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With growing concern in the lives of individuals and communities during COVID-19, there is growing consensus across the globe that the pandemic had a disproportionate impact on different segments of society. It is of pertinent significance to understand the differential impact of pandemic on diverse groups. The concept of 'intersectional vulnerability' has been used in this paper to understand the unequal impact of the pandemic. Using an intersectional lens of ethnicity, this paper aims to understand the lived experiences of South Asian key workers' family members (women) during the COVID-19 lockdowns through narratives of precarity and vulnerability, this study brings out the challenges faced by families of key workers. Vulnerable family members' fear, stress, economic pressures, persistent inequalities in society, and gendered experiences shape the narratives of these families. The pandemic exacerbated existing precarious positions of families by creating a situation where ethnic inequality and inequitable gendered impacts were further reinforced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior, this paper explores the perceptions of the COVID-19 vaccine among South Asian communities residing in the UK. Thirty-eight semi-structured interviews were conducted using a qualitative approach and analyzed using thematic analysis. Participants represented Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Afghani, and Nepali backgrounds. The participants revealed that family and community influence their perceptions of the COVID-19 vaccine. The results suggest that normalizing vaccine acceptance, addressing unknown side effects, and popularizing vaccine efficacy data will increase vaccine uptake within the South Asian community in the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article assesses the legality of Female Genital Piercing (FGP), which refers to the piercing of female genitalia to adorn it with jewellery, for decoration or sexual enhancement. The position in the UK is uncertain because the World Health Organisation regards piercing as a form of FGM, which is a criminal offence in all parts of the UK. After analysing the stance adopted by the international community, the paper examines the legislation that criminalises FGM and considers whether FGP could fall within its scope. The paper concludes that female genital piercings could constitute FGM in limited circumstances, but even then, it may not be in the public interest to initiate a criminal prosecution. This lack of certainty is problematic for professional piercers who would welcome legislation providing an express exemption for genital piercings performed on consenting adult women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to changes in health behaviours, which include eating patterns and nutrition, smoking, alcohol consumption, sleeping patterns, physical activity and sedentary behaviour. There is a dearth of evidence reporting the impact of COVID-19 on the health behaviour of Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities. This scoping review synthesises the available evidence on the impact of COVID-19 on the changes in health behaviours among BAME communities in the UK. Methods: Following a keyword strategy, 16 electronic databases were searched for articles that met the screening criteria. These articles were then reviewed in full text. Empirical studies that assessed COVID-19 related health behaviour changes among BAME communities in the UK, conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic between July 2020 and August 2021 and published in English language, were set as inclusion criteria. An initial 2160 studies were identified in the selected databases. After removing duplications and screening the title and abstracts of the 2154 studies, only 4 studies were selected to be reviewed as they met the inclusion criteria. The included studies employed different sample sizes which ranged from N = 47 to N = 30,375 and reported several health behaviour changes. Out of the 4 included studies, 3 studies included BAME groups within their sample as a subgroup while one study focused specifically on BAME groups. Results: The scoping review found that there were lower levels of physical activity among BAME groups compared to the White ethnic groups. About 41.7% of BAME groups reported drinking less alcohol than usual compared to their white counterparts who were 34%. Study participants from BAME backgrounds had the greatest effect of COVID-19 on decisions to purchase healthier food compared to those from white backgrounds whose decisions on purchasing healthier food were least affected. Some participants reported an increase in positive hygiene practices due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: COVID-19 had a significant impact on the health behaviours of BAME groups especially during the lockdowns as they reported changes to behaviour such as low levels of physical activities. Hence, it is important to promote health awareness among BAME groups to encourage healthy living. In addition, programmes such as physical fitness activities that favour BAME groups should be put in place, for example BAME women's walking groups to encourage people from BAME backgrounds to engage in physical activities. Furthermore, healthy food programmes such as food parcels can be given to people from BAME backgrounds who are not able to afford healthy food due to the