On 6 May 2026, SERIGO held a webinar dedicated to the concept of intersectionality and how women’s health in rural areas can help us better understand it. The webinar was the 4th of a series of events hosted by the SERIGO Community of Practice (CoP), dedicated to advancing social innovation for the inclusion of vulnerable groups in rural areas.
What is intersectionality?
Intersectionality is a theory, methodology and analytic tool that examines how the interconnected social conditions (e.g., gender, race, income, disability) create complex sources of social inequalities that mutually reinforce.
For example, a young migrant woman living in a remote rural area may face several difficulties at once: limited transport, language barriers, insecure work and social isolation. These challenges overlap and reinforce each other.
During the webinar, Marzia Bona (Eurac Research) explained why this approach is especially important in rural areas, where access to services or employment is often more limited. Intersectionality helps researchers and practitioners ask better questions about who is excluded, why some people cannot access support, and how services could work better for different communities. She explained the tools developed within the SERIGO project, such as the intersectionality wheel. Find more information about SERIGO tools here.
“Intersectionality is not about making things more complicated, but more realistic,” Marzia Bona.
SERIGO case study: gender-based violence in rural areas
Alexandra Tomaselli (Eurac Research) presented a SERIGO case study on women’s shelters and gender-based violence in rural South Tyrol, Italy.
The research showed that in small communities, fear of gossip, stigma and lack of privacy can stop women from reporting violence or asking for help. Traditional gender roles and economic dependence can make these situations even harder. For migrant women, the challenges are often greater because of language barriers, insecure legal status and discrimination in housing or employment.
Through interviews and participatory research, women described shelters as places of safety, support and hope. The case study showed how an intersectional approach can help reveal the wider social and economic factors linked to gender-based violence in rural areas.
INSPIRE Equality project and inclusive gender policies
The webinar also included a presentation on the INSPIRE Equality project by Mónica Grau Sarabia (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya).
The project works with universities and research institutions across Europe to develop more inclusive approaches to gender equality plans. Instead of only looking at the number of women in leadership roles, the project goes beyond and asks which women are actually represented and which groups continue to face barriers.
Women health in rural Spain
The second part of the webinar focused on practical examples of women’s health initiatives in rural areas. Begoña de la Iglesia (Los Navalmorales Health Centre) presented a community-led project in central Spain that used a holistic approach to women’s health. It began with local women’s associations identifying needs through a survey, which highlighted not only physical health concerns but also stress, mental health, menopause, sexuality and loneliness. The project brought together municipalities, associations and healthcare professionals to deliver workshops, activities and community events, involving over 300 women.
This was followed by a presentation by Gloria Voltolini and Belén Serrano (Vila-real Health Centre) on a mental health project for women in rural Valencia. To address the lack of mental and emotional support in primary care, they implemented a project focused on emotional wellbeing through group sessions and community-based support, based on a good practice from Slovenia. The project helped women improve emotional wellbeing, self-confidence and social relationships, while also strengthening trust between communities and healthcare professionals.
Roma women health in Eastern Europe
Miroslava Bobakova (Slovak Czech Women’s Fund) explained that Roma women’s health in Eastern Europe is shaped by intersecting inequalities linked to ethnicity, gender and socioeconomic status. In rural areas, these are reinforced by structural barriers such as distance to healthcare and access to transport.
Miroslava highlighted persistent discrimination in healthcare, including segregation in maternity wards, poorer treatment, communication barriers and lack of informed consent, which together result in intersectional discrimination, particularly in access to reproductive health.
Miroslava emphasised that they are actively responding to these inequalities through different strategies: rights-based advocacy and legal action, community empowerment focused on leadership and participation, and research that centres Roma women’s voices and lived experiences.
A central message was the importance of participation and co-creation, moving away from top-down approaches towards processes where Roma women help define problems and shape solutions. The most effective strategies, she concluded, combine legal advocacy, empowerment, education and institutional change.
“Policies are more effective when they are designed together with the people they aim to support, based on their lived experiences,” Miroslava Bobakova.
Key takeaways
- Intersectionality helps explain how different forms of inequality overlap in people’s everyday lives, especially in rural areas. It helps researchers and practitioners understand who is excluded from services and why. The SERIGO project also developed practical tools, such as the Intersectionality Wheel, to support this approach in research and practice.
- Intersectionality is also important for policymaking. It helps policymakers move beyond “one-size-fits-all” approaches by showing how different groups experience services and inequalities in different ways. This helps identify who is left out, whose voices are missing, and how to design more inclusive policies.
- Community-led health initiatives work well because they are based on women’s real needs and experiences. They can improve wellbeing, reduce loneliness and strengthen trust between communities and healthcare professionals. Strong partnerships between health services, municipalities and local organisations are key.
- Projects such as SERIGO and INSPIRE Equality show the importance of combining participatory research and local experiences to create more inclusive and effective policies.
If you missed the webinar, you can access the recording here: SERIGO webinar | When inequalities overlap: women’s health in rural Europe