This thesis assessed responses toward rape against women as experienced by the victims and victim supporters in the context of the interaction between victims, supporters, and formal agencies in Tanzania. The overall research design was based on triangulation with a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. A semi-qualitative study, in which free listings and semi-structured questionnaires were used, explored social reactions from 44 community nurses and 50 rape victims (Paper I). A tool developed from this first study was utilized for collecting data on people’s attitudes and their behavior toward rape and rape victims from a representative community sample of 1505 men and women aged 18-65 years (Paper II). Both studies helped to access suitable rape victims and supporters who participated in the third study to share experiences on the process of rape disclosure to formal and informal social networks (Papers III and IV). The results highlighted the salient social reactions and how rape victims perceived the impact of these reactions. Half of the participants interpreted rape situations based on social relationships, circumstances, and social status of the woman, rather than the legal definition. Two-thirds of the adults explained they would express negative social reactions toward a victim in some rape scenarios, and this correlated with their attitudes towards rape and rape victims. A variety of barriers in the informal and formal networks with potentially negative impacts on rape reporting, service utilization and, health outcomes were identified. In conclusion, successful interventions aimed at improving people’s response to rape, rape disclosure and, health outcomes in Tanzania should assume a holistic approach to address the negative factors identified at the individual, family and, community levels without forgetting the normative context that appears to underlie most decisions and practice.

Ett missfall är en stor och omtumlande händelse i en kvinnas liv. Under denna tid har vårdgivaren stor betydelse i hur kvinnan klara sin situation och för att kunna gå vidare. Syftet med denna litteraturstudie var att beskriva kvinnors upplevelser av stöd vid missfall. Detta kan hjälpa sjuksköterskor att förstå kvinnan bättre i hennes situation vid missfall.  Metoden var en litteraturöversikt enligt Friberg (2006). Materialet som använts för att få fram översikten är nio stycken vetenskapliga artiklar. I resultatet framkom två huvudområden: känslomässigt stöd och praktiskt stöd med fem olika underområden: socialt stöd, professionellt stöd, bemötande och attityd, uppföljning och information. För kvinnor spelade bemötandet en stor roll i hur de upplevde sin situation. En negativ aspekt var att personalen i vissa fall inte behandlade kvinnorna individuellt. Det stöd och den vård som ges vid ett missfall ska göras så bra som möjligt med tanken att varje fall är individuellt och unikt. Detta genom att lyssna till vad kvinnan behöver och forma vården efter henne. / A miscarriage is a big and chaotic event in a woman's life. During this time caregiver has an important role in how women cope with their situation and how they move forward. The purpose of this literature review was to highlight women’s experiences of support at miscarriage. This can help nurses to better understand the woman in her situation in a miscarriage. The method was a literature review according to Friberg (2006). Nine scientific articles formed the base of the review. The results revealed two main areas: emotional support and practical assistance with five different sub-areas: social assistance, professional support, treatment and attitude, follow up and information. It appeared both positive and negative experiences of the provided care. The support and care provided by nurses at an miscarriage should be as good as possible with the idea that each case is individual and unique. This by listening to what the women need and shaping health care for her.

This MA thesis examines the decision-making capacity of young women married during adolescence within the context of their sexual and reproductive health in an urban ghetto in the city of Ahmedabad, India. Specifically, the development literature on married female adolescents (MFAs) is characterized by negative health indicators such as higher rates of unwanted pregnancies, reproductive tract infections, sexually transmitted diseases, high infant and maternal mortality and morbidity coupled with the phenomenon of early marriage, poverty and an overall lower social status. The result is a disempowering discourse that constructs and presents them as powerless victims who lack any decision-making capacity and are perpetually oppressed. This research is an effort to move the discussions of “Other third world women” outside the realm of victimization by challenging and destabilizing this disempowering, hegemonic discourse. We must ask what does decision making look like for these women, as exercised within the context of their sexual and reproductive health. This qualitative analysis is informed by primary research through focus groups and semi-structured interviews with young married women, and was conducted with the help of a local NGO, Mahila Patchwork Co-operative Society. The study provides insights on the young married women’s participation and role in determining their own health outcomes (negative and positive) to better inform programs and services offered by the community NGOs.

This MA thesis examines the decision-making capacity of young women married during adolescence within the context of their sexual and reproductive health in an urban ghetto in the city of Ahmedabad, India. Specifically, the development literature on married female adolescents (MFAs) is characterized by negative health indicators such as higher rates of unwanted pregnancies, reproductive tract infections, sexually transmitted diseases, high infant and maternal mortality and morbidity coupled with the phenomenon of early marriage, poverty and an overall lower social status. The result is a disempowering discourse that constructs and presents them as powerless victims who lack any decision-making capacity and are perpetually oppressed. This research is an effort to move the discussions of “Other third world women” outside the realm of victimization by challenging and destabilizing this disempowering, hegemonic discourse. We must ask what does decision making look like for these women, as exercised within the context of their sexual and reproductive health. This qualitative analysis is informed by primary research through focus groups and semi-structured interviews with young married women, and was conducted with the help of a local NGO, Mahila Patchwork Co-operative Society. The study provides insights on the young married women’s participation and role in determining their own health outcomes (negative and positive) to better inform programs and services offered by the community NGOs.

