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Tuesday, June 30, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Women's Health
RIGHTS-EL SALVADOR: Home, Deadly Home
The man attacked his wife, as he had done many times in the past, but this time he went further than ever before: he beat her almost to death, then killed their son, and finally committed suicide. No matter how tragic, it was just another everyday case of domestic violence, which claims the lives of nearly 300 Salvadoran women every year.POPULATION: Maternal Mortality Goals Hit by Funds Crunch
A scarcity of funds and a failure to translate national laws into action are undermining hopes of the world meeting a key development goal in 2015 that aims to help women, says a ranking U.N. official.ARGENTINA: Flaws in Acclaimed Sexual Health Plan
Three years after it got under way, Argentina's sexual and reproductive health programme has spread from 124,000 beneficiaries to 2.3 million. But monitoring by non-governmental organisations has brought to light some problems in its implementation.TAJIKISTAN: Gender Equality Clashes With Culture, Religion
Women have played important roles in rebuilding Tajikistan after the country's civil war of the 1990's. But women in this central Asian country still have many obstacles to overcome to reach equality with men, according to some local activists and international observers.CUBA: Women and Alcoholism, the Enemy of the Lonely
Each story is more heart-rending than the last, and they all have a common theme: alcohol destroyed these women's lives, sometimes with the help of other drugs, and now they are trying to rebuild them.RIGHTS-COTE D’IVOIRE: Disability and Sex Can Share the Same Bed, Say Women
Marginalised by society because they have few legal or institutional forms of protection, disabled women in Cote d'Ivoire are now coming out of the shadows and demanding their rights - particularly those related to their sexual and reproductive lives.NICARAGUA: Therapeutic Abortion Banned in Pre-Election Frenzy
Latin America is not the most liberal region in the world when it comes to abortion. But the decision by Nicaraguan legislators to hand down eight-year prison sentences to those who terminate a pregnancy to save a mother's life has astounded doctors, feminists, activists, diplomats and government officials alike.DEVELOPMENT-KENYA: Flying Toilets Still Airborne
An overflowing pit latrine empties its contents in a thick stream of worm-infested filth at the doorstep of Catherine Kithuku's home in Matopeni, a slum on the outskirts of the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.PORTUGAL: Voters to Decide on Legal Abortion in Referendum
With Thursday's approval of a motion by the governing Socialist Party to hold a referendum on the decriminalisation of abortion, the Portuguese parliament gave a green light to the battle to remove the country from the list of European nations with the strictest laws against abortion.GUATEMALA: Devoured by Malnutrition
The ambulance pulls off the road, just where a steep rocky track leads up to the remote Guatemalan village of Shumpá. The health professionals' mission is to save the life of a malnourished two-year-old girl.ARGENTINA: Stamping Out Mistreatment of Women in Hospitals
Cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment of women in sexual and reproductive health services in Argentina, often accepted as normal by doctors, nurses and even patients, is being closely examined by a network of organisations determined to stamp out these practices.RIGHTS: Gender Violence a Universal Norm, Says U.N.
A 113-page landmark U.N. study on gender violence says women continue to be victims of sexual harassment, human trafficking and blatant discrimination worldwide.RIGHTS-COTE D’IVOIRE: Impunity Lays the Ground for Sexual Abuse
Increasing sexual violence in Côte d'Ivoire has prompted rights organisations to call for an end to a culture of impunity which they claim has encouraged this trend - particularly as concerns the military.HEALTH-SENEGAL: Clay as Delicacy and Danger
You can find them at the rear of the large shed in the market at the train station, amidst dust, shouts of laughter and the "thwack" of sacks being thrown onto pushcarts. These are some of the kaolin sellers that frequent the Senegalese capital, Dakar.RIGHTS-JAMAICA: Hauling HIV/AIDS Out of the Closet
When Jamaica's Health Ministry recently launched an anti-HIV stigma campaign titled "Getting on with Life" prominently featuring two HIV-positive Jamaicans speaking publicly about their experiences living with the disease, it was something of a watershed moment for groups like Jamaica AIDS Support, formed in 1991 to combat the spread of AIDS and HIV.CHILE: Therapeutic Abortion – A Distant but Not Impossible Prospect
Activists fighting for the decriminalisation of therapeutic abortion in Chile have long faced a depressing scenario: zero political will, stiff opposition from the Catholic Church and limited public support. Today, though, they are encouraged by positive signals on contraception from the government of Michelle Bachelet.HEALTH-AFRICA: Bringing Traditional Birth Attendants Into the Mainstream
In an ideal world, all of Africa's women would have access to clinics, nurses, obstetricians, medicines: the panoply of staff and equipment needed to make the process of giving birth as safe as possible.LABOUR-US: The Beauty Industry’s Ugly Secret
When it comes to the 20-billion-dollar a year manicure industry in the United States, consumers are more likely to fear foot fungus, not the beauty products themselves.NEPAL: Only Half of Women Know Abortion is Legal
As the 21st century began, more women were dying during childbirth in Nepal than in almost any other country and it was estimated that half of maternal deaths in hospitals were caused by unsafe abortions.HEALTH-CHILE: ‘Morning After Pill’ for Everyone – for Free
The Chilean government decreed that all public health centres must provide birth control, including emergency contraception, to adolescents and women over the age of 14 - a measure that immediately drew the ire of the Catholic Church and the right-wing opposition parties.HEALTH-KENYA: ‘Break the Silence on Abortion’
Local communities have been urged to act as agents of change and break the silence on illegal abortions fuelling Kenya's maternal mortality.« Previous Page — Next Page »
Worldwide, women’s health is a serious issue. The result of a wide diversity of factors, most notably insufficient access to education, women’s health issues must be addressed. Without access to proper schooling, many girls grow up without the necessary understanding of reproductive health. Due to this, reproductive issues and sexually transmitted infections plague women in developing countries. Women struggle to battle infections such as HIV. The lack of relevant services, coupled with the lack of women’s rights pertaining to their own health, are some of the serious issues that these stories seek to explain.
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