Depressive disorders affect 18.2% of women, compared with 12.8% of men, according to figures cited in a report presented on November 2 by France’s High Council for Equality between Women and Men (HCE). The report examines why women face a higher risk of depression and links the disparity to gender inequalities built up throughout life.
Prepared by the HCE’s commission on health and sexual and reproductive rights, the report, titled “Mental health: gender and depressive disorders, why are women at greater risk?”, draws on numerous scientific studies and publications.
The council rejects the idea that women have a natural vulnerability to depressive disorders. HCE president Bérangère Couillard said the aim was to show how society creates the conditions that leave women more exposed to depressive states.
According to the report, the gap between girls and boys emerges as early as puberty. Couillard also stressed that inequalities in mental health begin in childhood, challenging explanations that focus only on differences appearing later in life.
The HCE’s analysis presents women’s greater risk as the result of cumulative exposure to inequalities and violence, rather than as an inherent characteristic.
Sources: Le Monde.