Despite having better survival rates, women with cancer face greater stigma, neglect, and abandonment than men with cancer. This is especially true if they live in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). By 2030, three-quarters of all cancer deaths will occur in LMICs, yet the unique challenges of women with cancer remain unexamined in both academic circles and the media.
India leads the world when it comes to cervical cancer, which is highly preventable with vaccines and is slowly vanishing from the Western world. India also has a high burden of breast cancer, which accounts for 13.5% of all cancers in India. Both breast cancer and cervical cancer make up 44.6% of cancers in Indian women, despite being easy to detect early.
Journalist Swagata Yadavar will work on three in-depth stories about cancer in India through a gendered lens, capturing the medical, sociological, financial, and mental cost of the disease on women.
This project is in collaboration with BehanBox, a digital media platform for gender journalism. It tells stories of women and gender-diverse people at the intersection of data, policy, and law.
