The Gender Divide: Global Fault Lines in Reproductive Freedom

The state of maternal health worldwide reflects how societies value women’s lives—not just rhetorically, but in concrete investment, infrastructure, and political will.

Globally, 287,000 women die every year from complications of pregnancy and childbirth. Nearly 95% of these deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, and almost all are preventable with timely access to skilled care and emergency services. In sub-Saharan Africa, maternal mortality remains staggeringly high, accounting for roughly two-thirds of global maternal deaths. Conflict zones such as Sudan, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo face compounded challenges: collapsed infrastructure, displacement, and targeted attacks on healthcare facilities.

In South Asia, countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan struggle with low rates of skilled birth attendance, especially in rural areas. Traditional practices, gender-based restrictions, and lack of health literacy further endanger maternal survival.

Even in high-income countries, disparities persist. The United States has the highest maternal mortality rate among peer nations, with severe racial disparities: Black women are nearly three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women.

In Afghanistan, maternal health has entered a humanitarian freefall. Since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, the collapse of the health system has left millions without access to even basic reproductive care. Female doctors and midwives have been expelled from hospitals, clinics have shuttered, and aid organizations face severe restrictions. Women are now forced to give birth at home, often without medical assistance—reviving conditions that global public health had spent decades trying to overcome.

Meanwhile, climate disasters, war, and political instability are compounding maternal health risks worldwide. Women in regions affected by droughts, floods, and displacement are often last to receive food, medical aid, or transport—yet are first to bear caregiving burdens, including during childbirth.

Ultimately, maternal mortality is not just a health indicator—it is a moral and political one. It reflects whether women’s pain is believed, whether their lives are prioritized, and whether their autonomy is treated as essential to human flourishing.

✂️ FGM, Forced Birth, and Bodily Control

Reproductive oppression goes beyond the right to abortion—it includes a wide spectrum of practices that seek to control female bodies, often beginning in childhood and continuing across a woman’s lifespan.

In more than 30 countries, female genital mutilation (FGM) remains widespread, despite decades of international pressure, public health warnings, and national bans. An estimated 200 million women and girls alive today have undergone FGM, often before the age of 15. These procedures are frequently performed without anesthesia, by non-medical personnel, and in unsanitary conditions. The consequences—chronic pain, infections, complications in childbirth, and psychological trauma—can last a lifetime.

While FGM is often framed as a cultural issue, it is fundamentally about control—ensuring a girl’s “purity,” policing her sexuality, and reinforcing male ownership of female bodies.

In other communities, childbirth is not a choice—it is a social mandate. Child marriage, still legal in some form in over 90 countries, forces girls into early motherhood at great risk to their health and autonomy. In South Asia, West Africa, and parts of the Middle East, millions of girls are married before the age of 18. Many are pulled from school, isolated from support systems, and denied any say in when—or whether—they become mothers.

Even outside the context of FGM and child marriage, bodily control is often institutionalized. From mandatory virginity tests, to forced sterilizations, to coerced contraception targeting poor women, disabled women, and women of color, governments and medical systems have historically exercised authority over female reproduction in ways rarely applied to men.

What’s changing now is the boldness and coordination of these efforts. Around the world, gender control is no longer hidden behind paternalistic rhetoric—it is being openly embraced by political movements that cast reproductive autonomy as a threat to tradition, nationhood, and religious identity.

This is not just about policy—it is about ideology. The battle over the body is a battle over power.

🧭 Where We Go from Here

The right to control one’s body is the foundation of all other rights. Without bodily autonomy, the promise of democracy, citizenship, and equality is hollow.

But women are pushing back—forcefully, strategically, and across borders. In Argentina, Mexico, and Colombia, feminist movements have forced courts and legislatures to decriminalize abortion. In the United States, voters in Kansas, Ohio, and Michigan have mobilized to protect reproductive rights at the ballot box. In Afghanistan, women defy Taliban restrictions by organizing underground schools, medical support networks, and acts of public protest—at immense personal risk.

These struggles are not isolated—they are interconnected. They remind us that reproductive rights are not static gains; they are constantly contested, and must be vigilantly defended.

In the next section, we will examine how women’s labor is often exploited, underpaid, and devalued across the global economy. Because while legal and health rights are essential, economic power is what enables women to leave abusive relationships, support their families, and imagine different futures.