Intersections between gender and other relevant social determinants of health inequalities

The current editorial for the cluster of papers entitled ‘Gender and health inequalities: intersections with other relevant axes of oppression’ includes a final list of twenty accepted papers, concerning gender inequalities in health, and how they interact at different lifetime stages with diverse social determinants of health such as socio-economic status, ethnicity or territory, as well as other intermediate factors such as illness and/or disability. A variety of topics regarding gender inequalities and other social inequalities in health are covered by both qualitative and quantitative empirical research, theoretical papers and review articles. The intersectional approach prevails over other gender theories among published papers in this cluster. In this editorial, we briefly summarize and classify the papers according to their main contributions in this area. We would like to start by highlighting two papers due to their valuable contribution to theorizing in intersectionality and health. First, Hankivsky and co-authors provide an excellent overview of the advances and challenges of intersectionality in health research, offering three concrete examples of how intersectionality has been used to examine complex relationships between biological and social dimensions in the field of health inequality [1]. Second, Wiklund and co-authors draw on intersectional theory as well as on feminist theory on health inequalities and social and cultural variables on health to understand better patients’ perceptions in access to rehabilitation. Of specific value is that they integrate the concept of habitus and cultural capital to the discussion about intersectionality in health research [2]. Among other papers in this cluster, several take an inter-categorical approach – i.e. they provisionally adopt existing analytical categories to document relationships of inequality among social groups [3]. Gustafsson’s et al.’s paper ‘Meddling with middle modalities’, for example, analyses inequalities in mental health in Sweden comparing dominant and subordinate middle groups and exploring the importance of intermediate social determinants of health such as health care, material conditions, and violence [4]. Zhang’s paper also takes this approach, to assess health disparities among the elderly in rural China focusing on gender and ethnicity [5]. To a certain extent, Grace ́s systematic review analyzing gendered differences in the detection of leprosy [6], and Degerstedt et al.’s analysis of physiotherapeutic interventions and physical activity for children living with cerebral palsy in Northern Sweden could also be included in this group [7]. Other papers in this cluster take an intra-categorical approach, using the multiple experiences of oppressed groups to highlight heterogeneity as ways of demonstrating the inadequacy of categories [3]. These papers explore a diversity of experiences; taken together, they tackle several axes of oppression, beyond the traditional ‘gender and race’ dimension [8]. Examples of these papers include Kosia et al.’s study among women living with HIV and AIDS in Tanzania [9], and Dean et al.’s exploration of the sexual and reproductive health rights of disabled women in India [10]. Three papers focus on exploring the lived experiences of women (and men) who are in more vulnerable situations, focusing on gender inequality and violence against women: Kane et al.’s paper on gender relations and reproductive health in Sudan, Madiba’s paper that brings in narratives from married and cohabiting women in rural south Africa, and Mtega et al.’s paper on sex communication among partners in Tanzania [11–13]. Devi Pun’s paper from Nepal explores violence against women, taking the perspective of the community to undercover culturally normalized practices of oppression against women [14]. Especially interesting examples of papers that take an intra-categorical perspective are Logié’s paper