impact of COVID-19. Nonetheless, the COVID-19 pandemic has increased positive hygiene among BAME groups which is important in preventing other diseases and infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Europe's two largest economies – Germany and the UK – are phasing out coal from electricity production as part of European efforts to fulfil increased climate policy ambitions that require comprehensive energy system transitions. German and UK governments varied in the ways they sought support from diverse societal interests to make the transition socially acceptable and politically feasible. Drawing on 22 expert interviews and process-tracing methods, this paper compares and explains how political and economic institutional differences influenced efforts to balance energy transition concerns, like speed and cost-effectiveness with justice for companies, workers and communities most adversely affected by the transition. We find that the increasing attention to just transition perspectives after the Paris Agreement affected the design of coal phase-out processes in different ways in the two countries. Just transition concerns were given priority by policymakers in Germany, but more so if they overlapped with the interests of incumbents. In the end, politically powerful stakeholders dominated the policy outcome. In the UK, policymakers and stakeholders gave only weak attention to just transition concerns, mainly because coal's market position had collapsed. Coal interests did not have strong representation in the decision-making process. But we find that just transition concerns are likely to gain more attention in the UK because a more challenging transition away from gas will take place over the next two decades. Key policy insights Policymakers must balance the objective of a fast decarbonization process against two other important concerns: cost-effectiveness and a just transition. Political-economic institutional design and capacity shape the extent to which just transition concerns are given weight in coal phase-out processes. State capacity for including just transition concerns in coal phase-out processes is higher when political and economic institutions strongly mediate government-stakeholder interaction in the policy process, and broad stakeholder participation increases the political feasibility and legitimacy of policy change. In Germany, the government's attention to just transition concerns was strong because broad stakeholder representation in the formal process, and transition assistance policies to target potential losers in the transition, became crucial to enhance the legitimacy of coal phase-out policies. In the UK, cost-effectiveness trumped just transition concerns in the coal phase-out process, but just transition issues have increasing salience and will likely become pertinent in the upcoming gas phase-out process because more jobs and key economic interests are at stake. Our findings are relevant for policymakers in countries struggling with balancing speed, cost-effectiveness and just transition concerns in similar transition processes: phasing out coal, gas, or oil from their energy system. The findings may also inform future energy transition research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Anthropocene research has been critiqued for portraying a generic vision of humanity. • The concept of 'encountering' situates the Anthropocene in everyday, lived experience. • An encountering approach helps to reveal trauma and injustice in the Anthropocene. • Encountering thinking also uncovers conditions for politically active, hopeful futures. The Anthropocene, proposed as a new era in human-nonhuman relations, is potentially both profound and far-reaching. However, it has also been critiqued as a universalising concept detached from the realities of people's day-to-day lives. The aim of this paper is to address this shortcoming by examining the situations of coastal communities on the 'frontline' of global environmental change in North Norfolk in the UK. In this region, sea defences that have protected towns and villages for decades are deteriorating and, consequently, the effects of coastal erosion on human settlements are becoming increasingly evident. Through the conceptual framework of 'encountering', I explore how human-nature relations are being reconfigured as a result and with what consequences for the actors involved. The findings show that coastal communities are becoming more and more aware of nonhuman forces as the unruly sea impinges upon daily life in various, multisensory ways. These effects not only cause people to 'give way' to the encroaching waters through relocation of homes and businesses but also attempt to 'buy time' with an active nature by extending the life of existing defences. The revitalisation of nature in coastal regions is also intersecting with long-held experiences of marginalisation and disempowerment to produce new, 'bottom-up' naturalcultural discourses concerning social justice. Overall, I demonstrate how an approach that emphasises encountering in the global era of the Anthropocene helps reveal rather than conceal the personal traumas and injustices experienced by different groups as well as the emergent conditions for more politically active, hopeful futures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: globally, alcohol use rates vary by sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI), but UK government statistics on