Gender-Based Violence

Priyanka Mohan
Amanda Blevins
Kara McInroy

Top Ten Facts:
1. 1 in 3 women have been beaten, coerced into sex, or abuse in some other way by someone she knows, being a male family member such as a husband.
2. In a time of emergences or crises, women are more susceptible to violence due to increased insecurity.
3. 1 in 5 women will be a victim of rape or attempted rape in her lifetime.
4. At least 130 million women have been forced to undergo female genital mutilation.
5. More often than not, perpetrators of gender-based violence go without punishment.
6. Gender-based violence also serves to perpetuate male power and control and is sustained by a culture of silence and denial of the seriousness of the health consequences of abuse.
7. An estimated 800,000 people are trafficked across borders each year, 80% of them are women and girls of which most end up trapped in the commercial sex trade.
8. Power imbalance in early marriages can mean that young brides are unable to negotiate condom use or protest when their husbands engage in extra-marital sexual relations.
9. Women worldwide are twice as likely as men to be illiterate, limiting their ability to demand their rights and protection.
10. “Honor” killings take the lives of thousands of young women every year, mainly in Western Asia, North Africa and parts of South Asia.

Personal Story:
My name is Linda and I started having a bad life at 18. I met what I thought was a wonderful man. He was one of my bosses from work. He was so kind to me at fist. We would spend lovely times together just having fun. I seemed important to him; at least I thought I was.

After we were dating for about 2.5 months I found out I was pregnant and I wanted no more children. I already had a son and I was too young for him but another would have been havoc. So I told Joe that I wanted to terminate the pregnancy and that is when it all started.

He kept me home and fired me from my job. For the 1st time he hit me right across the face because I said I was leaving him. He dragged me into the dept. store and said we are going shopping so stop crying like a baby. He acted like it was nothing and I knew it was wrong but I did as I was told. I was 18 and he was 31. I thought an older man would be better for me but I was wrong!

The hitting became beatings almost every day. Even though I was pregnant, he did not care. He said, "If you were a good girl I wouldn't have to discipline you so much." I hated hearing that. Be a good girl- that was screwed up ya' know?

I had my daughter and I thought it would help us but it didn't. It just meant that I was stuck with him. The black eyes and busted lips and bruised body was all I knew and he was taking my heart too. I was no longer living near my parents and I was forbidden to have friends or should I say a life?

Two years later I became pregnant and I was not at all happy with that. But of course I had to stay pregnant. It cooled him down a little and he always said he was sorry. I hated my life and I wanted it to end but I had children whom I loved and I couldn't leave them. That is what keeps me alive. I tried to get help from my dad but he said THAT I MADE MY BED NOW - lay in it!! That hurt so much because I thought daddies were there to help when you needed them most.

My father was angry with me because I had children and he said it was my fault I put myself in that type of position. My mom couldn't even help me she could barely take care of herself. So as my pregnancy progressed he was a little nicer to me- we had twins now. That was the worse news to me. I kept thinking how am I going to leave with 4 kids.

I paid for a tubal ligation so I couldn't have any more children with him. I started saving a dollar here and a dollar there so I could escape my hell with my children. I remember one day that I told him I hated him with every bone in my body. He hit me so hard I went flying at least 10 feet across the bed and onto the floor. Blood dripping from my mouth, I just smiled and said, "Are you done?" I was so tired of him hitting me and controlling me as a person that I had had enough!

He started hitting me some more and I didn't back down. He finally walked away. The days went by and I would get hit because I didn't vacuum first then dust. The house was not clean enough or there was a fork in the sink I would get slapped again. He made excuses to hit me. So I bided my time till I could leave.

A few years later I was going to be gone within a few months then I found out I was pregnant again. I was floored because I paid to be fixed. Well I was that 1% that could get pregnant. So I stayed until my last child was 1 and a 1/2 and I packed my things and left.

