can play a part: “Please read our blog post which will go live on the Lancet Global Health blog on Saturday March 8thand join us on one or both of these events to mark women’s achievements to date and challenges still to overcome.”