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“The findings reveal that audio and visual personal attributes such as skin colour, accent and excess body weight. . . lead to unfavourable interpersonal dynamics.”
According to a 2012 study by Dr. Swarna Weerasinghe, although immigrant women who have taken residence in Nova Scotia, Canada are entitled to free healthcare under law, immigrants from non-English speaking regions have faced healthcare discrimination at the interpersonal level. The study took 32 women from different focus groups (including Southeast Asia, Middle-Eastern Asia, Africa, Latin & South America, and non-English speaking portions of Eastern Europe) and used fluidly structured interview sessions to explore their experiences with Canadian healthcare. The vast majority were well-educated, with 74 percent holding professional or graduate degrees.
Despite this, nearly all of the women expressed that they had received verbal and/or non-verbal aggression during their time receiving healthcare. Many noted clear disparities between their treatment and the treatment of their White counterparts. Most of the women noted that their accent was the biggest cause of discrimination. They recalled that healthcare workers would often use short, terse language to instruct or refer to them, adhering to phrases such as “go there,” “sit,” and “okay.” Despite the fact that most of these women had been living in Canada for more than 12 years and were entirely English literate, they often received very little explanation during their visit even after asking repeatedly. Women of African origin also expressed that both their complexion and body type were clear factors in the prejudice. Testimonies recall the use of tattered hospital gowns under the excuse that their size wasn’t in storage and the limiting of how many gowns could be used despite the fact that they weren’t fully covered.
All of this fits into a framework that paints the Canadian healthcare system as appallingly Euro-centric and discriminatory. While much of this prejudice can be seen as interpersonal, it occurs in a system that not only ignores it but also actively tries to cover it up. While programs have been enacted since then to end ethnocultural discrimination in healthcare, they have been nowhere near as effective as they should be: a study by Dr. Deb Finn Mahabir et al. in 2021 shows that the Toronto healthcare system has not only been dehumanizing to non-White patients but has actually performed blatant professional misconduct and provided uneven access to healthcare options.
Change is not occurring quick enough. Minorities, especially those of the female sex, have been disrespected and undercut too many times in a country that touts itself as not only a welcoming home for refugees, but also a provider of free healthcare for all. While every immigrant woman does not have the same story, they are connected by the marginalization and misconduct they experience while they seek the bare foundations of health and well-being. It is well past time to create individual and systemic changes until no immigrant woman finds herself enduring discrimination at the hands of a medical professional again.
Dr. Weerasinghe’s article can be found for purchase here.
Future Female Health 
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