alcohol use in the LGBTQ+ population are missing. Aim: this systematic scoping review determined the prevalence of alcohol use amongst gender and sexual minority people in the UK. Methods: empirical UK studies from 2010 onwards reporting the prevalence of alcohol use in SOGI compared with heterosexual/cisgender people were included. Searches in MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Google Scholar, Google, charity websites and systematic reviews were conducted in October 2021, using SOGI, alcohol and prevalence terms. Citation checking was done by two authors, with disagreements resolved through discussion. Data extraction was done by one author (CM) and checked by another (LZ). Quality assessment was performed by study design, sample type and statistical analysis of results. A narrative synthesis was qualitatively combined with a tabular presentation of results. Results: database and website searches found 6607 potentially relevant citations, and 505 full texts were reviewed with 20 studies included, found in 21 publications and grey literature reports. Most were on sexual orientation, including 12 from large cohort studies. Harmful alcohol use is higher in LGBTQ+ people than heterosexual people in the UK, a result similar to that found in other countries. Qualitative data reflected alcohol's role as emotional support. Fewer asexual people drank alcohol compared with allosexual people, and there were no data available regarding intersex people. Conclusion: funded cohort studies and service providers should routinely collect SOGI data. Standardized reporting of SOGI and alcohol use would improve comparability across studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Our objective was to examine the public response to public health and media messaging during the human monkeypox virus (MPXV) outbreak in the UK, focusing on at‐risk communities. Methods: A co‐produced, cross‐sectional survey was administered in June and July 2022 using community social media channels and the Grindr dating app. Basic descriptive statistics, logistic regression, and odds ratio p values are presented. Results: Of 1932 survey respondents, 1750 identified as men, 88 as women, and 64 as gender non‐conforming. Sexual identity was described as gay/lesbian/queer (80%), bisexual (12%), heterosexual (4%), and pansexual (2%); 39% were aged <40 years; 71% self‐identified as White, 3% as Black, 8% as Asian, 2%as LatinX, and 11% as 'Mixed or Other' heritage groups. In total, 85% were employed and 79% had completed higher education. A total of 7% of respondents identified themselves as living with HIV. Overall, 34% reported limited understanding of public health information, 52% considered themselves at risk, 61% agreed that people with MPXV should isolate for 21 days, 49% reported they would first attend a sexual health clinic if symptomatic, 86% reported they would accept a vaccine, and 59% believed that MPXV originated from animals. The most trusted sources of information were healthcare professionals (37%), official health agencies (29%), and mainstream media (12%). Conclusions: Vaccine acceptability was very high, yet the understanding and acceptance of public health information varied. Social determinants of health inequalities already shaping the UK landscape risk were compounded in this new emergency. Engagement with structurally disadvantaged members of affected communities and better dissemination of public health messaging by trusted healthcare professionals are essential for the public health response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aims to shed light on the Romanian diaspora's experience of the Covid-19 pandemic in the UK, a global pandemic experienced by all, yet not under the same restrictions or with the same challenges. It looks at how the Romanians rate their experience of the pandemic in the UK, while also considering the wider context of Brexit, by focusing on aspects such as level of satisfaction with governmental measures, the impact on their professional activity and the intention to return to their home country. Quantitative and qualitative questionnaires reveal that despite having gone through it far from their family and friends back in Romania, Romanians in the UK did not find the experience of the pandemic overwhelmingly negative, nor did it determine a trend of return migration, despite the broader, overlapping context of Brexit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I use autoethnography to examine time spent on an acute psychiatric ward during the COVID-19 lockdown. I employ the device of "communitas in crisis" to emphasize the precarious nature of this experience and the extent to which, for myself at least, informal social interactions with fellow patients and "communitas" were significant features of my hospital experience and subsequent discharge. I suggest that a lack of emphasis on inpatient to inpatient relationships in the recovery literature is an omission and a reflection of psychiatry's authority struggles with both service users and professionals, along with a general perception of psychosis as individual rather than as a socially constructed phenomenon. I also suggest that, especially in the wake of greater social distancing, mental health and social services should safeguard against psychological and social isolation by creating more spaces for struggling people to interact without fear or prejudice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]