If men died from drug overdoses at the same rate as women, 1,371 fewer men in Washington would have died during the last three years. However, judging by press releases from the Department of Health, this sex-based disparity is not sufficiently relevant to concerns about achieving equity to deserve a mention.
Drug overdose deaths, Washington state, 2018-2020
| Males | 2,771 |
| Females | 1,400 |
| Difference | 1,371 |
The Washington State Department of Health’s latest press release about drug overdose fatalities calls attention to race-related and age-related disparities, but it says nothing of this disparity: men outnumber women 2 to 1 among drug overdose deaths. We lay this out clearly in a table (PDF) using data from the Department of Health.
Do you think men’s issues will enter mainstream discussions about equity and equality in the United States within the next 20 years?
In the excerpt below from the Department of Health’s press release, notice the lack of any mention of sex or gender.
Overdoses are occurring across all age ranges, races and ethnicities, and socio-economic backgrounds…Of the 418 overdose deaths in 2021, 46% (191) of these deaths are linked to fentanyl. The increase in overdose deaths was also highest among American Indian/Alaska Natives, Hispanic/Latinx, Black people and other groups already dealing with inequitable health outcomes. One concerning trend seems to be in the prevalence of young adult mortality; of these fentanyl related deaths, 55 were under 30 years of age.
Press release, Washington State Department of Health (July 20, 2021)
If we were to examine population groups based on the factors in the first sentence in the quote above — age, race/ethnicity, and socio-economic background — and split them apart by sex, we would see that being male stands out as a factor that increases one’s likelihood of dying by drug overdose. Why doesn’t the Department of Health say this?
A different press release earlier this year with the headline “Overdose deaths show alarming trend” similarly highlighted racial inequities in this public health problem while saying nothing of the large sex-based inequity.
The increase in overdose deaths was highest among groups already dealing with inequitable health outcomes: American Indian/Alaska Natives, Hispanic/Latinx, and Black people.
Press release, Washington State Department of Health (Feb. 19, 2021)
Governments should disaggregate data by sex/gender
When we analyze data disaggregated by race/ethnicity, it enables us to observe inequities between racial/ethnic groups. Too often we fail to go a level deeper by examining data disaggregated by both race and sex/gender. This is especially true with societal problems where such analysis would reveal that males as a group are worse off than females as a group. A recent article by Global Initiative for Boys and Men, “The intersectionality of race and gender in California schools,” makes this same point:
[The school district’s] methods are emblematic of a systemic problem of schools failing to disaggregate data on race and sex more openly. In many instances, contextual analysis becomes muddled and misleading.
Do people not know, or not care?
Do people not know about inequities impacting males, or do they not care? It’s a question we advocates for men and boys ask ourselves. Typically people don’t know, sometimes they don’t care — and often it’s a matter of not knowing what they don’t know. Because we conceive of males as strong, privileged, and self-sufficient, it doesn’t occur to us to include them in our considerations about equality and equity.
The nonpartisan news outlet WashingtonStateWire.com, which covers state politics and government, published a story based on the Department of Health’s press release about drug overdoses. The story mentions the race-based and age-based disparities, but it, too, does not acknowledge that drug overdoses disproportionately hurt males. Why doesn’t this particular gender gap warrant attention from either the Department of Health’s communications staff or the WashingtonStateWire.com’s journalist?
…Overdose deaths are also highest among American Indian/Alaska Natives, Hispanic/Latinx and Black people, and other groups already dealing with inequitable health outcomes. Deaths are also more prominent among young adults, with people under the age of 30 accounting for 55% of the deaths.
Article by Aaron Kunkler, WashingtonStateWire.com (August 12, 2021)
Side note: We informed Mr. Kunkler that he had inaccurately paraphrased the press release. Overdose deaths are actually numerically highest among White people, as is to be expected given Washington’s demographics. Also, the Department of Health press release said 55 out of 418 deaths were people under age 30, which is 13%. He expressed appreciation and corrected his article. He did not, however, take up our invitation to add a mention of the gender gap in drug overdoses.
The Department of Health’s infographic fact sheet titled “Washington Opioid Overdose Death Data” provides an additional example of their apparent lack of interest in drawing attention to male suffering. It fails to mention the gender gap in drug overdose deaths.