I left the children behind because I couldn't care for 5 children. I took the oldest child with me because he was mine and not his. I became a stripper to care for my son and we did fine and I thought I would finally be free of violence. I loved my new life of no more long sleeved shirts or pants to cover the bruises.

Then I met James and he swore he would never hit me and he didn't for 1 1/2 years. Then one day I was out riding my bike and I pulled into the front yard and he was yelling and all of a sudden I fell down. He had hit me in the face so hard I had lost my balance. I still do not know why he hit me that day he never told me.

I stayed with him for a few more months hoping it was a mistake and it would never happen again. But I was wrong again. I let him move in with me in hopes of a good relationship. It did not last long.

One night I went out with my friends like I always did on Fridays and when I got home he yelled and screamed at me for being out while he was working. I basically told him he needed to leave because it was not working out then he hit me across the face a couple of times. I got up and ran for the phone to call for help. He pulled it out of the wall. He kept saying why are you making me do this to you? He grabbed my hair and was dragging me into the bedroom and I knew what that meant from experience I began to scream for help.

My son heard me and I hollered to him to get the neighbors and he did. He saved my life. James was arrested and given 1.5 years and no contact. I moved after that. We were over and I was over with men at least I thought I was.

Then one day my friend introduced me to a handsome sweet intelligent man and I fell for him hard. I was tired of being put down and bruised but my girlfriend assured me that he was good. She lied! He was worse than the other two put together. It was pure hell and I didn't realize what pain really was till I was with Jeff. He hit me every day even if he woke up in a good mood. I hated life and everyone in it. I thought that this is how my life was meant to be so I stayed for 6.5 years till I couldn't take it no more.

He would call my job all of the time and make me bring home a register receipt to prove what time I left. He held a gun to my head and said, If you want to die, let's do it." He would hit me in the face all of the time. Everyone at my job knew he was mean but no one would help me. Finally after he broke my windshield for the 3rd time I left and moved 20 minutes away and transferred to another store. He found me once again.

He called us all hours of the night yelling nasty things to myself and my roommate. He threatened her a lot and finally after 6 months of calls I finally agreed to see him in hopes of it being the last time. I was hoping that he had realized that after 6.5 years of hate he would finally end it and be civil. I wanted him to go on with his life so I could without him. I wanted to stop looking over my shoulder and my dreams would stop keeping me up at night. I wanted sleep again. I wanted to smile again. I wanted to be ME again.

He invited me to his birthday party so I figured I would be safe. I was so tired from working 18 hours straight but I made it to the party and there was other people there so I was ok with it. He was drinking and taking Librium pills the next door neighbor got him. I should have known to leave but I didn't.

I fell asleep on the couch and I awakened to him standing over me just looking at me in a confused look. I asked him what he was doing and he grabbed my throat and said, "you think you can just walk away from me. No you can't." I froze for a moment because I had this strange feeling rush over me and I can't completely describe it but it was scary. I knew then if I didn't get away from him I would die! I knew it and I didn't know how but I was terrified beyond belief. I pushed him off and ran for the door. He got up and chased me and it started a fight because I was determined to win this one. He grabbed my hair and pulled and yanked it hurt so bad that I could barely stand the pain. I wrapped my arms around the railing of the outside steps and held on for life. My arms began to bleed from scraping the wood rail back and forth but I held on.

He finally got me loose and I fell to the top step with my face down hoping to pass out. I knew I had to stay alive and that meant staying awake. He grabbed my head and began pounding it into the top step. It hurt and all I could do was cry and fight back. I saw blood dripping onto the step and I knew I had to be bleeding from my face now. It was a mess all over the steps. He yanked me up and I dropped to the steps again and he kept telling me to get up and get inside and I kept yelling for help. No one listened. He grabbed my hair and dragged me inside and I grabbed the doorway in hopes of tiring him out because I was tired. I dug my nails into the wood frame around the door making my fingers bleed and nails breaking from the pressure I could no longer hold on. I was now inside and he picked me up and threw me up against the wall calmly talking to me saying that we were soul mates and we had to be together. He said that our lives, especially his, was not going to be wasted by me. I owed him and I say I owed him nothing! We fought some more hitting each other profusely not taking a breath. I pushed him away and he fell over the end table he looked up and then unscrewed the table and came at me again and caught me right across the nose. I felt dizzy and out of it.

