Marginalized Women

 

 

 

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Marginalized Women

Exploring Women’s Healthcare Experiences

Women face multiple forms of discrimination in their everyday lives; they have an increased risk of poverty and limited negotiating power and access to resources. They also endure tremendous hardships resulting from the proliferation of under-resourced and often spatially segregated urban areas. Marginalization refers to a prejudicial relegation of a group of people or concepts in all or certain spheres of human society based on insignificance or inferiority (Baah et al., 2019). Therefore, regarding women, the perception of subordination or secondary existence can be seen as a global challenge. For instance, the imposition of a dress code could specifically prevent women from certain identity groups from applying, such as Muslim women who wear a hijab or headscarf. It can also be structural, where state policies, systems and rules work to sideline minority women. Poverty is both a consequence and, at the same time, a cause of being marginalized, and marginalization can negatively impact individuals’ physical, psychological and emotional health, where actions must be taken to mitigate the social impact on marginalized women, the role played by policy at the governmental level in the marginalization of women and children-bearing families, policy impacting marginalized groups, and how the policy impacts marginalized groups.

Actions to Mitigate Social Impacts on Marginalized Women

Actions such as asking about their life at home and referring them to local women’s groups, housing organizations, daycare services, and employment agencies can help to mitigate social impacts on marginalized women. A home offers long- and short-term security for women as household members, especially unmarried women (Ortensi & Barbiano di Belgiojoso, 2018). The secure housing provides safe shelter and protection from homelessness after divorce, widowhood, job loss or other challenging circumstances. Similar to how female empowerment groups inspire girls to engage in society, they also show women that their voices matter. Being part of a marginalized group can often feel like one’s voice is being silenced. As an advanced practice nurse, it would be necessary to give visit women at their homes and get information about their life at home and understand whether they are being marginalized in any way so that if there is a need for the government or any other responsible authority or policy to take action the advanced practice nurse can inform the appropriate regulation or even refer them to local women’s groups which can overcome the issue of marginalization. An advanced practice nurse can also research to understand the social and cultural sources of women’s marginalization and how they can be mitigated (Prodan‐Bhalla & Browne, 2019). The research can also focus on unearthing policies that promote discrimination against women and recommend more women-friendly policies. A government that allows women to work, get an education, allow them to own property, have access to healthcare and minimize gender wage gaps allows women to be independent, educated and, therefore healthy. Offering daycare services would also be essential to mitigate social impacts on marginalized women as they can be advised and know how to overcome marginalization in their day-to-day life. An advanced practice nurse needs to ensure that the marginalization of women has been overcome in society.

The Role Played by Policy at Either Governmental, State, or Local Level in the Marginalization of Women and Children-Bearing Families

Policies at the government, state, or local level have played a role in the marginalization of women and minority families. Studies have shown that discriminative and unjust structural policies minimize women’s access to healthcare and promote health inequalities in communities. State policies which encourage structural racism in healthcare and social delivery, meaning marginalized women receive poor quality care than men in the same social state (Yearby, 2018). The denial of care to women when they seek help while enduring pain or that healthcare and social services providers fail to treat them with dignity and respect. Such stressors and the accumulative experience of racism and sexism, mostly during sensitive development periods, trigger biological processes that undermine women’s physical and mental health. Other policies do not promote women’s access to employment opportunities, often leading women to low income, high employment rates, and minimized opportunities to access education. A nurse practitioner can advocate for better government, state, or local policies to minimize social injustices toward women.

The policy that Impacts Marginalized Groups Either at the Federal, State, or Local Level

In the United States, some people suffer from far more significant health disparities than others, and such discrepancies are caused by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population and because of inequities in factors that impact health status, known as determinants of health (Michener & Brower, 2020). Healthcare policy is among the policies that impact marginalized groups in the United States. This policy is funded at the federal level, and it should make healthcare accessible and affordable to all citizens. This policy seeks to develop implemented laws, rules, and regulations to govern everyone in the country. Young women are the most disadvantaged as they cannot access quality healthcare services because of their socio-demographic background. The federal policy has to implement health quality by ensuring universal healthcare access to each and everyone in the country.

Impact of Policy on Marginalized Groups Either Positively or Negatively

Policies implemented by the state or the government can positively or negatively impact marginalized groups where such policies are implemented so that they affect all the individuals or sectors of a community they are meant for. Marginalized groups/communities can be positively or negatively impacted by such policies when they deny women equal employment opportunities, leading many women to have low or fewer income sources and negatively impacting marginalized groups. In the 1970s and 1980s, economic nondiscrimination policies such as Equal Employment Opportunity Act were intended to reduce gender inequality in the labor force, but they did not shift racialized inequality among women (Michener & Brower, 2020). The EEO had the most significant effect on women’s economic position compared to men, and women still experienced less wage gain overall than men.  Some policies can impact marginalized groups positively, for instance, health policies ensuring healthcare services are affordable and accessible to all citizens through programs such as Medicare and Medicaid (Alcaraz et al., 2020). The policy can enable low-income earners, disabled, and even older person access and afford high-quality healthcare. This positively impacts marginalized groups. Policymakers should strive to ensure that policies have positive rather than negative impacts.

Conclusion

Marginalization is the prejudicial relegation of a group of people or concepts in all or certain spheres of human society based on insignificance or inferiority where poverty is both a consequence and, at the same time, a cause of being marginalized, and marginalization can negatively impact individuals’ physical, psychological and emotional health. Actions such as asking about their life at home and referring them to local women’s groups, housing organizations, daycare services, and employment agencies can help to mitigate social impacts on marginalized women. Policies at the government, state, or local level have played a role in the marginalization of women and minority families, but a nurse practitioner can advocate for better policies from the government, state, or local level to minimize social injustices towards women. In the United States, some people suffer from far more significant disparities in health compared to others, where the federal policy has to implement health quality by ensuring universal healthcare access to everyone in the country. Policies that can impact marginalized groups positively, for an instant, health policies ensuring healthcare services are affordable and accessible to all citizens through programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, are essential as they can help minimize cases of marginalization in communities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Alcaraz, K. I., Wiedt, T. L., Daniels, E. C., Yabroff, K. R., Guerra, C. E., & Wender, R. C. (2020). Understanding and addressing social determinants to advance cancer health equity in the United States: a blueprint for practice, research, and policy. CA: a cancer journal for clinicians, 70(1), 31-46. https://doi.org/10.3322/caac.21586

Baah, F. O., Teitelman, A. M., & Riegel, B. (2019). Marginalization: Conceptualizing patient vulnerabilities in the framework of social determinants of health—An integrative review. Nursing inquiry, 26(1), e12268. https://doi.org/10.1111/nin.12268

Michener, J., & Brower, M. T. (2020). What’s policy got to do with it? Race, gender & economic inequality in the United States. Daedalus, 149(1), 100-118. https://doi.org/10.1162/daed_a_01776

Ortensi, L. E., & Barbiano di Belgiojoso, E. (2018). Moving on? Gender, education, and citizenship as key factors among short‐term onward migration planners. Population, Space and Place, 24(5), e2135. https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.2135

Prodan‐Bhalla, N., & Browne, A. J. (2019). Exploring women’s health care experiences through an equity lens: Findings from a community clinic serving marginalised women. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 28(19-20), 3459-3469. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.14937

Yearby, R. (2018). Racial disparities in health status and access to healthcare: the continuation of inequality in the United States due to structural racism. American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 77(3-4), 1113-1152. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajes.12230

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