Search

In conflict and post-conflict settings, the international community operates with the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda supporting gender equality. During and after war, gender roles are often deeply contested as part of larger societal transformations and uncertainties. In Somalia since the 1960s, gender identities and roles have undergone substantial changes, influenced by contemporary political systems, the women’s movement, civil war and religious transformations. The international community’s role in these societal transformations should not be over-estimated. Life history research with Somali women shows that debates on women’s roles in the public sphere are taking place irrespective of the international agenda. Somali women have, at least since the 1960s, held civil-political leadership positions, despite substantial disagreements on the public role of women in Somalia. Furthermore, the “international” and “local” are difficult to disentangle. The Somali female elite have often spent years abroad and introduced new gender perspectives from places as divergent as Egypt, Russia and the United States. Global cultural and religious trends are influencing post-war Somalia, Somaliland and Puntland. In this complex socio-cultural landscape, the international WPS agenda can support – but also risk delegitimizing – Somali processes and perspectives. The article illustrates the gap that exists between global norms and local realities by focusing on Somali discourse on women’s public roles and political participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction and hypothesis: Our purpose was to determine prevalence, type, and risk factors of urinary incontinence (UI) and their impacts on quality of life (QoL) of women in Turkey. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 150 women aged 18-80 years at the Yildirim Beyazit University Hospital's Gynecology Outpatient Clinic in Turkey between May 2013 and September 2013. Data were collected using an individual information form and an incontinence QoL questionnaire (I-QOL). Following data distribution, we used the Mann-Whitney U test, Bonferroni-corrected Kruskal-Walis H test, logistic regression analysis, Fisher's exact test, and the chi-square test. Results: Mean age of the study population was 48.7 ± 14.3 years and UI prevalence 86.7 %. The distribution of UI types was 37.7 % stress incontinence (SUI), 3.1 % urge (UUI), and 59.2 % mixed (MUI). I-QOL general average was 56.7 ± 23.28 (min 22, max 110). Most women had experienced UI for at least 5 continuous years and reported a negative impact on QoL; 43.2 % of incontinence women had not received medical therapy. Postmenopause, uterine prolapsus, episiotomy, use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT), smoking, caffeine intake, family history of UI, macrosomia, and multiparity were risk factors for UI ( p < 0.05). Conclusion: In this study, the prevalence of UI in women was substantial, and UI had a significantly negative impact on all aspects of QoL. However, these women had not sought medical help for the problem. Therefore, health professionals should query women of all ages about symptoms of this prevalent condition and offer treatment if it is detected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study documents the experiences of 100 ever-married women having children and living with HIV in four districts in Manipur, India. The study analyses everyday stigma and discrimination faced by the sample, women living with HIV/AIDS (WLHA), in different settings following disclosure of their HIV status. Often families do not accept that women have been infected by their husbands. If a woman tests positive and the man negative, the situation becomes even worse, especially if confidentiality is breached. Most of the women reported that both natal and affinal families subjected them to rejection and discrimination, refusing to give them a share of the property or even provide financial, let alone emotional support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Study Objective Latinas have the highest rates of adolescent pregnancy in the United States. Identifying means to improve the well-being of these young women is critical. The current study examined whether a history of child sexual abuse—itself a risk factor for adolescent pregnancy—was associated with more perceived stress and negative mood over the course of pregnancy and whether dysfunctional attitudes explained these associations. Design and Setting This mixed methods study involved laboratory-based assessments of perceived stress, sexual abuse history, and dysfunctional attitudes, as well as Ecological Momentary Assessments (EMA) of mood states every 30 minutes during a 24-hour period once during each trimester of pregnancy. Participants Pregnant adolescents (N = 204, 85% Latina). Main Outcome Measures EMA mood states and laboratory-based retrospective self–reports of perceived stress. Results One in 4 pregnant adolescents had a history of sexual abuse. Sexually abused adolescents reported greater perceived stress during the first trimester relative to those without, though the groups did not differ on EMA negative mood ratings. Dysfunctional attitudes explained associations between sexual abuse and perceived stress. Sexual abuse was indirectly associated with the intercept and slope of negative mood through dysfunctional attitudes. Findings were circumscribed to sexual abuse and not other types of child abuse. Conclusions Identifying sexually abused pregnant adolescents and providing support and cognitive therapy to target dysfunctional beliefs may decrease stress during the first trimester as well as negative affect throughout pregnancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on recent fieldwork, this paper examines the intersecting economic activities of Marakwet women in northwest Kenya with a particular focus on exchange friendships. We highlight the need to expand previous definitions oftilia, based on male exchange of livestock, to include a variety of exchange friendships including those between women. Through investigating women's economic activities in local marketplaces, we demonstrate that marketplaces facilitate the formation oftiliapartnerships between women from different areas, and shape women's kinship and friendship interactions within the context of their market