Why women’s health matters
Data shows that women make up about half the population in the western region of Melbourne. Women have different health and wellbeing needs from men. It may seem that women and men have all the same formal opportunities, but the unequal status of women in our community causes many to experience significant disadvantage, impacting on their safety and their physical, mental and social health and wellbeing. As a community we need to recognise and respond to women and men’s different needs.
What practical things can we do to respond to the different needs of men and women?
We need to adopt a gender sensitive approach to planning, policy, program and service provision.
These gender analysis advocacy tools provide local government with essential data about women to support municipal public health planning and highlight the health, safety and wellbeing needs of women in the seven municipalities across the western region.
What topics do the tools cover?
- Prevention of violence against women
- Sexual and reproductive health
- Mental health and social connectedness
- Cultural diversity
- Employment
- Education
- Housing
- Public transport
Where does the data come from?
These tools draw on the forthcoming Women’s Health West data book, which includes sex-disaggregated data from a variety of sources including the recent 2011 ABS census.
