Gender
Women and men differ in biology, the roles and responsibilities that society assigns to them and their positions in the family and community. This affects the risk they take, those they are exposed to, their efforts to improve their health, and how the health system responds to their needs. It may also have implications for the causes, consequences and management of disease and ill health. Gender-based values and social and cultural norms and stereotypes that are discriminatory may also translate into practices that affect health and well-being.
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Inspiring change: women’s leadership in health care is vital during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond
COVID-19 continues to exacerbate existing inequalities and place a disproportionate burden on women, including in health-care settings. Women health workers are faced with increased workloads, a gender pay gap, shortages of personal protective equipment that fits them, and harassment and violence as they respond to the pandemic on the frontlines.
Women’s health report
Women’s health and well-being in Europe: beyond the mortality advantage (2016)
Women’s health is at a crossroads. Countries endorsed global efforts to advance women’s health by adopting the 2030 Agenda Sustainable Development and are taking them forward through the Sustainable Development Goals and the global strategy for women, children and adolescents’ health.
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Syrian women in Turkey provide humanitarian support to the vulnerable in their community
Gender: definitions
Gender is used to describe the characteristics of women and men that are socially constructed, while sex refers to those that are biologically determined. People are born female or male, but learn to be girls and boys who grow into women and men. This learned behaviour makes up gender identity and determines gender roles. The WHO gender policy 2002 defines the terms below.
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