Abstract
This chapter focuses on women in the North of England who are
marginalised and the impacts this has on their health and wellbeing. In
simple terms, marginalisation is to treat a person, or group of people, as
though they are not important, belonging only on the edges of society.
In reality, marginalisation refers to more than exclusion from a particular
group or environment – whether this be political, economic, social,
employment, or educational. It encompasses the myriad ways in which
certain individuals, groups, and communities are stigmatised, overlooked,
underheard, and underserved for reasons related to identity and contextual factors – often by those more powerful in society.
We are concerned about the marginalisation of women in the North, the
needs of which are under-researched. In this chapter we bring together
the latest research and expertise, demonstrating how being treated as
insignificant or peripheral is harmful to health, unjust and requires further
attention from researchers and policymakers.
We discuss key health issues, barriers to accessing support systems, and
health outcomes across a range of marginalised groups. These include:
women who have experience of the criminal justice system, women who
use drugs and/or alcohol, women who experience homelessness, those
that engage in sex work, or are care leavers. We also consider violence
against women and girls. We identify problems impacting women who
are sexually minoritised, women who are neurodivergent, and women
who are ethnically and racially minoritised, and how health outcomes
are affected for these groups. We have highlighted particular issues
impacting subsets of women who are marginalised. However we wish to
emphasise that these are overlapping and intersectional – and therefore
amplified for certain women.
In writing this chapter our contributors identified a notable lack of health
data about the lived realities of marginalised Northern women. In this
regard Northern women are also extremely marginalised in research. We
therefore know very little about how the social determinants of health
impact outcomes for marginalised northern women. We are only able
to present a partial picture here, providing insights and observations
where the data allows. For this reason, we wish to echo the call made in
the Women’s Health Strategy for England (2022) for more research to
understand the scale and scope of the health problems women of the
north are facing.
marginalised and the impacts this has on their health and wellbeing. In
simple terms, marginalisation is to treat a person, or group of people, as
though they are not important, belonging only on the edges of society.
In reality, marginalisation refers to more than exclusion from a particular
group or environment – whether this be political, economic, social,
employment, or educational. It encompasses the myriad ways in which
certain individuals, groups, and communities are stigmatised, overlooked,
underheard, and underserved for reasons related to identity and contextual factors – often by those more powerful in society.
We are concerned about the marginalisation of women in the North, the
needs of which are under-researched. In this chapter we bring together
the latest research and expertise, demonstrating how being treated as
insignificant or peripheral is harmful to health, unjust and requires further
attention from researchers and policymakers.
We discuss key health issues, barriers to accessing support systems, and
health outcomes across a range of marginalised groups. These include:
women who have experience of the criminal justice system, women who
use drugs and/or alcohol, women who experience homelessness, those
that engage in sex work, or are care leavers. We also consider violence
against women and girls. We identify problems impacting women who
are sexually minoritised, women who are neurodivergent, and women
who are ethnically and racially minoritised, and how health outcomes
are affected for these groups. We have highlighted particular issues
impacting subsets of women who are marginalised. However we wish to
emphasise that these are overlapping and intersectional – and therefore
amplified for certain women.
In writing this chapter our contributors identified a notable lack of health
data about the lived realities of marginalised Northern women. In this
regard Northern women are also extremely marginalised in research. We
therefore know very little about how the social determinants of health
impact outcomes for marginalised northern women. We are only able
to present a partial picture here, providing insights and observations
where the data allows. For this reason, we wish to echo the call made in
the Women’s Health Strategy for England (2022) for more research to
understand the scale and scope of the health problems women of the
north are facing.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Woman of the North |
| Subtitle of host publication | Inequality, health and work |
| Editors | Clare Bambra, Hannah Davies, Kate Pickett, Lily Mott, Kathryn Scott |
| Publisher | Northern Health Science Alliance |
| Chapter | 10 |
| Pages | 56-66 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Publication status | Published - 3 Sept 2024 |