ABSTRACT
All women whose physical or mental health is damaged will therefore be harmed in broadly similar ways, and morbidity and mortality rates can give us a preliminary indication of the global distribution of this harm. Of course such statistics can provide only a partial picture since they are not measuring the subjective or experiential aspects of illness. Moreover they offer a negative view of sickness and death rather than a positive picture of well-being. However they do represent important points of reference between societies and social groups as well as offering clues to structural factors underlying any perceived inequalities.
