Panel 1: Gender Dimensions of Global Health

Location: Heritage Room

Time: 9:15am-10:35am

Moderator: Dr. Karen Tabb, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Faculty Speaker:

“Empowerment of Women for Promoting Health and Quality of life.”


Dr. Snehendu B. Kar, Professor Emeritus of Public Health and of Asian American Studies at the University of California at Los Angeles

The UN/WHO-led Human Development Approach (HDA) includes Gender Equality and Empowerment (GEE) as a major goal. Women are usually the primary caregivers; they are also more powerlessness than men. This study aims to discover whether and how powerless women empower themselves and learn from them. A Meta-Analysis compared data on six dimensions from 86 successful, self-organized movements word-wide; these dimensions are: initial conditions/history; personal characteristics; what motivated them; methods they used; who helped/opposed and how; the outcomes; and contextual factors affecting them. Findings include: powerless women can and do organize successful movements in diverse societies. The EMPOWER acronym encompasses seven empowerment methods; these are: Enabling services; Media use/advocacy; Public participation; Organizing partnerships/networks; Work-training and micro-enterprise; Empowerment education; and Rights protection and promotion. Statistical comparisons of EMPOWER methods used by rich and poor nations, and by four empower domains (basic-rights, equal-rights, income and health) are presented. Subjective experiences of the women and the lessons learned are reviewed. The limitations of a three-level empowerment theory; a proposed five-level empowerment model (including family and governance system); the efficacy of the EMPOWER framework; and implications for theory, policy, and action are discussed.

Doctoral Students:

“Establishing a Women’s Health Agenda in the post-2015 World: Where are Women’s Voices?”

Rachel Smith, College of Medicine and Department of Sociology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

In the post-2015 (post-millennium development goal) world, the global health community is seeking to establish a new set of priorities for women’s health. Previously, the focus has been primarily on decreasing rates of maternal mortality through increased prenatal care coverage and directing women to deliver in health facilities where emergency obstetric care is available. While progress has undoubtedly been made, success has been hampered, in part because women of lower and middle-income countries (LMICs) have been treated as a relatively passive and homogenous group. Consequently, we know remarkably little about different women’s healthcare priorities and experiences, and their strategies for accessing care.

There is now a shift towards two new health priorities for women in LMICs: addressing the precipitous rise in chronic health conditions, as well as a focus on mental health within the framework of reproductive healthcare. These new priorities would require a much higher level of engagement with biomedical care, which may not be possible or desirable for many women living in LMICs. Without research that highlights women’s voices, and investigates the relationships between women and their healthcare institutions, it will not be possible to create effective models of healthcare provision or a meaningful women’s health agenda.

“Female-led Migration and Transnational Motherhood”

Maria Piñeros, School of Social Work, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Female led migration is a recent trend that has been gaining momentum in Latin America. Research on transnational motherhood has been predominantly centered on physical health. However, little attention has been given to the psychological consequences of mothers who leave their children behind and migrate to the United States -alone or with their husbands- to work. For this reason it is important to investigate the mental health status of transnational mothers residing in the United States. This article addresses the distinctive emotional challenges that females face when leaving children behind. First, this article offers background information on transnational motherhood, recent trends of migration, and reasons to migrate. Then, it analyses the attention in terms of interventions that has been given to this transnational trend and the implications it has for practice. If the ultimate goal is to promote maternal well-being, it is necessary to focus on the mental health of mothers who have left their children in their country of origin. However, before addressing these issues, reaching out strategies to help these mothers become more visible is the main goal that should be undertaken.