I remember saying to myself if there is a God, please help me. I will never doubt Your existence again. I never believed in God until that night. Jeff kept hitting me and made me walk the house with him. Finally I had him convinced that we would marry tomorrow. He stopped. He brought me into the kitchen to wipe my face off because he said I was a mess. He told me to go shower and change into some of his pajamas and we would watch our favorite movie. I agreed. I rushed upstairs and got into the shower and cried so hard it hurt. I looked down at the water and it was red all red. That's all I could see and I cried even more. My face hurt so much that I couldn't bring myself to look at it. I got out of the shower and dried off quickly and ran down stairs. He laid on the couch babbling about how I made him do that to me. He made me make a promise to be good and to marry him. I was to obey him forever and we would never be apart again.

I waited for him to fall asleep. It was midnight so that meant we had been fighting for 1 hour. I was so tired and dizzy but all I could think of was getting out. I waited for him to snore so I would know he was asleep. I went to the back door and unlocked the first lock 2 more to go. I waited a little while longer and opened another then another then I ran out the door as quickly as I could run. I ran down the steps and didn't look back. My feet were bleeding from running down the rocky driveway. All I could think was getting help.

I ran across the street to a neighbor's house it was 3:30 in the morning. I tapped on his window and begged for him to let me in. He opened the door and let me in we called the police and it was now over for me and him. I thank the Davidson county police of Tennessee for all their help. I get to live again. I am now 36 years older and am finally happy. I forgot what it was like to breathe on my own again. I haven't seen Jeff in 3 years and I keep track of him. He is still in jail and I have found someone who is the best thing in my life besides my children. 3 times is a charm - no the 4th is!!!!

(retrieved from http://www.mental-health-today.com/ptsd/domestic/stories.htm)

Quote:
“Sexual, racial, gender violence and other forms of discrimination and violence in a culture cannot be eliminated without changing culture.” - Charlotte Bunch

Organization Working For Change:
SIECUS is the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States. Their policy is to educate, advocate and inform. SEICUS affirms that “sexuality is a fundamental part of being human, one that is worthy of dignity and respect. We advocate for the right of all people to accurate information, comprehensive education about sexuality, and sexual health services. SIECUS works to create a world that ensures social justice and sexual rights.”

Websites We Like:
1. http://www.oxfam.ca/what-we-do/themes-and-issues/womens-equality/16-facts-about-gender-based-violence
2. http://www.now.org/
3. http://www.who.int/gender/violence/en/

Latin America

Two young girls, pregnant, terrified, and unable to have an abortion, chose to induce abortion on their own in the city of Pamplona, a traditional Roman Catholic town in Columbia where abortion is illegal. Thinking their pregnancy could easily be terminated, they bought a cheap ulcer medication. Instead of losing the baby, they began bleeding excessively and were rushed to a local emergency room. Immediately following treatment, they were arrested.

Marianne Mollman, a researcher for Human Rights Watch, which supports efforts to decriminalize abortion in Latin America. "I think it's the end of the realization that the criminalization of abortion doesn't lead to less abortion, but that it leads to a lot of preventable problems."

Ten Facts:

1. More than four million women in Latin American countries have undergone illegal abortions. Because abortions are illegal in Latin America, they are often performed in dangerous conditions that cause serious health problems to women.

2. In Nicaragua, the cancer rate is the second highest in all of Latin America, while in Latin America overall, cervical cancer is one of the highest rates in the world. 


