Join me and @BCWomensFdn in this fight at unmaskgenderinequity.ca
#UnmaskGenderInequity
Unmasking
Gender Inequity.
Women have experienced health inequities in BC for decades. The COVID-19 pandemic is making these worse — this affects us all.
Women’s health, safety, and financial security have suffered, with potential long-term consequences.
Women &
Covid-19
Yes, it's true
This statistic is from Unmasking Gender Inequity: revealing the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 on women's health.
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
$2.6 Billion
If we improve the system for women, we could save over $2 billion each year in lost work hours.
“I am terrified of not being able to afford rent when CERB discontinues.”
Share these facts to help ensure policy makers, employers, community leaders, care providers, and wider society have the knowledge to take action.
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
% OF WOMEN OCCUPATION
Gender
“I am stretched to my limits in every capacity, but I can't manage to get a break from anything. I am always at home, my work is now always with me at home, and my child is also here with me 24/7.”
Share stat
42% of women
WOMEN ARE IMPACTED IN EVERY FACET OF THEIR LIVES
THE PANDEMIC HAS EXACERBATED EXISTING INEQUITIES
“I am definitely experiencing depression. I am normally a very upbeat person but the loss of my job, and not being able to see my circle of friends and colleagues is really starting to affect me adversely.”
THIS IMPACTs
WOMEN’S HEALTH
From exposure at work to increased stress at home, women are impacted mentally and physically by the fallout of this pandemic.
02
/06
Essential services need healthy women. Women represent the majority of frequently under-valued essential service roles. We must ensure that the health needs of these workers are met to keep these services operating and sustainable.
Making changes to support women staying healthy has the potential to save up to $2.6 billion in BC annually, and up to $17.8 billion across Canada. Achieving gender equality would increase the growth rate of output by 9% in BC and by 6% across Canada over the next decade.
$2.6 Billion
This Impacts everyone
Healthy women are critical to our collective future. They are central to our families, communities, and essential services. And, improving the healthcare system to enable women to stay healthy has the potential to save the BC economy up to $2.6 billion annually.
This statistic is calculated from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research’s public database, from 2008-2018.
only 8% of health research funding goes to womens health
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“I don't know why, but in this day and age, even with women working full time hours THE SAME AS MEN, the brunt of the house work and the child care still seems to fall on our shoulders. It's exhausting.”
During the pandemic these inequities increased.
Misdiagnosis: Doctors are more likely to diagnose women’s pain as psychological, and are inclined to give women less pain medication than men.
Minimized symptoms: Women make up 70% of patients with “medically unexplained symptoms” and these symptoms are frequently incorrectly linked to a psychological origin.
Poorly targeted treatment: Women experience 50-75% of adverse drug reactions, yet many medications prescribed to women have often been tested only on men.
THIS IS SYSTEMIC
Gender inequity in healthcare is systemic—and it’s not new. The COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated this issue, underscoring that for far too long, women have been unheard, unseen and misunderstood.
“We both lost our jobs and don't have extended health. Unfortunately, I have to choose between food/shelter and fixing a cavity.”
WE CAN ALL EFFECT CHANGE
By sharing your personal story to raise awareness, amplifying the work of engaged individuals and organizations on social media, or donating to initiatives that improve women’s health, you can help to change the way forward for women.
Join us as we work towards a future of healthy women everywhere, capable of anything.