Background: Breast and Gynecological cancers are a major public health problem. Smoking is associated with several chronic diseases including cancer. Other lifestyles of public health predispose many people to dyslipidemia, hypertension and obesity; risk factors for metabolic syndrome, and are associated with cancer. Objectives: The purpose of this study is to find if those who smoke, and have the metabolic syndrome, are more likely to have breast or gynecological cancers, and to find the distribution by education, having health insurance, race/ethnicity and socio-economic status. Methods: A case-control study of females aged 20 years and above who participated in the United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2001-2010. Results: Females who have smoked more than hundred cigarettes in life and still smoke; a) have a 42 percent less chance of having a breast cancer diagnosis (OR 0.58; 95% CI 0.36 – 0.93, p-value 0.025), and b) are 2.67 times as likely to report a cervical cancer diagnosis as females who have smoked less than hundred cigarettes in life (OR 2.67; 95% CI 1.72 – 4.13, p-value Conclusion: Smoking and metabolic syndrome are very important indicators of reproductive health and needs further study. Smoking cessation interventions should be an integral part of cervical cancer prevention programs especially targeted at younger females and females who live below the federal poverty level.

Abstract The Sakhi Resource Center is at the moment conducting an educational program for adolescent girls and village health care workers in the district of Trivandrum, Kerala. Gender and sexual reproductive health are taught among other things. Classes are structured in a participatory way, giving the girls the opportunity to develop and practice their leadership and organizational skills among other things. One of the aims of The Project is to increase the confidence and sense of coherence of the girls and thus raise their ability to act in an empowered way in their societies. Another is to educate and engage health care workers out in the villages. The health care workers are Facilitators in The Adolescent Project. The Facilitators are both being educated by the Project staff and then themselves educating adolescents in The Project. The purpose of my study has been to evaluate the role of The Facilitators in The Project with the focus on gender. My research method is case study, and my empirical results are based on observations and nine in-depth interviews with The Facilitators. I have also studied Project Documents. I have used gender theory and theories of empowerment along with postcolonial theories of intersectionality. The Facilitators have a key-function here as after the project they are intended to continue conducting classes in the villages. I have found for example that the motivation to become a Facilitator in the Project can often be traced back to personal experiences from adolescence. I have focused on the Facilitators’ attitudes and found a tendency for them to promote arranged marriages and set limits on gender equality. I have also focused on how the Facilitators experienced results gained from the Project, both for them themselves and for the adolescents. In the analysis I have suggested that Sakhi could put more emphasis on the student role of The Facilitator to ensure gender sensitive project running in the future.

Syfte: Syftet var att undersöka unga kvinnors inställning till hur de kan förebygga livmoderhalscancer. Vidare var syftet att undersöka vad de unga kvinnorna har för åsikter om information kring livmoderhalscancer.  Metod: Explorativ kvalitativ studie med semistrukturerade intervjuer användes. Kvinnor i åldern 16-18 år rekryterades på Ungdomshälsan i Uppsala med ett medvetet urval. Totalt genomfördes 20 intervjuer. Innehållsanalys med manifest ansats användes för att analysera data.  Resultat: Kvinnornas inställning till preventionsarbetet baserades på deras kunskap. Majoriteten av kvinnorna hade hört talas om ”ett vaccin” och de flesta hade en positiv inställning till det. De hade även en positiv inställning till kondom men det var ett flertal som inflikade att de inte trodde att den användes i praktiken. Den främsta anledningen till att unga kvinnor har kunskaper om livmoderhalscancer är på grund av informationen kring HPV vaccinet. Kvinnorna har främst erhållit informationen om vaccinet från media, mamma och kompisar. De önskade att skolan skulle ta ett större ansvar att ge information.  Slutsats: De unga kvinnorna som ingår i denna studie var positiva till att förebygga livmoderhalscancer. De anser att de inte har fått tillräckligt med information om livmoderhalscancer och att den kan förbättras. / Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate young women´s attitudes to cervical cancer prevention. The aim was also to examine the young women´s opinions of information about cervical cancer.  Method: Explorative qualitative study using semi-structured interviews were used. Women aged 16-18 years were recruited at Youth Clinic in Uppsala and 20 interviews were performed. Conscious selection was used. Manifest content analysis was used to analyze data.  Results: Women's attitudes to prevention were based on their knowledge. The majority of women had heard of "a vaccine" and most had a positive attitude towards it. The majority of participants had a positive attitude towards condom but a number of informants mentioned that they did not believe that it was used in practice. The main reason that young women have knowledge of cervical cancer is due to the HPV vaccine. Women are primarily received information about the vaccine from the media, mother and friends. They wanted the school to take more responsibility to provide information.  Conclusion: The participants in this study were positive to prevention methods to cervical cancer. They think that they have not received enough information about cervical cancer and that the information can be improved.  Keywords:

