Challenging the assumption of universal access: Racialized women and health care inequality

Current migration trends have challenged the norms of social organization, forcing governments, such as Canada, to reflect on how power and privilege are associated with citizenship, status and access to health care within their changing population landscapes. While migration influences many levels of society, women's health care access and wellbeing is one area where the tension between access and citizenship is understood best. Access to health care is integral for the health of individuals, their families and communities, moreover, the universality of health care access has become part of the Canadian social identity. While Canada has attempted to foster policies that unify racial difference since the early 1970s, these policies were often administered as a expression of separation from the dominant norms of social whiteness. Currently, as a result of structures of society, immigrant and non-status women have had to negotiate many different terms of existence within a culture in which the very nature of their difference has become a threat. When conceptions of health and wellbeing are based on the white body, the racialized body becomes devalued and dehumanized. This reality has negative consequences for marginalized women as it reflects on the type of care they receive and how they are impacted by the social determents of health. This paper has incorporated the methodological discourse analysis approach to understand the impact that gender, racism and status have on health care access for women in urban centers.