3. In Nicaragua, 27% of female girls are pregnant or have already given birth. This is two times the regional average of Latin America. 


4. In a 2004 census, the death rate of pregnant mothers during birth was some of the highest rates in all of the Americas. 82 % of those deaths were due to health service inefficiencies.

5. 30% of the women who died during birth were women under 19 years old due to illegal abortions. 


6. 45% of admissions at a maternity hospital in Nicaragua were women who got
abortions illegally.



7. Nicaraguan Roman Catholic Church has denounced contraception.



8. 38% of Nicaraguan women are sexually active by age sixteen, 73% are sexually active by age
nineteen.

9. An estimated 10–20% of all women having abortions need but do not receive medical care for serious complications.

10. Women in these countries cite fear of legal consequences, social stigma, high

cost and lack of access to trained health professionals as the major barriers to obtaining safe abortions.

Organization working for change: FSD (foundation for sustainable development)
in Nicaragua focuses on:

- The support of women running in elections, and women being nominated to
office.

- Assist women’s health clinic to focus on reproductive health

- Aid the staff at health clinics to focus on vaccinations, malnutrition, and
hydration.


- Provide psychological help through counseling for overcoming addiction and
family violence.


- Awareness about equal rights for both sexes and to encourage women to have
more positive roles in the community.

Websites we like:

http://www.fsdinternational.org/country/nicaragua/weissues



http://countrystudies.us/nicaragua/29.htm

Partnering with Youth

Partnering with Youth

Lauren Gerity, Chantal Francis, Abby Bugas

Ten Facts:

1. Half of the worlds population is under the age of 25 and

87% of these people live in developing countries.

2. More than three fourths of youth live in developing countries without access to things that we take for granted such as education and health care.

3. EngenderHealth created a program to increase youths awareness to reproductive health information and services.

4. Sex is common among youth in America. Over 48% of students in high school have had sex.

5. 750,000 young women in the US become pregnant every year.

6. Every year, 20,000 youth are infected with HIV.

7. Nearly 4 million young adults between the ages of 14 and 19 are infected with an STI.

8. Though using contraception is far more prevalent today, U.S. teens use contraception far less than those in Europe.

9. When abstinence and contraception are taught to young adults, these youth are far more likely to delay sexual activity and use contraception in the future.

10. It is proven that educating youth about condoms does not lead to an increase of sexual activity.

Organizations- The International Women's health Coalition and the Advocates for Youth

Personal Story- Nineteen year old, Leticia, first started going to school after joining the Girls’ Club. When she was new to the club, she didn’t have many friends and was known for being very shy and would never look people in the eye. The girls in the club were very welcoming and Leticia started to make great friends who supported her through difficult times. She went to nursing school and is now working in a hospital. Today, she gives motivational speeches about the Girls’ Club and explains how much it helped her through her though times. She has come so far.

Meaningful Quote- “If we are to see lasting change-a world in which women and men are healthy and their human rights are protected-then we must ensure young people have access to the tools and information they need to lead healthy, productive lives.”

