Page 36 - Human Rights

Faculty of Nursing
Adult care Nursing Department

But it has much wider ramifications for those discriminated against, including preventing or impeding their

participation in development of health policy, their access to information and their sharing of the benefits
of scientific developments.

Recognizing the serious adverse effects of discrimination on women, including with respect to their health,
the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against

Women (CEDAW) in 1979.

Articles 10, 12 and 14 of the Convention relate specifically to health, and the elimination of discrimination

and promotion of equality for women in health care and education.

Racial discrimination has also been cited as a barrier to access to care for many sectors of the

population and rural women have been identified as facing particular problems in accessing health

care, notably midwifery services.

State parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in
rural areas in order to ensure on a basis of equality of men and women, that they participate in

and benefit from rural development and, in particular, shall ensure to such women the right to

have access to adequate health care facilities, including information, counselling and services in

family planning.

Nurses should be aware of how their work environment, the health system within which they

operate, and their own views can be instrumental in discrimination against patients.

One report makes reference to the way some primary health care nurses in South Africa perceive

gender-based violence as a “cultural norm”, as nurses are heavily influenced by their social
environment and experience the same levels of violence as the patients they treat.

In Turkey, researchers found that more than 80% of the nurses and midwives they surveyed said

that they had been present during a hymen examination carried out to determine the subject’s

33 Academic Year 2025/2026