Racial and gender inequalities in health in Latin America: historical plots and daily challenges of Black women

10/09/2026

AI Summary

Coloniality of power, knowledge, and being shapes racism, sexism and patriarchy, producing intersectional health inequities that subordinate Black women.
Pre and post COVID data reveal persistent racial and gender asymmetries in work, violence, poverty and health across Latin America.
Addressing these injustices requires intersectional, decolonial and reparative social justice policies to strengthen racialised women's autonomy and equitable public health.

AI Summary

It also examines some recent data (pre- and post-COVID-19 pandemic) on work, violence, poverty, and health, highlighting persistent racial and gender asymmetries that indicate continuous and multifaceted intersecting inequalities in the economic, social, and health fields and perpetuate colonial hierarchies.

Addressing them requires intersectional and decolonial reparative and social justice policies, strengthening the autonomy of racialized women and equity in public health policies.

Basic summary

Cad Saude Publica. 2026 Aug 31;42Suppl 1(Suppl 1):e00227625. doi: 10.1590/0102-311XPT227625. eCollection 2026.

ABSTRACT

This study analyzes the social and health inequalities that affect Latin American women, situating Black women in the historical and structural bases of the coloniality of power, knowledge, and being. It aims to problematize how racism, sexism, and patriarchy – legacies of colonial modernity – shape the intersectional determination of health inequities sustained by political, economic, and symbolic systems that naturalize the subordination of racialized bodies. This theoretical-analytical essay articulates the critical literature based on decolonial and intersectional references and analyzes documents such as Latin American reports and regional studies. Its argumentative path conceptualizes coloniality in dialogue with Black feminism authors, evincing how racialization, class, and gender structure the unequal distribution of opportunities, risks, and deaths. It also examines some recent data (pre- and post-COVID-19 pandemic) on work, violence, poverty, and health, highlighting persistent racial and gender asymmetries that indicate continuous and multifaceted intersecting inequalities in the economic, social, and health fields and perpetuate colonial hierarchies. Addressing them requires intersectional and decolonial reparative and social justice policies, strengthening the autonomy of racialized women and equity in public health policies.

PMID:42715470 | DOI:10.1590/0102-311XPT227625

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