Loading...
Women's Self-Help Groups in India: Gender Equity, a Human Right
Wurtz, Heather
Wurtz, Heather
Citations
Altmetric:
Abstract
Throughout the world, gender inequality—pervasive and deeply embedded in societal structures and ideologies—continues to inhibit human potential and retard the social and economic development of individuals, families, and entire populations. Viewed by many as an abuse of basic human rights, gender inequality perpetuates negative outcomes of health and well-being, and propagates undemocratic, unjust, and unproductive social patterns and political processes. India, a country vastly plagued by the ill effects of gender inequality, accounts for nearly 1/5 of total maternal deaths globally and only trails behind Sub-Sahara Africa for total losses due to reproductive health disparities (UNDP, 2010). The purpose of this article is to briefly describe the effects of SHG—within an Indian context—on the overall health of women, in order to grasp an understanding of this debated public health paradigm and to consider its applicability to a diversity of settings. SHG‟s has become a major strategy in India for combating gender inequality through a holistic approach to health and well-being. Gender inequality, within India and on a global scale, has become a pressing issue that requires aggressive and definitive action. Nurses are on the forefront of social and community change action; nurse‟s all-encompassing approach to health and ability to engage women in the community, allow them to facilitate health improvement as a development tool. The many „faces of gender inequality‟ (Sen, 2004) must not be obscured by contextual or cultural differences; they must be viewed through the lens of these differences in order to realize their common threads.
Description
Heather Wurtz is a native of Topeka, Kansas. She is the recipient of the Level II Clinical Excellence Award from the KU School of Nursing for her clinical excellence in the pediatrics setting. She is an honors graduate from the School of Nursing. She is the recipient of the Helen Crilly, James D. Robinson, George and Margaret Varnes, and Marguerite Coffman Nursing Scholarships. She was also awarded a Shawnee County Medical Society Alliance Scholarship and received a Delta Chapter-Sigma Theta Tau travel award to present her honors research.
Date
2011-08-26
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Collections
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Keywords
Gender Equity, India, Women, Self-help