Health and gender

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Gender inequity and the stigmatisation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual/transgender, queer, intersexual and asexual persons as well as all other gender identities (LGBTQIA+) can threaten people‘s health and life.

Whether someone is born a man or a woman or an LGBTQIA+ person can impact individual freedoms, employment opportunities, salaries and more to this day. In many countries, women and LGBTQIA+ people also face restrictions on basic human rights such as freedom of expression, their right to education, protection from political persecution and their right to the highest attainable standard of health.  

In the area of sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender inequity manifests itself, for example, wherever women are not free to choose whether to use contraception or whether to carry a pregnancy to term or have an abortion. Gender inequity also takes its toll where women and girls face stigma during their menstrual periods and lack sanitary conditions for menstrual hygiene; where they are exposed to domestic and sexual violence and lack access to emergency services for victims of such violence; and where harmful traditional practices such as female genital mutilation, early marriage and early pregnancy threaten the health and lives of girls and young women. 

Where LGBTQIA+ persons are stigmatised and criminalised, this impedes their access to health services so that, for example, HIV infections cannot be detected and treated at an early stage. It also leads to them being disproportionately affected by physical and sexual violence.

Equal rights and equal opportunities for men and women, girls and boys and LGBTQIA+ persons are fundamental pillars of German development policy and a cross-cutting task for all areas of German development cooperation. The reports and toolkits below show how this commitment is being implemented.