Despite enormous research on the experience of living with HIV, many questions remain regarding self-disclosure of HIV status to sexual partners by people living with HIV (PLWHIV), which is essential to reducing further infection. In this study, a phenomenological approach captured the experience of self-disclosure among South Africans living with HIV in Louwsburg, South Africa. The health belief model served as a theoretical framework, and in-depth interviews were conducted with 12 PLWHIV (8 women, 4 men) who self-disclosed their HIV status to their sexual partners. Their experiences were explored, discovering their illness, motives for self-disclosure, feelings regarding disclosing, responses of their sexual partners, their emotional reaction, and about their medical care. The themes rose from interviews showed that (a) many PLWHIV are reluctant to self-disclose until they actively experienced health issues; (b) motives for disclosure include the wish to ensure fairness; support and to empower other PLWHIV to prevent further infection; (c) feelings of disclosure are primarily relief and liberation, even though risks remain, especially for families separated by labor migration laws; (d) the response of sexual partners to disclosure varies widely; some are motivated to get tested and use condoms, decline and respond only with anger, blame, even abandonment; and (e) after accessing medical care, most PLWHIV reported support and appearing less sick, which reduces social stigma. The women were more open, forthcoming, and transparent about disclosing than men participants. Findings will assist with the creation of future health education programs aimed at creating safe environments to disclose HIV status, which may reduce community risk of contracting the virus.

Policies are often seen as a response to existing issues, wheras in this study polices are understood as a productive process, that not only addresses a pre-existing problem, but that construct the problem through how it is represented in the policy (Bacchi, Eveline, 2010: 18). Based on this, the study examines how gender inequality is represented in a number of policies and reports from the UN Development Programme, UNDP, published between 2018 and 2021.UNDP is one of the largest entities within the international development world, and its policies has the potential to impact millions of people around the world. By asking what is the problem represented to be? (WPR) it is possible to uncover underlying assumptions on which the understanding that produces the problem of gender inequality, rests. The effects of these assumptions, implicit understandings of a problem, come to determine what is being done about it. Many policies addressing gender inequality attempt to identify how actions can be taken with less negative effect on the targeted group, mainly women, instead of asking how the policies themselves are connected to reproducing the problem (Bacchi et al. 2010: 120).   This study finds that the underlying premises of how gender inequality is represented by UNDP results in proposed actions that risk conflating women and gender, while promoting activities that at large aim to include women into existing structures, rather than being a driver for examining underlying causes of gender inequality.

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This research paper endeavours to investigate the correlation between sanctions and the exacerbation of gender inequality. Specifically, the study aims to assess whether the imposition of sanctions leads to heightened levels of gender-based disparities. In the aftermath of the Cold War, the utilisation of sanctions surged markedly as an instrument for altering states' behaviour in foreign policy. In line with the increased prevalence of sanctions, a growing discourse has emerged surrounding the unanticipated outcomes of these measures. What remains unexamined is whether women are disproportionately affected. This represents a significant gap in the literature as almost no studies address gender-based consequences of sanctions. In compliance with the scarcity in academia, this thesis aims to test the outlined hypothesis that sanctions have been shown to affect women and men differently, that sanctions will have a negative impact on gender equality. This relationship between sanctions and gender inequality will be assessed by conducting OLS regression based on data from The Global Sanctions Data Base (GSDB) and the Quality of Governance (QoG). Control variables have also been incorporated to mitigate the potential impact of these variables on both the independent and dependent variables. In the bivariate model, when controls were not included, a notable level of support for the hypothesis was observed, whilst a substantially weaker, statistically insignificant connection in the multivariate regression analysis was evident. The findings of this study may offer valuable insights to enhance future investigations in the realm of sanctions and gender.