Child Marriage

Margaret Anderson, Cheyenne Marshall, Kamesha McLaughlin
Child Marriage
Facts about child marriage:
In Southern Asia, 10 million girls, about 48% of the populations, are married before the age of 18.
Girls married before 18 are more likely to die younger, suffer from health problems, live in poverty and remain illiterate than unmarried girls their age.
Girls who are younger than 15 are five times more likely to die during child birth or pregnancy than women who are in their 20s. Because of this, pregnancy-related deaths are the leading cause of death among girls age 15 to 19 around the world.
In Niger, 76.6% of girls under the age of 18 are married. In Chad, that number is 71.5%.
Child brides are isolated and denied education and the opportunity for jobs. This makes the poverty cycle difficult to break from themselves and their children.
In the next ten years, over 100 million girls will be married before the age of 18.
The maximum age of child marriage 18, but the median age is 15. Some girls are forced into marriage are as young as 7 or 8.
Child brides are often treated as servants in their husbands’ homes. They are also under great pressure to have a child to prove their fertility in the first year of marriage.
In Egypt, around 39% of married adolescents were beaten by their husbands. Of that number 41% were beaten while they were pregnant.
Infant mortality rates for mothers under the age of 20 are 75% higher than those born to older mothers.
Story
Nujood Ali was nine when she was married off by her parents to a man in his 30s. Soon after the marriage, her in-laws began beating her and her husband began raping her. Two months after she was married, she escaped via taxi and arrived at the courthouse, demanding a divorce. She refused the judge’s advice of rejoining her husband after a three to five year break. Reluctantly, the court granted her a divorce. This is just one case of child brides fighting against tradition. Child marriage is still a common practice in Yemen and other poverty-stricken countries.
Etc.
"And he asked me, 'what do you want' and I said 'I want a divorce' and he said 'you're married?' And I said 'yes.'"- Nujood Ali, talking to a judge she demanded to see. The international Women’s Health Coalition is an organization committed to end child marriage.
Links we like:
http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/341/facts.html
http://womensissues.about.com/od/violenceagainstwomen/tp/TenFactsAboutChildBrides.htm

Asia

Blair Priest

Leeanne Schocklin

Katherine Blatt

Nicole DaDamio

Top Ten Facts

1. Dowry demands are illegal in India, the Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961 enforces this.

2. In 1860 child marriage was outlawed, but it continues to be a big problem still today.

3. Due to infanticides and sex-selective abortions, the male to female ratio is a lot higher. All the tools to discover the sex of the baby have been banned in order to decrease the number of sex-selective abortions.

4. Devadasi is defined as a Hindu religious practice in which girls were "married" and dedicated to a deity, although in practice, they are also subject to providing sexual favors to the clergy. They used to be held in a high regard, but today due to the reforms in India they are looked at as prostitutes.

5. Due to the sex trafficking in India, there has been a rapid increase in HIV/AIDS in the country.

6. India has the world’s largest number of qualified female professionals. They have more women doctors, scientists, professors, and lawyers than the United States. They have the largest number of working women ranging from all skill levels.

7. In India men and women have the same life expectancy from birth.

8. The five main health issues that women in India face are reproductive health, violence, nutritional status, the unequal treatment of girls and boys (boys treated better), and HIV/AIDS

9. Women typically have little autonomy, they live first under their fathers, then their husbands, then finally their sons.

10. Women are viewed as strong economic burdens.

Websites We Like

Human Rights for Women in India

http://www.indianchild.com/womens_human_rights_india.htm

Women in India

http://india.mapsofindia.com/india-forum/womens-in-india.html

A Personal Story

Anita's Story

The story was about a young girl from a shanty town in India. At the age of 10, she found out that her mother was a Devdasi, a sex worker. Her mom died and she lived with her aunt. At the age of 12, she was taken to a temple to be dedicated to the Goddess Yallamma, from then on she was a Devdasi. Dhanda, or “business,” began when she hit puberty and she started off with two clients a day and eventually 10 to 15 per day. SANGRAM came and informed her of her rights and about HIV/AIDS. She fell in love with a man named Malak, when she found out she was pregnant she also found out that she was HIV-positive. She had a baby girl, but lost her three month old baby to pneumonia. She stopped doing Dhanda and began telling fellow devdasis the importance of using condoms to save their lives.

Personal Organization Working for Change

SANGRAM is an organization working to address the address the HIV/AIDS epidemic and promotes women's rights

Meaningful Quote

“Child prostitution continues to be a significant problem in our country, as evidenced by the number of children rescued through the continued efforts of our crimes-against-children task forces” Times of India

Pictures

HIV AND AIDS PICTURES

PROMOTING GENDER EQUALITY

"Men who take their share of the responsibility for housework and family care are paving the way for women to participate on equal terms with men in economic, political and social life outside the home." - Women's Studies Institute of China


FACTS

The gender norm of a strong, dominant, and invulnerable male is detrimental for men’s health. Men do no seek health information and service and do not ask for help because it is viewed as a sign of weakness.

