Company
UN: Women’s bodies used as a political battlefield
Millions of women worldwide face various forms of discrimination. photo
© Michael Kappeler/dpa
The sexual and reproductive health of girls and women worldwide is suffering, a UN report shows. Women in poor countries are therefore most disadvantaged.
According to a UN report, racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination violate the rights of millions of girls and women women worldwide on sexual and reproductive health. This was reported by the UN Population Fund UNFPA in New York. According to the definition of the German Ministry for Development Cooperation, this means “unrestricted physical and mental well-being in relation to all areas of human sexuality and reproduction”.
Political decision-making bodies are too dominated by men, said UNFPA Executive Director Natalia Kanem, and women have too little say. Women’s bodies are often misused as political battlefields, she said, among other things, in relation to debates about the right to abortion.
Around 800 women die every day during childbirth, UNFPA reported. A quarter of all women do not have the right to say no if their partner wants sex, and one in ten women cannot make their own decisions about contraception. The poorest are the most disadvantaged everywhere: half of the deaths related to pregnancy, birth or complications afterwards occur in countries with humanitarian crises or conflicts. That’s around 500 deaths every day. Even within countries, richer women benefited more from health services than poorer women.
UNFPA requires programs to improve the situation that are specifically aimed at disadvantaged women. Investments of $79 billion (around €74 billion) in low- and middle-income countries could prevent around 400 million unplanned pregnancies and save a million lives by 2030.