The intersection of gender, caste, and health: Disparities in access to healthcare for marginalized women in Pakistan

This review applies Crenshaw's intersectionality theory to analyze the challenges Pakistani women encounter while seeking maternal healthcare services. The theory explains how various social factors such as: femininity, wealth or poverty, socio-economic class, and caste combine to create barriers to attaining healthcare. Gender bias is still an important socio-economic concern in Pakistan, where women are socially conditioned to fulfill household duties which curtails their freedom to take care of their health. Decisions regarding childbearing tend to be the domain of male relatives or mothers-in-law which further curtails women's autonomy. In addition, women from poorer, more rural areas experience increased financial burdens, lack of educational opportunities, and no access to healthcare markets which makes the situation increasingly difficult. Moreover, large geographical distances and high transportation costs worsen the situation. In addition, lower-caste women, like those of the Kammi caste, are discriminated against in the healthcare system, which further limits their ability to access care. This paper contends that there is a need for mothers' healthcare policies in Pakistan which are compassionate and sensitive to the realities of maternal healthcare services.