A woman who worked on the farm women’s roles study says the federal government should act on the report.
Lil Sabiston, a farmer from Kelliher, Sask., said some of the trade agreements Ottawa has signed emphasize farm families, yet the government “won’t take responsibility for it.”
Federal farm aid programs worsen the problem because “they’re made so you can’t qualify” yet lead city people to think farmers are getting help.
A study working the same ground was released in February. The federally funded Prairie Women’s Health Centre outlined its priorities for improving the health of women in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
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These included the need to be sensitive to gender differences in how women deal with mental illness, their general poverty in terms of drug costs, vulnerability to physical and sexual abuse, pregnancy and midwifery needs, and isolation from health care.
Teaching doctors and nurses about women’s social status and ensuring women have the same number of spots in management or on health district boards would fix some of difficulties, the report said.
Another issue for women is their role as unpaid caregivers for their parents, spouses, friends and children. Not only does this usually mean women cut back or leave jobs, but the shift to care in the home instead of an institution is designed to reduce government health-care expenditures, the report said.
