Abstract
Language plays a central role in how gender and sexuality are described. In Bangla or Bengali, physicians, when educating and counseling women patients, do not have a socially acceptable word for “vagina”. If language is missing for female genitalia or important female sexual functions, could this absence reflect on the position of women in society, reproductive rights, and access to healthcare? Is there a relationship between language and the high rates of the gender-based cervical and breast cancers in some low and middle-income countries? This commentary examines scholarship on the topic of language, the female body, gender-based violence, disparities of healthcare for women, and the consequences of language on sexual attitudes and health.
Highlights
Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) identify non-medical factors that impact both the incidence and the outcomes of medical conditions
If language is missing for female genitalia or important female sexual functions, could this absence reflect on the position of women in society, reproductive rights, and access to healthcare? Is there a relationship between language and the high rates of the gender-based cervical and breast cancers in some low and middle-income countries? This commentary examines scholarship on the topic of language, the female body, gender-based violence, disparities of healthcare for women, and the consequences of language on sexual attitudes and health
We developed open-air teaching sessions in the Korail Slum of Dhaka, Bangladesh as part of a cervical cancer-screening program [5]
Summary
Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) identify non-medical factors that impact both the incidence and the outcomes of medical conditions. A review through the World Health Organization of gender-sensitive policies and general health policies in five South Asian countries show that large gender inequities still exist in political and economic status, birth sex ratios, human trafficking, illiteracy rates, maternal mortality rates, contraception prevalence rate, fertility rates, knowledge of HIV/AIDS prevention, access to skilled birth attendants, and microfinance [9]. This commentary examines scholarship on the topic of language, the female body, gender-based violence, disparities of healthcare for women, and the consequences of language on sexual attitudes and health
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