The Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1993, defines violence against women as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm, or suffering to women

In the last decade, several international and national movements have focused their attention, on the long neglected areas of women's reproductive health.

Childbirth is a normal physiological process, which can become pathological due to the adoption of certain practices and consequently affect the health and survival of the newborn.

There is a growing recognition that gynaecological morbidity is an important health problem among poor women in India.