This paper discusses the incorporation of socio-political themes in music and music journalism, focusing on the issues of gender inequality, imbalance, and women's marginalization. It investigates how two UK-based media with a transnational audience focus, Kerrang! and New Musical Express (NME), challenge or reinforce gender inequality-related themes in their publications in 2019-2023. The study also asks how the socio-political discussion is positioned in relation to the aesthetic evaluation of music, how the two music magazines differ in their approach, and how this correlates to the audiences they are trying to attract and retain. The study utilises a discourse analysis method, investigating the textual, discourse practice, and social practice elements of the text in fourteen articles (seven from each chosen media), divided into publication types of news articles, new song release coverage, album/artist reviews, and women's rights-related special publications. The analysis concludes that women musicians aremarginalised, especially in the alternative and rock music genres, but also discovers that effort is put into giving women musicians' voices more space to discuss and challenge the issue. Kerrang! and NME appear as media avoiding focusing on women musicians' gender when discussing their music and pointing at specific actions necessary to reach better gender equality and women empowerment in music and society. The findings demonstrate a varying positioning of gender inequality discussion in relation to the aesthetic evaluation of music, concluding that NME as a "lifestyle" publication focuses on the topic to a lesser extent than the "underground", niche-specific media Kerrang!. The study establishes a connection to the intersectionality theory, presenting the intersecting identities of "women" and "musicians" related to the inequality in the music industry. The research contributes to understanding cultural journalism's influence in mediating and inspiring social and political debate, providing updated findings on women's representation in two contemporary music media. It proves the importance of music and music journalism for enriching modern society and serves as a foundation for future research that can expand the findings by employing a quantitative approach for more generalizable findings.

The main purpose of this thesis is to identify the discursive techniques through which women are delegitimized, belittled and "Othered" in Croatian media. On top of that, the goal is to identify patterns in news framing processes which reflect the structures of a patriarchal society. This thesis looks at discourse with an aim to identify and address the dynamics of “othering” and “silencing strategies” in Croatian media and their most popular informative talk shows, "Sunday at 2" and "Fifth Day". The question of whether HRT complies with their own laws as well as the laws on gender equality in the media is also raised. This thesis employs critical discourse analysis to examine four different talk show episodes where problems of sexual violence and access to abortion were discussed. Additionally, power relations between men and women enacted through discourse are observed, revealing the frames behind them. Results suggest that agenda-setting and news framing are powerful tools through which Croatian media presents women as inferior or“Other”, while delegitimizing their struggles. The male figures on Croatian television are shown to perpetuate stereotypes and gender inequalities, violating Croatian Radiotelevision and Gender Equality Laws. Ultimately, this thesis observes Croatian media in the light of the process of retraditionalization in Croatia and the broader backlash against women's issues across Europe. Finally, this thesis highlights the conservative patriarchal values reflected in Croatian media and encourages research on media framing of women in Croatia. However, further research is needed to better understand framing effects on public's perceptions of gender inequalities in Croatia.

Even if child mortality has decreased significantly since 1990, it is still a substantial issue that is prevalent all over the world. Regional differences are significant, and Sub-Saharan Africa is the most affected area. Traditionally, researchers have turned to the medical field for health-related issues. However, social, and structural factors, among them gender inequality, are also crucial in determining health and life conditions. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate how intrahousehold gender inequality affects child mortality in Sierra Leone. The study was made through a cross-sectional study using data from the Sierra Leone Demographic Health Survey. A quantitative method was used, and analysis was conducted using OLS regression. In contrast to previous research, the results do not show a significant covariation between maternal education and child mortality. Likewise, paternal education and the difference in education between men and women showed no significant covariation with child mortality. However, polygyny, the number of wives and the first event of intimate partner violence were positively associated with child mortality. More studies about gender inequality in relation to child mortality should be conducted to strengthen the results and increase the knowledge and understanding of this subject.

Thesis advisor: Arthur Lewbel / This thesis consists of two chapters. In Chapter 1, I studied the consumption inequalities between men and women, as well as boys and girls, within the households in Sierra Leone. Through a collective household model, I found that women on average experience lower levels of consumption than men, with the inequality concentrated in households that are large or consist of more women than men. Moreover, there is little evidence of overall consumption inequality by gender for children, while both boys and girls have very high poverty rates. In addition, I developed a new strategy for understanding who is perceived as a child vs. an adult in a household, which improved the estimation. In Chapter 2, I studied the associations between sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) taxes and adolescent obesity in the US. I found that the taxes were associated with a lower body mass index and a lower probability of being overweight or obese. I found that SSBs and milk consumption had mediating roles, as tax increases were associated with decreases in SSB consumption and increases in milk consumption. Given the limited implementation and recent preemption of SSB taxes across the US, these results would help in understanding the potential benefits of implementing SSB taxes on a larger scale. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2023. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Economics.

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