Disparities for Women and Gender Diverse People
Individual experiences combined with evidence-based research tells us that women and people who are gender diverse face additional hurdles when it comes to seeking and accessing needed health-care services.
On PEI, women make up 50.8% of the population.
Statistics Canada (2022) tells us that on PEI, 420 people, or 0.3% of the population, identify as transgender or non-binary, aligning with the national average. There is strong evidence to assume that this number isn’t accurate, and is below the actual number, as many do not feel safe disclosing their true identity to a government agency.
When people don’t feel welcome and safe accessing health care services, their health can be negatively impacted. We see a rise in chronic health conditions, as well as mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety.
The Compendium of Research and Engagement Findings – Foundational work in the development of Awareness to Action: A Health Strategy for Women and Islanders Who Are Gender Diverse 2022-2027 shows the need for a strategy that centres women and gender diverse people on Prince Edward Island:
“In Canada, women’s health strategies are few in number, and those few are over a decade old. British Columbia and Manitoba issued women’s health strategy documents in 2004 and 2011, respectively. The federal government released a Women’s Health Strategy in 2009, but a number of its recommendations are unfulfilled.”
Health needs do not exist in isolation, and the last several decades have revealed an increased awareness of the social determinants of health—the circumstances of people’s lives that can affect their health as well as their experience accessing health care. Research shows that these social determinants of health (such as poverty, early childhood experiences, education, racism, marginalization, violence, trauma, living environment, and social connections) outweigh genetic factors when it comes to a person’s health.
Moreover, it’s important to not only recognize, but recognize via policy, the experiences of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour) communities and any additional barriers they may face, such as systemic racism and higher rates of poverty and physical violence. Evidence shows that BIPOC people are more negatively impacted by the social determinants of health compared to non-BIPOC people . These factors can not only impact a person’s overall health condition, but they can also affect the level of health care an individual receives.
“While poverty is linked to barriers and poor outcomes for all individuals, the impacts are more severe for people who identify as racialized, immigrant, disabled, or a gender minority. If an individual holds multiple such identities, they are even further disadvantaged.” (Compendium of Research and Engagement Findings)
A health care system that isn’t serving all Islanders isn’t an effective health care system.
Every Islander deserves fair and safe access to health-care services on PEI, which is why we produced Awareness to Action: A Health Strategy for Women and Islanders Who Are Gender Diverse 2022–2027.
To learn more about the Strategy, visit here.
To read the Strategy in full, visit here [PDF]
To learn more about our work, visit here.