The eighth season of the Banega Swasth India initiative stresses on the need to take care of, and consider everyone's health in India especially vulnerable communities
Oct 03, 2021
15:33 (IST)
Dr S Shantha Kumari, President, Federation of Obstetric & Gynaecological Societies of India highlighted how violence against women affects their health and immunity
Violence against women is definitely one of the most shameful human rights violations. And we know that it knows no boundaries of geography, culture or wealth, and we've seen during the COVID time that violence against women has increased manifold. We need to understand the effect of this violence against women and how it's affecting women's health. Especially women who are pregnant. It impacts the health of the woman when she's pregnant and it increases maternal morbidity and mortality. It can lead to abortions. It can lead to so many other mishaps during pregnancy. And when you look at it, at our country how is it that our sexual & reproductive rights are affected. Right from the womb to the tomb. You know, we find the female foeticide, it starts right from when the girl child is there, female child battery, female infanticide, female abortions. And when the girl is growing up, it can lead to child marriages, female genital mutilation, sexual psychological abuse, incest. And as the child is growing up, we now find that even in adolescence & adulthood, there is dating violence, courtship violence, sexual abuse at the workplace. And sometimes, unfortunately these days we find even cyber crime is also increasing. And we find this has a wide impact on the overall health of the woman. That's the reason why have to actually sensitise our OB-GYNs and everyone at large, that violence affects a woman's health at large.