Examine how intersectionality is being recognised as a valuable normative and research paradigm for furthering understandings of the complexity of gender heath inequities in Africa Intersectionality describes ways in which certain social identities such as race, ethnicity, gender and class affects an individual’s experience. These same categories are used to reflect systems of oppression and privilege. Intersectionality provides the context for understanding that people’s health cuts across many lived experiences (Bowleg, 2012). Much of public health however does not acknowledge health differences as they speak on each identity independently. Because the term women and minorities has become the centre in public health discourse and research, …show more content…
This means to say that everyone should have access to good standard health. However this is not the case in public health systems. Their constraints limit the capacity to provide universal health. For instance with HIV, which is the biggest epidemic in South Africa, access to antiretroviral treatment for people who are marginalized, poor and living with HIV becomes difficult. Moreover if these individuals get access to the treatment, because they are poor, they might not have access to a balanced diet which needs to be taken with the pills and this ultimately worsens their health (Sen & Östlin, 2008). The criminalization of behaviour of people can actually limit access to public health services when this should not be the reality. For example with sex work there is a lot of stigma around it, and when women in this industry go to clinic to seek HIV treatment or any kind of contraception, they are usually rejected. When they fall pregnant, they are denied access to clinics that provide abortions and end up going into spaces that carry out unsafe abortions. In many different countries abortions and high maternal and child mortality rates constitute a serious public health problem. Not only is abortion highly stigmatized around sex workers but across the board. There are huge tensions around abortion although some countries like South African have very liberal laws around it. As a result unsafe abortions happen so