In the year 1999, Seva Canada and its partners posed a question: is the treatment of blindness and visual impairment distributed equally by sex?
A wealth of in-depth research revealed that the answer was no. Not even close.
Men and women go blind at nearly the same rate. But in low-income countries, a large majority of those who receive treatment are men.
why?
Lack of financial decision making capacity
Inability to travel to a health care facility
Differences in the perceived value of a female individual
Lack of awareness of information and resources
Fear of a poor outcome
This inequity is much greater among children.
Girls make up 2/3rds of those living with treatable blindness.
Girls face a double
layer of inequity -
the same barriers as their mothers
and the added challenge of being
a child, unable to advocate
for themselves.
Boys are
often given
preferential treatment
and are more likely to receive
eye care should they need it.
As experts in gender and blindness, Seva Canada has pioneered almost two decades of improvement in this area.
To date Seva has given the power of sight to over 5 million people.
Overcoming cultural & economic barriers, we have intervened at the community level to provide women and girls with the treatment they need and deserve.
Our engagement with local women, women’s groups and networks has helped reach more women and girls with the eye care they need. This ‘women helping women’ approach has proved efficient, sustainable and remarkably effective.
A 15-minute cataract surgery has rescued many from blindness.
Did you know? It can cost as little as $50 to restore someone’s sight.
However, inequity persists, and the overall number of people who are blind continues to rise. Women continue to face barriers, and girls face the additional challenge of being too young to advocate for themselves.
Seva Canada donors have provided the power of sight to hundreds of thousands of women and girls around the world. But the battle against gender inequity continues.
At Seva Canada, we believe that women and girls are as deserving of sight as men and boys. Watch the video to learn more or: donate now
All research was done in conjunction with The British Columbia Centre for Epidemiological and International Ophthalmology.
