The common phrase 'good girls take care of family' reflects
a deeply ingrained social expectation, often referred to as 'Good Girl
Syndrome,' where girls and women are expected to be nurturers, compliant, and prioritize
others' needs over their own. This often translates to handling household
burdens, emotional labour, and caregiving to ensure family stability.
Girls and women and people of all gender diversities need
to prioritize infection prevention and control, and access public healthcare
services in a rights-based, gender transformative, non-stigmatizing, and
non-discriminatory manner as and when needed.
AMR threatens health, food and the environment
“Drug resistance or Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is
caused by misuse and overuse of medicines in human health, livestock health,
food and agriculture, and it is also polluting our environment. We cannot afford
any misuse and overuse of medicines in any sector if we are to deliver on SDGs.
However, AMR is already among the top 10 global health threats and is also
threatening food security and our environment, along with a high economic
cost,” said Dr. Ijyaa Singh of ReAct Asia Pacific at the Women Deliver
Conference 2026 – the world’s largest gathering on gender equality this year.
Women and girls (including those sick with infectious
diseases) are the primary carers in most settings - especially in the Global
South. But the infection prevention and control measures in the healthcare
facilities, communities and homes are far from optimal to protect them and
undermine the roles and responsibilities they shoulder. Many studies looking at
the male: female ratio of child vaccination, unsurprisingly, reveal that the
male child is more likely to have received essential immunization as compared
to a female child. When it comes to screening and diagnostics for a range of
infections, women are less likely to seek health services in a rights-based,
person-centred and gender transformative manner. A complex mix of biological, social,
cultural and economic factors arising from gender-based inequalities and
injustices impacts infection prevention and control, added Dr. Ijyaa Singh.
Gender inequalities fuel AMR
Gender inequalities, harmful gender norms, stereotypes, and
tropes have normalized the neglect of the well-being of girls and women, making
them more vulnerable to AMR.
The lived experience of girls and women and gender diverse
communities shows how violence puts them at increased risk of getting infected
with sexually transmitted infections
According to Dr. Soumya Swaminathan (former Deputy Director
General for Programmes and former Chief Scientist of the World Health
Organization - WHO), we cannot be successful in reducing or preventing AMR without
tackling gender-based violence, as violence impacts the access of women to
healthcare. She was speaking at AMR Dialogues hosted earlier this year by
Global AMR Media Alliance (GAMA), which was re-presented at the SHE &
Rights session at the Women Deliver Conference 2026.
“Women are at a very high risk of intimate partner violence
or domestic violence, physical or sexual. This could lead to more infections.
And because of their position within the household and the community, they are
less likely to seek timely and adequate care for these injuries or infections,
which could lead to drug-resistant infections. Whether it is sexually
transmitted infections, urinary tract infections, reproductive tract
infections, or pelvic inflammatory disease, all of these are linked with sexual
violence and an increased risk of antibiotic use. Also, even if the woman seeks
care, quite often follow-up is poor. She may have taken a partial course of
antibiotics or the wrong doses. Women facing an unplanned pregnancy, or those
who go for an unsafe abortion, are also at higher risk of AMR.”
Intersectional stigma and AMR
“Diseases or infections like TB or HIV carry a huge stigma
in our society, especially for women. In many communities, a woman diagnosed
with TB or HIV is judged not only as a patient but as someone who has brought
shame to the family. Her character, her marriage prospects and even her
abilities to be a good wife, daughter, and mother are questioned. I have seen
many women hide their illness because of this stigma. They delay testing, they
avoid going to the clinics, some take the medicine secretly, and others stop
treatment early to prevent family members or neighbours from finding out about
it”, said Bhakti Chavan, a survivor of extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) -
one of the most serious forms of drug-resistant TB. Bhakti is also a member of the
WHO Task Force of AMR Survivors. She spoke in AMR Dialogues hosted by Global
AMR Media Alliance (GAMA), which was re-presented at the SHE & Rights
session at Women Deliver Conference 2026.
AMR is not gender neutral. The impact of AMR is not gender
blind. If we want to fight AMR effectively, we must listen to the women,
diagnose them early on, ensure proper treatment, support adherence and design policies
that include the most vulnerable and marginalized women and consider their
realities.
Dr Soumya Swaminathan cited an example of feminization of
agriculture. “From an intersectional perspective, here is a woman who lives in
a rural area, she is also a small farmer, she has some livestock and does some
agriculture, and she has a family to look after. And she is alone because she
has a migrant husband. And therefore, she has less access to health centers.
She has less financial autonomy as well. In such a situation, she would probably
be more likely to either neglect infections or take inappropriate treatment”.
There is a common consensus on the need to address gender
inequalities in our National Action Plans on AMR.
“We must include gender-based violence indicators in AMR
National Action Plans, recognizing that sexual health and violence services are
hotspots for antibiotic exposure, and we must also include gender-sensitive
stewardship indicators”, said Dr. Swaminathan.
Why do we need a feminist AMR response?
The only possible, effective and sustainable way to prevent
AMR has to be a feminist way. AMR and other health responses must be rooted in the
feminist development justice model, which is based on care and solidarity for
each other, where no one is left behind in the truest sense of the
words. We can only end health injustices when we also end gender, climate,
social, and economic injustices.