Male prevention can help to stop the spread of STIs/HIV. Recent research has proven that adult male circumcision reduces the risk of female to male HIV transmission by more than 50 percent.

Gender-based violence is a major contributor to the spread of HIV and STIs. Some men may feel entitled to beat female partners who raise the issue of family planning or HIV prevention.

Many men feel it is their right to refuse to use contraception, to allow their female partners to use it, or even to discuss family planning. The consequences are unwanted pregnancies, unsafe abortion, and maternal death or disability.

Women receive the bulk of reproductive health education, but gender dynamics mean they can be powerless to make decisions. Men often hold decision-making power over matters as basic as sexual relations, but most reproductive health programs focus exclusively on women.

Gender equality is a human right.

Women have the right to live in dignity and freedom from want and from fear.

Empowering women is a tool for advancement, development, and reducing poverty.

Global prosperity and peace w ill only be achieved once women are empowered and included in the economic situation

Empowered women contribute to the health and productivity of whole families and communities.

AN ORGANIZATION WORKING FOR CHANGE

Men As Partners® (MAP) program was established by EnGender Health in 1996. This program works with men to play constructive roles in promoting gender equity and health in their families and communities.

How MAP Works
The MAP program uses many approaches to address gender inequalities, including:

• Holding interactive, skills-building workshops that confront harmful stereotypes of what it means to be a man
  
  
• Enhancing health care facilities’ capacity to provide men with quality care by training health care professionals to offer male-friendly services
  
  
• Leading local and national public education campaigns, using murals, street theater, rallies, and media, which explore the theme of partnership
  
  
• Building national and international advocacy networks to create a global movement
  
  

To date, EngenderHealth has developed Men As Partners programs in over 15 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the United States.

WEBSITES WE LIKE

http://www.unicef.org/mdg/gender.html

http://www.unfpa.org/gender/

ONE MAN'S STORY

Manoj is 25 years old and HIV-positive. EngenderHealth helped him gain new insights about being a man. Now he counsels other men about taking responsibility and is forging his own path in life.
I learned that I was HIV-positive when I donated blood for a friend’s operation. At first I couldn’t talk to anyone. I wanted to kill myself. But at the hospital a counselor told me, “You have one chance to live this life, and you can live it as much as you want.” She took a great burden off of my heart. I later became a counselor with the Gujarat Network of Positive People (GSNP+) because I wanted to help others like she had helped me.
Through my experience as a counselor, I’ve learned the importance of working with men. A man can talk to his family and make a message clear to them because he is seen as the leader and the decision maker. And men need to know that they are not alone in the problems that they face. So when EngenderHealth partnered with the GSNP+ to bring their Men As Partners® (MAP) program to Gujarat last year, I was eager to participate.
I have attended several MAP trainings and workshops. They are conducted in a very understandable way, and the topics and examples are relevant to our everyday lives. It helped me to start thinking more carefully about my everyday behavior. For example, I used to automatically ask my sister to get me water. Why shouldn’t I be the one to bring her water?
The MAP trainings also make me a better counselor. I learned practical information about positive and healthy living that I can share with my clients. Now I find it easier to talk to men about sex and about how you can be a man without engaging in risky behaviors, like having multiple partners. I tell my male clients that it is our responsibility to wear condoms and prevent spreading the virus. Taking responsibility, that is an important lesson that I’ve learned from MAP. When I talk to my male clients about MAP, one of the first things I tell them is that as men we can help improve the health of our families, friends, and community, and that is why they should join the program.
The MAP program has also helped me to make important personal decisions. I have a girlfriend; she is also HIV-positive and a counselor. She is a widow and has a 6-year-old son. Before, I could not see a future for us because of society’s prejudice against widows and second marriages. But I learned that these ideas are simply creations of society, and I do not have to adhere to them. My girlfriend’s son is now my son, and we are hoping to get married. I am following my heart, thanks to MAP.
I also decided to tell my family that I am HIV-positive, after years of hiding it from them. Like many others who are living with HIV, I was afraid. Recently I invited them to a World AIDS Day MAP event, where I spoke about living with HIV. My family was crying, but I knew that it was because they were proud of me. My family is so supportive, and when they see me working passionately for something that I care about, that is enough for them.

