Women’s rights have been recognized by national, regional and international human rights instruments. In Africa particularly, both the African Charter and the African Women Protocol provide for the right to health. However, the continent offers the highest rate of women suffering from fistula. This paper aims to answer the question whether the current level of governments’ response to the plight of victims of obstetric fistula, complies with the requirements of international human rights law. It looks at whether the consideration of victims of fistula from a right-based approach will contribute to affordability and free access to treatment for women suffering from the disease / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2008. / A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Law University of Pretoria, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Masters of Law (LLM in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa). Prepared under the supervision of Prof. Doutor Gilles Cistac, of the faculty of law, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Mozambique / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

No description available.

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

The purpose of this study was to explore the utilization patterns of elderly women in a nurse managed clinic (NMC). A convenience sample of 20 women, 65 and older, attending an NMC completed an questionnaire and an interview. A pilot study guided the development of the questionnaire. Interrater reliability was performed to enhance the reliability of the pattern categories developed from the interviews. The findings of this research were that elderly women utilized this NMC for: physical assessment and monitoring; health care information; evaluating a physical need; referral; emotional support; socialization; convenience; cost; familiarity/comfort; health care need; and reliability. Satisfaction was the main component of the clients' perception of their visit to the NMC. Conclusions reached were that utilization of this NMC was based mainly on perceptions of health care needs and that cost, convenience, and familiarity influenced clients in choosing this clinic in addition to their primary care provider.

O câncer de mama é a segunda neoplasia maligna mais incidente entre a população feminina mundial e influencia as taxas de morbidade e mortalidade. Esta doença, muitas vezes associada à necessidade da mastectomia, provoca impacto sobre a vida da mulher, nos âmbitos pessoal, familiar, sobretudo nos aspectos relacionados à qualidade de vida e sexualidade. Trata-se de um estudo transversal, exploratório, analítico, de base hospitalar com o objetivo de avaliar as relações entre a mastectomia, a sexualidade e a qualidade de vida da mulher. Foi desenvolvido em um Hospital-Escola da Cidade de São Paulo. A população deste estudo foi composta por 100 mulheres (N) que tiveram câncer de mama e foram submetidas à mastectomia. Para a coleta de dados foi utilizado um formulário estruturado, composto por dados sócio-demográficos das mulheres e seus parceiros, dados da doença e tratamento, itens do \"Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36)\" e do \"Quociente Sexual - Versão Feminina (QS-F)\". Os dados foram introduzidos em um banco de dados do Epi Info e analisados no programa estatístico Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for Windows. A descrição da amostra foi feita por meio de freqüências absoluta e relativa, média, mediana, desvio-padrão e valores mínimos e máximos. Para a análise da correlação entre o QS-F e os escores de qualidade de vida foi utilizado o coeficiente de correlação de Spearman, que também foi utilizado para analisar as variáveis quantitativas. A comparação das médias do QS-F segundo características da mulher, do parceiro e da doença/tratamento foi feita por meio do Teste de Mann-Whitney. Foram consideradas significativas todas as análises estatísticas com resultado p<0,05. As mulheres tinham em média 51 anos de idade, tinham estudado em média 7,8 anos, a maioria (65%) era católica, com filhos (88%) e parceiro fixo (68%) na época da cirurgia. Quanto à doença 63% das mulheres não teve tumor em fase avançada e quanto aos tratamentos, 75% não realizou a reconstrução mamária, 85% realizou a quimioterapia, 68% a radioterapia e 66% a hormonioterapia. Mais da metade das mulheres (58%) não tinha vida sexual ativa e entre as que tinham, grande parte (64,3%) sofria de alguma disfunção sexual. Em relação à qualidade de vida os melhores escores estavam relacionados aos aspectos sociais, saúde mental, estado geral de saúde, capacidade funcional e vitalidade. Houve relação estatisticamente significante (p < 0,05) entre o escore de sexualidade e a escolaridade da mulher, a idade do parceiro e os escores relacionados à capacidade funcional, vitalidade, limitação por aspectos emocionais e saúde mental. A mastectomia interfere sobre a função sexual e a qualidade de vida e as características desta interferência devem ser conhecidas e consideradas na assistência à mulher de modo a favorecer um cuidado integral e personalizado / Breast cancer is the second most malign neoplasm among the world\'s female population and influences the morbidity and mortality rates. This disease, many times associated to the necessity of mastectomy, provokes an impact on women\'s lives, regarding personal and family issues, related mainly to quality of life and sexuality. This is a transversal, hospital-based study aimed at evaluating the relationship between mastectomy, sexuality and women\'s quality of life. The research was carried out in a university hospital located in the City of São Paulo. The population of this study was composed of 100 women (N) who had breast cancer and underwent mastectomy. Data collection was carried out using a structured form, composed of sociodemographical data related to women and their partners, the items from \"Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36)\" and the \"Sexual Quotient - Female Version (QS-F)\". The data were introduced into the Epi Info database and analyzed in the statistical program Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for Windows. The description of the population sample was carried out by the use of absolute and relative frequency, media, median, standard deviation and maximum and minimum values. For the analysis of correlation between the QS-F and quality of life scores, the Spearman Coefficient Correlation, was utilized for the analysis of quantitative variables. The comparison of the QS-F media according to the women and their partners´ characteristics, the disease/treatment was performed by using the Mann-Whitney Test. All the analyses with results p<0,05 were considered with statistical meaning. The women\'s average age was 51 years, the average years of study was 7,8 years, the major part (65%) was Catholic, with children (88%), a permanent spouse (68%) at the moment of the surgery. As for the disease, 63% have not had an advanced phase of the tumor and, in relation to the treatments, 75% have not undergone breast reconstruction, 85% have undergone chemotherapy, 68% radiotherapy and 66% hormontherapy. More than half of the women (58%) did not have sexual intercourse and among women who were having sexual intercourse, the major part (64,3%) was suffering with some kind of sexual dysfunction. In relation to the quality of life, the better scores were related to the social aspects, mental health, general heath conditions, functional capacity and vitality. There was a statistically significant association (p < 0,05) between the sexuality score and women\'s educational background, the partner\'s age and the scores related to the functional capacity, vitality, emotional related limitations and mental health. The mastectomy interferes in the sexual function and quality of life and the characteristics of this interference must be considered in the women\'s care planning in order to promote an integral and personalized care

