Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is one of the most dangerous regions in the world to be a woman—yet it remains one of the most underfunded.

Despite systemic denial of reproductive rights, high levels of gender-based violence, accelerating climate risk, and worsening restrictions on civil society’s freedoms of association, assembly, and expression, global investments in women in LAC fall short—with drastic consequences in a region rife with extreme inequality.

As fundraisers and reproductive justice advocates with nearly 30 years of combined experience supporting gender equity work in LAC, we have met many funders focused only on countries with the highest maternal mortality. That narrow focus, alongside the overlapping crises we shared above, has left women in LAC increasingly exposed to harm and their potential un-realised.

The data should alarm funders committed to gender equity and reproductive justice for women in Latin America and the Caribbean:

Unsafe abortion in LAC remains widespread—and preventable. Worldwide, women and girls undergo 35,000,000 unsafe abortions annually and nearly three out of four abortions in LAC are unsafe (carried out either by persons lacking the necessary skills, in an environment that does not conform to minimal medical standards, or both). Proven approaches to reduce unsafe abortion and unintended pregnancies, like those developed by Ipas, exist but have not been scaled—making unsafe abortion one of the most preventable yet most neglected causes of maternal mortality worldwide. Unsafe abortion disproportionately affects young women; LAC has the world’s second-highest adolescent pregnancy rate.

Gender-based violence is widespread —and overwhelmingly unaddressed.

Gender-based violence in LAC exceeds global averages: one in three women in LAC have experienced physical or sexual violence in their lifetime, undermining women’s health, quality of life, and full participation in their communities and democracies. For women migrating from the region or returning due to forced deportation, GBV rates can be even worse. Yet, as The Lancet recently reinforced with its publication on GBV, scalable solutions exist.

Rates of child marriage—another form of GBV—remain severe: LAC is the only region in the world where the rate of child marriage has not declined in the past 25 years, and it has the second-highest prevalence of child marriage globally.

Read the full article about gender equity in Latin America and the Caribbean by Alyse Lopez-Salm and Daniela Perdomo at Alliance Magazine.