activities. We argue that there is a synergy between women's market activities and exchange relationships, but we also emphasise that market activities andtiliaexchange relationships are part of the matrix of household economic decision-making navigated by Marakwet women. This has important implications for how we view and support the social and economic contributions of women's activities. Women'stiliarelations provide a number of benefits to their trading activities, households and communities, and as such we suggest that rural development interventions would do well to consider and build upon these networks of exchange relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and purpose Left-sided breast radiotherapy (RT) can result in cardiac exposure. This study aims to identify predictive anatomic features in women requiring breath-hold (RT BH ) for cardiac sparing during adjuvant whole breast RT. Material and methods We retrospectively reviewed free-breathing (FB) CT scans of 80 women previously treated with left-sided breast RT. Unfavourable cardiac anatomy was defined as the number of consecutive axial CT slices (2 mm) in which the anterior chest wall contacted the heart (Contact Heart ) or left ventricle (Contact LV ). The sternal angle and Haller Index (HI) were used to measure chest concavity. Position and volume of post-operative cavity was also quantified. Results Heart mean dose ( D mean ) was strongly correlated with Contact LV ( r = 0.625, p < 0.001) and Contact Heart ( r = 0.524, p < 0.001) but not significantly correlated with tumor size, cavity volume, heart volume, cavity distance to chest wall, sternal angle, or HI. ROC analysis of Contact Heart was most predictive of the need for breath-hold (RT BH ) technique [Area Under Curve = 0.815 (SE: 0.048; 95% CI: 0.721–0.91)] and ⩾25 Contact Heart CT slices predicted for heart D mean ⩾1.7 Gy (68% sensitivity and 82% specificity). Conclusion Contact Heart on FB CT of ⩾25 axial slices (2 mm), ⩾50 mm of para-sagittal heart contact, was predictive of higher heart D mean and suggest a potential need for RT BH . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the potential for soft-governance instruments and processes such as theNational Gender Equality Strategyto implement a strategy aiming at improved competiveness through gender equality. A central question addressed is how to create a women entrepreneurial identity within the framework of the dominant gender order in the forest sector? The literature review and policy analysis upon which this article is based shows that both structural and individual factors in combination are important for women to be motivated to develop a business in the green sectors. While fully agree with the above, this article takes the discussion one step further by pointing out how policy programs designed to support rural business often have been carried out in a top-down fashion without sufficient knowledge about specific target groups, and have primarily focused on men’s businesses within the primary business areas. In order not to be “genderblind,” specific support built from the grassroots level with sufficient knowledge about the target group, i.e. women forest owners, is crucial. Several studies also show that in order for programs or strategies with vague effect goals to work, they have to be legitimate and accepted by the stakeholders, which has shown to be one of the most fundamental weaknesses of this type of soft-governance approach. The essential factor is not the goal itself, but rather which tools are available for implementation. Otherwise, this type of soft policy instruments will only work on those who already believe – that is to say, it is seducing the already seduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In most countries around the world women remain in the minority when it comes to senior positions in both the public and private sectors. That there are barriers to their progression is not in doubt. What is not well understood is the nature of those barriers and the extent to which they are consciously or unconsciously constructed. Moreover, there has been a stark absence of empirical studies in the field of Australian public administration to investigate these issues and assess the implications. The purpose of this abbreviated article is to help bridge the gap (the full study is published at ). It does this through a study of the perceptions of senior men and women of the cultural and systemic barriers affecting the recruitment, retention and promotion of senior women in six Australian Commonwealth departments. The article then proposes a range of mitigating strategies for navigating these barriers and achieving and maintaining a better gender balance at the Senior Executive Service level across the Australian Public Service. These strategies are integrated within a systems model of behavioural change which we hope will prove useful to public organizations embarking on diversity reform initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to identify actual and perceived barriers to postpartum care among a probability sample of women who gave birth in Los Angeles County, California in 2007. Survey data from the 2007 Los Angeles Mommy and Baby (LAMB) study (N = 4,075) were used to identify predictors and barriers to postpartum care use. The LAMB study was a cross-sectional, population-based study that examined maternal and child health outcomes during the preconception, prenatal, and postpartum periods. Multivariable analyses identified low income, being separated/divorced and never married, trying hard to get pregnant or trying to prevent pregnancy, Medi-Cal insurance holders, and lack of prenatal care to be risk factors of postpartum care nonuse, while Hispanic ethnicity was protective. The most commonly reported barriers to postpartum care use were feeling fine, being too busy with the baby, having other things going on, and a lack of need. Findings from this study can inform the development of interventions targeting subgroups at risk for not obtaining postpartum care. Community education and improved access to care can further increase the acceptability of postpartum visits and contribute to improvements in women's health. Postpartum care can serve as a gateway to engage underserved populations in the continuum of women's health care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]