Breast cancer affects one in eight women in the United States. Estimated new breast cancer cases for 2012 in the U.S. are 229,060 women (American Cancer Society, 2012). For all women it is important to be informed regarding all current treatment options. For women in high-risk categories of breast cancer it is even more important. Risk-reducing strategies for women at high-risk of breast cancer include surveillance, chemoprevention, and bilateral prophylactic mastectomy. Prophylactic mastectomy reduces the risk of breast cancer by excision of most breast tissue. Breast cancer among those initially diagnosed as high-risk is 90-94.3% (Hartmann et al., 1999). This procedure entails serious surgeries with numerous physical, social, and emotional ramifications and is not without side effects. The patient has the right to be informed and base her decision-making on the suitability of the procedure for herself. This research describes six (6) woman’s experiences, focusing on the role of transformational learning and self-efficacy, as these women progressed through the stages. Prophylactic mastectomy is radical, irreversible, and costly at the onset. The procedure may preclude a whole lifetime of surgeries, radiation, and chemical treatments. If this treatment is the right fit, and has been fully researched, balanced with options, family history, genetic predisposition, personal concerns, and anxiety levels, along with physician recommendations, a woman should consider pursuing it. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2015. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Objective: Although factors that promote initial and recurring homelessness among inner city women have been long explored, impoverished women continue enter and re-enter shelters at troubling rates. This trend is projected to increase over time. This longitudinal study uses Sydemics as a framework to advance our understanding of the relationship between depression, PTSD, trauma and intimate partner violence and the loss of housing among impoverished women using inner city Emergency Departments. We hypothesized that depression, PTSD, childhood trauma and IPV are positively associated with homelessness at baseline and that women with higher rates of a combination of these variables (e.g. PTSD and IPV) in wave 1 will have higher odds of experiencing both an initial and repeat bout of homelessness in the second and/or third waves, controlling for all other variables in the study. Method: Multivariate analyses and logistic regression, at baseline and longitudinally, were conducted to test study hypotheses with homelessness as the dependent variable. Six multivariate logistic regression models were used. Odds ratios (OR) with their 95% confidence intervals are reported. Results: Depression and childhood trauma were individually associated with homelessness at the .05 level in this sample of low income women. IPV was marginally related to homelessness (p=0.0917). PTSD however was not. Importantly, although IPV and PSTD were not individually associated with homelessness in bivariate analyses, housed, never homeless women, and women who had previously experienced homelessness had a greater odd of becoming homeless than those who experienced only one of these risk variables. Specifically, housed, never homeless women who had PTSD and IPV had a 2.2 odd of becoming homeless for the first time in waves 2 and 3, whereas those who experienced PTSD only had a 1.3 odds of becoming homeless for the first time; never homeless participants who experienced IPV only a 1.7 greater odds of becoming homeless (CI.0.348, 14.84; p=0.385), adjusting for all other variables. Similarly, the odd of becoming homeless again among participants who had PTSD and experienced IPV was 1.7 whereas the odds of recurrent homelessness was 1.2 among those who experienced PTSD only and 1.1 among those who experienced IPV only (CI.0.397, 7.46; p=0.463), controlling for all other variables in the study. Conclusion: Our findings confirm our hypotheses that low-income women who have PTSD, depression, histories of childhood trauma, and/or IPV have a higher odds of initial and recurrent homelessness when compared with women who do not have these risk variables. Our findings further confirm that women who have combinations of risk variables have even higher odds of future homelessness. Due to the low sample size of women with histories of homelessness in the study, there was lack of power. Despite this challenge, the results of these explorations (in determining heretofore unidentified effect sizes) utilizing Syndemics as a conceptual framework are promising. Future research with larger sample sizes (and sufficient power) are important to further the initial findings from this study.

