Women's Health in Australia
A snapshot into the latest issues policies and affecting women around the country
Domestic violence policy in NSW
By Eleanor Campbell
Older women in Australia are being ‘left out’ of discussions around domestic violence and homelessness, says advocates
Domestic violence service providers do not adequately consider the needs of women aged over 65, says Manager of Older Women’s Network NSW Yumi Lee.
“Refuges are not built to consider the needs of older women fleeing violence and what’s even worse is that there is nowhere to run to because there is a complete lack of social and affordable housing.”, she says.
“Without adequate training, the danger is that older women could continue to be victims of the system”.
“Everything’s geared towards younger people and that’s also reflected in discussions and narratives about violence.”
The release of last month’s budget raised concerns over the lack of funding directed to the estimated 400,00 women aged over 45 who experiencing homelessness in Australia
While the government delegated money for emergency domestic violence accommodation, it did not direct funds towards crisis services for older women.
“I think it says a lot about how sanctifies how we view age, sex and gender in Australia.”
“Women are valued, and older women are valued less”
Yumi authored the Older Women’s Network NSW submission into February’s inquiry into coercive control legislation.
It was there she detailed the stigmas facing older women when accessing domestic violence, homeless and specialised aged-care services.
“If you are 62 or 64 and leave an abusive relationship... it’s a death sentence. We don’t get a living wage, and social security is not social security – it’s a situation of deprivation.”
In NSW, neglect, physical abuse and sexual abuse are the most common forms of violence against women aged 65 and over.
Yumi says that a myriad of factors are preventing older women from leaving abusive relationships.
“They’ve grown up with accepting violence or abuse as part of a relationship”
“One of the things is that the mindset traps them into thinking they have to accept it. So it’s really hard when you’re much older to leave an abusive relationship”
“The other part is that the thought of leaving the relationship and knowing that the services are stretched, and that they may not be heard properly, and the risk of it leading into a homeless situation. Women think, I’ve put up with it for thirty years, why should I leave now?”.
Gender Equity in Medical Research
By Holly Truelove
Why gender bias is bad for our health
There is a need for increased recognition of women in medical research in Australia, and it starts with making policy changes.
The sex and gender differences between females and males have been ignored in the medical field for years, leading to a lack of understanding of the health outcomes for both
A three-year project conducted by The George Institute for Global Health and The Australian Human Rights Institute has called for a separation of the sexes in the analysis of medical research.
Historically, medical research and clinical trials have focused on males and “the results of that research were then often applied, and assumed to apply, to females,” said Professor Robyn Norton, epidemiologist and Principal Director of The George Institute for Global Health.
This can compromise women’s health, as found in the study of cardiovascular disease and the different ways men and women exhibit symptoms and respond to treatments.
The Lancet’s women and cardiovascular disease commission concluded that while cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in women, it remains “understudied, under-recognised, under-diagnosed, and under-treated.”
Professor Norton said that as medical researchers have started to separate data from females and males, they “recognise there are differences both in terms of biology between males and females, and differences in terms of social cultural impacts on health.”
Gender Bias in Medical Research, by Holly Truelove
A recent study by The Sex and Gender Sensitive Research Call to Action Group calls for Australia to reflect policies European, North American and some Asian institutions have implemented in regards to sex and gender analysis in medical research.
Dr. Amy Vassallo, Research Fellow at The George Institute for Global Health and the Sex and Gender Policies in Medical Research Project, said that changing how medical research is conducted in relation to sex and gender would “help to ensure the needs of women are known and met by the medical system, reduce adverse events, and improve the health of the Australian community”.
The gender bias in medical research also effects how sex-specific diseases are researched.
“Often… these female diseases are less well researched than male diseases… because there’s more male STEM science researchers,” said Dr. Kelly Burrowes from the University of Auckland.
Endometriosis is one such disease, where “the tissue that is similar to the lining of the womb grows outside it in other parts of the body.” Despite effecting one in nine women, and costing the Australian economy an estimated $9.7 billion annually, doctors and researchers still don’t understand what causes endometriosis.
Living with Endometriosis, by Holly Truelove
The Future of Fertility in Australia
Bronte Wild
If “35 is the new 25”, what does this mean for fertility in Australia?
Traditional milestones are shifting, and people are having children later and later as a result.
Bioethicist at the University of Sydney, Dr. Kathryn MacKay, says what the last generation could have expected to have done by 25, people can now expect to “maybe” accomplish by 35.
Before starting a family, people often want to complete their education, get a secure job, establish savings, and maybe even put down a payment on a home, but Dr. Mackay says this is no longer realistic for most people, especially in urban areas.
The rising cost of living, job insecurity, greater demand for tertiary education, and delayed relationship formation is seeing more and more people put off childbearing. The median age of mothers is 31.5 and increasing every year.
What does this mean for fertility?
Dr. Liz Allen, a demographer at the Australian National University, says it means the fertility rate is declining rapidly.
Australia’s fertility rate has been below replacement level (2.1) since 1976 and currently sits at a record low of 1.66. Consecutive Governments have focused on trying to counteract this as the population ages.
Since 1972, the number of people of age pension age has tripled compared with those of working age.
As part of the government’s strategy to lift fertility rates, the federal budget included an extra $1.7 billion for childcare and $1.6 billion for universal preschool access. However, Dr. Allen says these measures are not enough to encourage young Australians to have more children or reduce the significant financial burden of having a family.
“There are too many barriers at present that are preventing people from achieving their desired family size, things like housing affordability, job security, climate change, and gender inequality”, she says.
Dr. Allen says baby bonuses will not work, the focus must be on addressing these issues first, specifically, gender inequality. She says the pressure has been on women to have children at a biologically appropriate age, stay in the workforce and do the highest proportion of housework and caretaking.
“We need to see a concerted effort and it starts in policy that parenthood is genderblind, parenthood is not about motherhood. It’s about whoever wants to parent and there should be policy measures that support this in the workplace” she says.