The main purpose of this stydy was to evaluate the Aurora clinic (for women afraid of birth/delivery) in the south of Sweden. Questionnaires were sent to 197 women who had contact with the Aurora clinic during 2007 and 2008. The group of participants contained both pregnant women and women who have given birth. A total of 136 women replied. The results showed that both the average age and the level of education of the women were high. Nulli-paras and multi-paras had different reasons for fearing delivery. The study also showed that most women felt that the contact with an Aurora midwife helped them to feel secure and to be better prepared before delivery, that the midwife understood them and took them seriously and that the content of the meetings was satisfactory. Three out of four women, who initially wished for a caesarean section, subsequently accepted a normal delivery. This study supports previous research that shows the importance of the supportive conversation provided at the Aurora clinic for women with fear of delivery.

This dissertation argues that advocacy is a two-stage decision in which organizations must first decide whether or not to undertake political activity through advocacy or lobbying and then choose between the set of strategic actions that, based on available financial and human resources, are available to them. These are separate decisions with separate constraints. The decision to advocate is a strategic stance taken by nonprofit organizations in policy environments that necessitate such activity and in which it is politically conducive for them to undertake the cost of such actions. Once an organization has decided that it will undertake advocacy activities, it must determine the specific activities, collaboration, grassroots advocacy, or direct lobbying, that will help it to pursue that course most effectively. These hypotheses are tested in an analysis of the advocacy activities of over 500 nonprofit reproductive health service providers. Data for this study were gathered from the National Center for Charitable Statistics within the Urban Institute and directly from IRS Form 990s filed by the organizations. The findings suggest that there are strong and consistent relationships between policy and politics and the political activity of nonprofit service providers. In states with more restrictive reproductive health policy environments, nonprofit organizations that provide these services are more likely to engage in advocacy activity. The findings also suggest that, even when controlling for the policy environment, 501(c)(3)s are more likely to become politically active in states where they have a larger number of political allies. Additional analyses suggest that there is a negative relationship between government monies and the aggressiveness of advocacy and the use of multiple advocacy strategies. Interestingly, this finding is consistent with the expectations offered in the resource dependence literature and the results suggest only a tenuous relationship between institutional variables and decisions regarding organizational aggressiveness in the choice of advocacy strategies.

<p>Ett missfall är en stor och omtumlande händelse i en kvinnas liv. Under denna tid har vårdgivaren stor betydelse i hur kvinnan klara sin situation och för att kunna gå vidare. <strong>Syftet</strong> med denna litteraturstudie var att beskriva kvinnors upplevelser av stöd vid missfall. Detta kan hjälpa sjuksköterskor att förstå kvinnan bättre i hennes situation vid missfall.  <strong>Metoden</strong> var en litteraturöversikt enligt Friberg (2006). Materialet som använts för att få fram översikten är nio stycken vetenskapliga artiklar. I <strong>resultatet</strong> framkom två huvudområden: känslomässigt stöd och praktiskt stöd med fem olika underområden: socialt stöd, professionellt stöd, bemötande och attityd, uppföljning och information. För kvinnor spelade bemötandet en stor roll i hur de upplevde sin situation. En negativ aspekt var att personalen i vissa fall inte behandlade kvinnorna individuellt. Det stöd och den vård som ges vid ett missfall ska göras så bra som möjligt med tanken att varje fall är individuellt och unikt. Detta genom att lyssna till vad kvinnan behöver och forma vården efter henne.</p> / <p>A miscarriage is a big and chaotic event in a woman's life. During this time caregiver has an important role in how women cope with their situation and how they move forward. <strong>The purpose</strong> of this literature review was to highlight women’s experiences of support at miscarriage. This can help nurses to better understand the woman in her situation in a miscarriage. <strong>The method</strong> was a literature review according to Friberg (2006). Nine scientific articles formed the base of the review. <strong>The results</strong> revealed two main areas: emotional support and practical assistance with five different sub-areas: social assistance, professional support, treatment and attitude, follow up and information. It appeared both positive and negative experiences of the provided care. The support and care provided by nurses at an miscarriage should be as good as possible with the idea that each case is individual and unique. This by listening to what the women need and shaping health care for her.</p>