This dissertation develops a social analysis the Brazilian Black women's non-governmental organizations (NGOs) by focusing on their political activism around issues of Black women's sexual and reproductive health. My research responds to two major questions: (1) what has been the effectiveness of the political work of Black Women's NGOs in the areas of sexual and reproductive health in Brazil, particularly with respect to reducing the effects of racial, gender, and class discrimination; (2) what are the contributions that these NGO's have made to the formation of Black women's agency and collective organizing in their communities? The finding of this study is that claims and struggles for political autonomy and citizenship rights waged by Black women's NGOs around women's sexual and reproductive health (and health in general) have played a central role both in transforming Black women's life conditions and in promoting their agency and collective organizing in the country. In the 1990s and 2000s there has been an increase in the number of Black women's activists affiliated to NGOs involved in local and national debates with policymakers and healthcare administrators about health disparities and health services. Furthermore, because of the activism of these NGOs, the federal, state and district governments have been forced to endorse and implement specific policies and programs that directly benefit the Black population generally, and Black women, in particular. This dissertation analyzes issues such as feminist movement, aspects of sexual and reproductive health and rights, violence, vulnerability, and Black women's experiences in relation to race, gender, class, and sexuality as major systems of oppression. It focuses on the histories of four Black women's organizations in the Brazilian cities of Rio de Janeiro and Porto Alegre: Criola, Grupo de Mulheres Felipa de Sousa, ACMUN (Cultural Association of Black Women) and Maria Mulher. In addition, this dissertation contributes to the documentation of Black women's contemporary history concerning political organizing in Brazil. Ultimately, I hope this dissertation will be beneficial to scholars and activists in Brazil and elsewhere focusing their political work on the eradication of racial and gender oppression, and winder issues of social justice. / text

Background According to the Programme for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), global statistics show that nearly half a million new cases of invasive cervical cancer are diagnosed each year. More than a quarter million women die of this disease annually, with the highest incidence and mortality rates being in developing countries. In South Africa a woman's risk of developing cervical cancer is one in 26. Each year 6 700 women develop cervical cancer while 3 700 die from the disease annually. The overall aim of this research was to determine the patterns of health seeking behaviour of women being treated for cervical cancer. The specific objectives were to: Describe the health service utilization characteristics of patients being treated for cervical cancer. Describe the need factors associated with decision to seek care. Describe the enabling factors associated with decision to seek care. Describe the predisposing factor associated with the decision to seek care. Analysis of factors associated with health seeking behavior in women treated for cervical cancer. Methods An observational study with a descriptive and analytic component was undertaken. The study was conducted in the Oncology Department of Grey‟s Hospital, which is a referral hospital located in Pietermaritzburg from the Umgungundlovu, Umzinyathi, Zululand, Uthukela and Amajuba Health District which has a population of 995 303. All patients treated for cervical cancer within the study period, who provided informed consent for their participation in the study, were enrolled. The total number included in the study was 109. Descriptive statistics were used to explore frequencies emanating from the data. Pearson Chi square tests were used to explore the relationship between two categorical variables and the p-value was used to decide how much evidence there was against the null hypothesis. Odds ratio was also used as a measure of risk to compare whether the probability of a variable is the same for the outcome variables. Regression was performed on the variables that were found to be statistically significant to the outcome variables in the bivariate analyses. Results The variables that most influenced health seeking behaviour and that still remained statistically associated with the outcome variables under the multivariate analysis were found to be age, marital status, employment status, social support for medical treatment, educational level, knowledge of Pap smear screening and recognition of cervical cancer. Conclusion The study achieved its aim of determining the patterns of health seeking behavior of women being treated for cervical cancer at Grey‟s Hospital. It also identified that proper implementation of HPV vaccination and cervical screening programme can be an entry point to address the incidence and presentation of cancer at advance stages, as well the treatment of precancerous lesions of the cervix in the women of reproductive age. An awareness campaign, support for women to undergo screening program and availability of health centers is also recommended. All recommendations need to be considered by the department of health and appropriate authorities in South Africa to minimize the widespread of cervical cancer. / M. Med. Sc. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2012.