Women’s health

Women’s health and well-being have improved over the past decades. However, additional efforts are needed to better address their health needs. Some gender stereotypes can affect medical diagnosis or the treatment of certain health problems. When this happens, certain needs of women are not met, such as:

• Cardiovascular diseases are less commonly diagnosed in women, particularly because their symptoms are sometimes different from those of men and are more often perceived as anxiety.  
• Some practitioners may perceive the pain tolerance of women as being lower than that of men and choose not to treat their pain. 
• Autism is reportedly poorly diagnosed in girls because indicators such as withdrawal and limited social interaction are perceived as being reserved and shy, traits most often associated with females. 

Women use more health services throughout their lives, especially for contraception and maternity. However, issues related to women’s health are not only associated with their reproductive health. Recent studies also show that in Québec, women:

• represent the majority of people with a high level of psychological distress
• represent the majority of people who have attempted suicide
• represent the majority of victims of domestic violence and sexual violence, and suffer from the health problems resulting from them
• are proportionally more affected by eating disorders than men
• are more prone than men to having moderate to severe health problems (problems with vision, hearing, speech, walking, dexterity, emotions, cognition and pain), which result in limitations in activity.

Despite this, medical research on women’s health falls considerably behind the research on men’s health. Some diseases remain underdiagnosed because women are under-represented in research or because their specific symptoms are not considered.

Since the year 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected women more severely than men. Care occupations (occupations in health and personal care) and related services were seen as essential and were in high demand during the crisis. In this regard, women represent:

• 80% of healthcare staff
• 98% of daycare educators
• 75% of teaching staff
• 86% of grocery store cashiers
• 58% of maintenance and cleaning staff

For this reason, partly, women have been more exposed to the risk of contracting the virus and have been predominantly affected by infections related to COVID-19.

Several factors related to the pandemic and the distancing measures have also led to problems related to women’s health:

• an increase in suicidal behaviour
• a decrease in physical activity
• an increase in the use of cannabis

Reproductive health and family planning affect women in particular. In working toward gender equality, women have historically made many demands related to these issues.

Among other things, these demands led to the decriminalization of contraception and the right to abortion in 1969, which has been decriminalized and made available for free since 1988.

Despite this, some beliefs against freedom of choice in abortion remain. Access to reliable information and the necessary resources are still key issues in making the decision to continue the pregnancy or have an abortion.

Women also have the right to plan a pregnancy when they choose and to seek medical help when they are unable to conceive a child. Access to contraception, perinatal services and abortion services has been thus facilitated in recent decades. The Medically assisted reproduction program has been created to provide financial assistance to couples or single women seeking to undergo infertility treatments.

Other issues remain, however. For example, issues related to menstruation, such as lack of menstrual pain management and lack of access to menstrual products. An estimated 12% to 34% of Québec women will have had to choose between purchasing menstrual products and other essential products throughout their lives due to a lack of financial means.

There is still a long way to go with regard to the humanization of gynecological and obstetrical care, the management of problems related to endometriosis and menopause, etc.

To achieve equality in fact between women and men, the fight to counter violence against women and girls is fundamental. In 2020, women and girls represented:

• 76% of victims of domestic violence
• 88% of victims of sexual assault
• 95% of victims of crimes related to pimping and human trafficking

The consequences for the physical and psychological health of the victims are numerous. They have a short and long-term impact on the health and lives of the victims, but also on those around them and on society in general. Domestic violence and sexual violence are public health issues that concern the whole population.

Please see the Violence and bullying web page to learn more about this subject or to access help and resources.