Maternal Health

Maternal Health

Alexa Garcia

Kerri Moriarty

Charlotte Pettit

Top Facts:

1. A woman in sub-Saharan Africa has a 1 in 16 chance of dying in pregnancy or childbirth.

2. 99% of deaths related to complications during childbirth occur in developing countries.

3. Every minute, a women dies from complications related to childbirth.

4. In developing countries, pregnancy and childbirth are the second leading causes (after HIV/AIDS) of death among women of reproductive age.

5. Five main killers cause more than 70% of maternal deaths worldwide: severe bleeding, infections, unsafe abortion, hypertensive disorders and obstructed labor. Postpartum bleeding can kill even a healthy woman, if unattended, within two hours. Most of these deaths are preventable.

6. More than 136 million women give birth a year. About 20 million of them experience pregnancy-related illness after childbirth. The list of morbidities is long and diverse.

7. The state of maternal health mirrors the gap between the rich and the poor. Only 1% of maternal deaths occur in high-income countries. For example, a woman's lifetime risk of dying from complications in childbirth or pregnancy is about one in seven in Niger and one in 48 000 in Ireland.

8. About 18 million unsafe abortions are carried out in developing countries every year, resulting in 70 000 maternal deaths. Many of these deaths could be prevented if information on contraceptives and family planning were available and put into practice.

9. Women die every minute due to complications during childbirth or even pregnancy.

10. 23% of pregnant women have no access to antenatal care before delivery.

11. There are 39% of women who have to give birth without a doctor or skilled attendant present.

12. 500,000 maternal deaths that occur annually due to childbirth or labor are preventable.

Websites We Like:

1. http://www.maternalhealthtaskforce.org/about/

2. http://www.who.int/features/factfiles/maternal_health/en/index.html

Personal Story:

Promoting Safe Motherhood through Simple, Life-saving Interventions

Laxmi’s Story

Laxmi almost lost her life due to postpartum hemorrhage, which is excessive bleeding during the first 24 hours after birth. Though such bleeding cannot be predicted, risk factors for it include poor health status, lack of access to a skilled birth attendant, delayed decision making by heads of households, and poor referral networks within communities and across health care facilities.

While giving birth in her home, she began bleeding excessively. The traditional birth attendant and her family did not know what to do. After a terrifying five hours, Laxmi's family finally brought her to the hospital where she received two liters of blood and underwent surgery. Fortunately, Laxmi made it to the hospital in time... many women aren't so lucky.

The importance of Laxmi’s story is to promote, develop, and adapt simple policy and service-delivery guidelines and by raising awareness among health care providers and communities, especially in developing countries. Many organizations, such as Engenderhealth are working toward this goal in collaborating an innovative global partnership. For example, the Prevention of Postpartum Hemorrhage Initiative (POPPHI), promotes "active management of the third stage of labor" (AMTSL)—a simple, proven, low-cost intervention that health care providers can perform on every woman at every birth to help prevent postpartum hemorrhage.

http://www.engenderhealth.org/our-work/success-stories/bangladesh-laxmi.php

Meaningful Quote:

“In 2005, there were an estimated 536 000 maternal deaths worldwide.”

Organization for Change:

UNICEF and WHO (World Health Organization) are both organizations working towards improving maternal health.