Gender issues in reproductive health: a review

Abstract

Gender, for its impact on virtually every contemporary life issue, can rightly be regarded as a foremost component of reproductive health. Reproductive health basically emphasises on people and their rights to sexuality, reproduction, and family planning, and the information to actualize these right, which has been inextricably linked to development at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo, Egypt, in 1994. Women's sexual and reproductive rights became recognised as universal human right, violations of which occur in some reproductive health areas including gender concerns. Gender inequality and inequity encompass gender based violence as well as gender discrimination which cuts across the life cycle of the woman; attitudes, religious and cultural practices of various nations; and issues related to employment, economy, politics, and development. The redress of gender inequality is a collective responsibility of nations and supranational agencies. Nations should adopt a framework hinged on three pedestals--legal, institutional and policy, employing the three recommended approaches of equal treatment, positive action, and gender mainstreaming.