The Moonee Valley Women’s Health Initiative (pdf, 1.54MB) promotes better social and health outcomes for women in Moonee Valley. The plan seeks to identify and address the specific health inequalities experienced by women.
Social and health risk factors
- The World Health Organisation reports that addressing the health and wellbeing needs of women has social and economic benefits for that community as a whole. It also has a positive effect on their families and children.
- Violence against women is caused by and also reinforces gender inequality and entrenched discrimination.
- Intimate partner violence is responsible for more ill-health and premature death in Victorian women under the age of 45 than any other of the well-known risk factors, including high blood pressure, obesity and smoking. (Vic Health 2004)
- Violence against women has massive economics costs. In Australia in 2002-2003, those associated with family violence alone were estimated to be $8.1 billion. (Access Economics 2004, Vic Health 2007)
Health inequalities
Many factors contribute to potentially poorer health outcomes for women and also the perpetuation of violence against women. These include:
- gender inequality and structural discrimination
- inequitable power and resource distribution
- access to economic and social opportunity
- racism
- disability
- sexual orientation
- geographical residence
- gender roles strengthened by social cultural norms and expectations