- Janice Hopkins Tanne
- New York
Structural racism and sexism have harmed women of African descent in the Americas before, during, and after pregnancy, a United Nations report has found,1 with Afrodescendant women more likely to die in childbirth than non-Afrodescendant women.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) said that health disparities among Afrodescendant women were found across all income levels and across all countries for which information was available.
Natalia Kanem, UNFPA’s executive director, said in a statement, “The scourge of racism continues for black women and girls in the Americas, many of whom are the descendants of the victims of enslavement. Too often, Afrodescendant women and girls are abused and mistreated, their needs are not taken seriously, and their families shattered by the preventable death of a loved one during childbirth. Justice and equality will only be possible when our healthcare systems see these women and provides them with respectful, compassionate care.”
The greatest disparity in …