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As communicators of research and knowledge on Wikimedia platforms, we can use the various sub-topics highlighted by each Sustainable Development Goal and other international frameworks as a way to create transformative information that helps both individuals affected by gendered inequality and to empower institutions addressing these gaps. Let’s look at one of the sub-topics of SDG 5: Women’s Health.
Why is Women’s Health so important?
Historically, the fields of medicine, science, and research have been predominantly dominated by male professionals. Consequently, the subjects extensively studied in medical science, such as cells, animals, and human models, have been primarily male-centric. As a result, many medical breakthroughs and advancements are based on male biology and many parts of the healthcare systems are by men and for men. This means that common health concerns for women such as endometriosis or fibromyalgia, have been often overlooked. (<a href=" https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/nov/13/the-female-problem-male-bias-in-medical-trials" target="[object Object]">source</a>)
These biases in research (and consequently knowledge production), have ripple effects across society and are deeply connected to unequal health outcomes and human rights violations. In the next couple pages, we will highlight some of the major themes related to Women's health gaps around the world.
<img height="66" width="54" src="/asset-v1:Wikimedia-Foundation+WMF_OL101+2022+type@asset+block@Wikimedia_Brand_Guidelines_Update_2022_-_PuzzleGlobe.svg" alt="" style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; font-weight: bold; white-space-collapse: preserve;" /> What does this mean for Wikimedia?
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Interestingly, an early study of Wikipedia readership highlighted that medicine <a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/2007.10403.pdf" target="[object Object]">receives relatively more interest from women readers than men</a>. Two examples of community projects exploring these spaces are:
- WikiProject <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Women%27s_Health">Women's Health</a> focuses on articles related to women's health, including related social and political issues, covering topics such as women's health misinformation, sex and gender differences, women's health by country, menstruation, breastfeeding, abortion, etc.
- <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Knowledge_gaps_in_women%27s_health" target="[object Object]">Knowledge gaps in women's health </a>aims to map the knowledge gaps related to women’s and LGBTQIA+ health on English Wikipedia and curate resources [text, citations, data] that are useful for bridging these gaps.
Building gender-accurate information about medical science, but also contributing to broader, less specialized knowledge, about the different social and political issues related to Women’s health is both an accessible action for experts and non-experts alike.
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