Gender myths in global health—a response to the response
Authors: Deborah Ottenheimer
Journal: The Lancet Global Health (2017)

The promotion of women leaders in global health as outlined by Talib and colleagues1Talib Z Burke KS Barry M Women leaders in global health.Lancet Glob Health. 2017; 5: e565-e566Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (28) Google Scholar is a commendable and important goal. My hope has always been that gender parity in this field will lead to a greater recognition of the enormous health burdens suffered by women in both the global North and South. With this in mind, it was with dismay that I read the letter Gender myths in global health2Hawkes S Buse K Gender myths in global health.Lancet Glob Health. 2017; 5: e871Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (4) Google Scholar and the authors' response (September issue).3Talib Z Burke KS Barry M Gender myths in global health—Authors' reply.Lancet Glob Health. 2017; 5: e872Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (1) Google Scholar Hawks and Buse2Hawkes S Buse K Gender myths in global health.Lancet Glob Health. 2017; 5: e871Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (4) Google Scholar illustrate the “myth” of a higher burden of disease with a chart showing the “Top 12 attributable risks of [disability-adjusted life-years] for women and men in 2015”. No mention was made of maternal morbidity and mortality, which are, of course, borne only by women. Additionally, neither Hawks and Buse, nor the response by Talib and colleagues,3Talib Z Burke KS Barry M Gender myths in global health—Authors' reply.Lancet Glob Health. 2017; 5: e872Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (1) Google Scholar recognised the health burden on women of gender-based violence, which has devastating consequences. Gender-based violence includes intimate-partner violence and all forms of sexual violence, as well as a host of other pervasive and pernicious types of life-long discrimination and abuse that are perpetrated against women in every nation (panel).4United Nations Population FundWomen Against Violence EuropeStrengthening health system responses to gender based violence in eastern Europe and central Asia: a resource package. UNFPA and WAVE.http://eeca.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/WAVE-UNFPA-Report-EN.pdfDate: Jan 1, 2014Google Scholar The financial, social, and health costs of gender-based violence are well recognised and the UN Sustainable Development Goals call on nations to “eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres”. In 2015, Waechter and Ma estimated that the economic burden of the 1·9 million annual rapes and attempted rapes of women in the USA was approximately US$921·72 billion, surpassing the economic burden of cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, or HIV.5Waechter R Van M Sexual violence in America: public funding and social priority.Am J Public Health. 2015; 105: 2430-2437Crossref PubMed Scopus (18) Google ScholarPanelThe arc of violence against women•Sex-selective abortion and female infanticide•Denial of food, medical care, or education•Female genital mutilation or cutting•Child marriage•Forced marriage•Honour killings•Dowry killings•Domestic violence•Intimate-partner violence•Femicide•Sexual abuse in the workplace•Rape by known or unknown individuals•Mass rape as an instrument of war•Sex trafficking•Labor trafficking•Domestic slavery•Abuse of widows •Sex-selective abortion and female infanticide•Denial of food, medical care, or education•Female genital mutilation or cutting•Child marriage•Forced marriage•Honour killings•Dowry killings•Domestic violence•Intimate-partner violence•Femicide•Sexual abuse in the workplace•Rape by known or unknown individuals•Mass rape as an instrument of war•Sex trafficking•Labor trafficking•Domestic slavery•Abuse of widows It is my sincerest hope that all the authors of these comments and letters recognise that the inclusion of gender-based violence in the documentation of health burdens among women is essential. We must collect the necessary data to fully document the extent of this global scourge and to understand its true financial, social, and health effect. I declare no competing interests. Women leaders in global healthIt is disappointing and rather ironic to note the lack of gender parity in leadership positions in the field of global health. Women carry a disproportionate burden of disease, comprise a large portion of the global health workforce, and in many leading universities make up the majority of global health students, even up to 84% as reported by one university.1,2 Yet, among the top 50 universities in the USA, women hold just over a third of global health faculty positions and a quarter of directorships in global health centres. Full-Text PDF Open Access