Working for Change 17
Working for change in your country
You can improve your health, and the health of many other
women in your country, by working together with other groups
in different parts of the country. By working together, you can
make important changes in the way your government treats
women and women’s health. For example, community groups
can pressure the government to punish men who rape or
abuse women, or to make safe abortion available. Or you can
get laws passed to allow women to own or inherit property—
so that women are not forced to depend on men.
Many women and men are struggling to get their governments to:
• equip rural clinics and train health workers to treat common women’s health
problems. This way, rural women will not be forced to go to urban hospitals
for care.
• pay for people—especially women—from poor areas to get health training.
That way there will not be such a shortage of trained health workers.
• keep companies from damaging the environment and advertising products that
harm people’s health.
• force companies to
provide fair working
conditions and
decent wages for
women and men.
• make it easier for
people to grow
food for their
communities, not
for export.
• distribute unused
land to those who
have been forced
from their land.
Gaining power over our own health
Just as ‘women’s health’ means more than maternal health, it
also means more than access to health care. To be truly healthy,
women need the chance to make the decisions necessary
for good health. And they need access to a fair share of the
resources in their communities and in the world.
By joining other women and men in the struggle for health,
we can demand the chance to live healthy, full, and joyful lives—
free of disease, pain, and fear.
Where Women Have No Doctor 2012