Gender inequalities in health: Women’s health in rural and urban areas in Eskişehir

Gender inequalities in health: Women’s health in rural and urban areas in Eskişehir Gender is accepted as a component of social gradient in health. Depending on the disadvantage of women’s access to social, economic and political sources, gender stratification become visible in distribution of health risks, access to healthcare and individual health status. Drawing upon a field research conducted in Eskisehir, Turkey in 2009-10 with a sample of 229, the aim of this research is to compare the health risks, healthcare seeking behaviour and health status of men and women in rural and urban areas. The study also aims to compare rural and urban women on issues related to pregnancy and giving birth. The study thus examines the relationship among gender, regional and health inequalities. The findings show that women’s health is worse than men in both rural and urban areas, even when men and women share the same educational and income levels. In addition, rural women’s health is worse than urban women’s. The findings point that gender inequalities intersect with educational, economic and regional inequalities and create a cumulative effect on women.