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This study aims to understand how, and if, women use smartphones to enhance their safety when out of the home. Proven safety is difficult to measure, especially through a cross-sectional study; this research will assess how and if women feel safer through adapting how they use their smartphone. The primary research is predominately focused on gathering data from within the UK to understand and assess smartphone behaviours there and the impact these behaviours have on safety.  Existing research also focuses on the UK but takes lessons and development findings from across the globe to be applied as a proxy to the study and to better inform the research in the wider communication for development spectrum.   The key questions being addressed are to understand if women feel their safety is enhanced using their smartphone and if so, how they think this safety is being improved by using their smartphone. The final question addresses how these issues are answered and how communication could be enhanced to promote future safety developments within the sphere of women’s physical safety.    Data was conducted through carrying out primary research through quantitative online surveys and qualitative focus groups. The first offered robust data collection for men and women across age ranges, the second enabled for more detailed finding to be uncovered. This research was carried out in the UK (which is the initial focus of the study); this was a practical approach in terms of geographical location and language barriers, but in follow up analysis, it was also possible to find UK specific information on both smartphone usage and women’s safety. This resulted in there being a range of data to work with and analyse. This was useful to then apply comdev theories to and understand potential ways existing approaches could be developed and utilised around the world. Existing literature within the fields of women’s safety and smartphone usage was assessed to glean a more robust understanding and worldly viewpoint. Theoretical themes were addressed through literature research.    The results indicated that women were wary of their physical environments and adjusted or adapted their behaviours through their smartphone usage more so than men did to improve their safety   As this can be considered a broad and complex topic, there are several theories incorporated. For many women across the globe, the digital revolution, and smartphones, have acted as a means of empowerment. They enable humans to connect with one another regardless of where they are. For women, this has had a massive impact on safety by being able to quickly connect with other, they used messaging options with selected friends/family to notify their whereabouts to enhance their safety, others chose location sharing apps; both of which tie in with the idea of an invited space (Tufte); in this case a virtual space of safety, where the outside physical space may pose as danger. To coincide with this, many of the apps mentioned work through participatory methods, whereby users opt in to improve their safety and the safety of others.

Introduktion: Cirka 33 700 kvinnor genomgår abort i Sverige varje år. Det finns två huvudsakliga metoder för abort: medicinsk abort och kirurgisk abort. Kvinnor som genomgår en abort kan uppleva både fysiska och psykiska besvär, där de kan behöva stöd från sjukvårdspersonal.  Syfte: Syftet med litteraturstudien var att beskriva kvinnors upplevelse av att genomgå en abort.  Metod: En beskrivande litteraturstudie baserad på 13 vetenskapliga artiklar med kvalitativ ansats.  Resultat: Resultatet visade att kvinnors upplevelser varierade. En del kvinnor var nöjda med vården och upplevde att de fick tillräckligt med information samt blev bemötta med respekt. En del kvinnor upplevde stigmatisering och diskriminering från vårdpersonalen. Det väckte negativa känslor hos kvinnor såsom sorg och skam. Beslutet att göra abort varierade. Kvinnor upplevde känsla av stolthet och var bekväma med sina beslut, eller upplevde sorg och hade ingen att vända sig till samt blev chockade över att ha avslutat graviditeten.  Slutsats: Kvinnor upplevde blandade känslor i samband med abort, såsom skuld, stolthet, oro och ensamhet. Därför är det viktigt att sjukvårdspersonal har djupare förståelse för abortprocessen för att kunna minska lidande hos kvinnor och därmed negativa vårdupplevelser. / Introduction: Approximately 33,700 women undergo abortions in Sweden every year. There are two main methods of abortion: medical and surgical. Women who undergo an abortion may experience both physical and mental discomfort, where they may need support from healthcare professionals.  Aim: The purpose of the literature study was to describe women's experience of undergoing an abortion. Method: A descriptive literature review based on 13 scientific articles with a qualitative approach. Results: The results showed that women's experiences varied. Some women were satisfied with the care and felt that they received enough information and were treated with respect. Some women experienced stigma and discrimination from the healthcare staff. It evoked negative feelings in women such as sadness and shame. The decision to have an abortion varied. Women experienced feelings of pride and were comfortable with their decisions, or experienced grief and had no one to turn to and were shocked to have terminated the pregnancy. Conclusion: Women experienced mixed feelings associated with abortion, such as guilt, pride, anxiety and loneliness. Therefore, it is important for healthcare professionals to have a deeper understanding of the abortion process to be able to reduce the suffering of women and thus negative care experiences.

Similarities exist between the current climate change movement and the earlier suffragette movement. Both are progressive, challenge the status quo, have feminist underpinnings, and face opposition from the political right and through the media. However, the link between the similarities in argumentative opposition between the two, remains unestablished. Therefore, this study seeks to first establish the argumentative strategies developed to oppose climate activists and then place these in a historical perspective by comparing them to the opposition to women's suffrage in Sweden. Using rhetorical topoi analysis, this study examined Facebook posts to find, categorize, and analyze arguments with the help of green backlash and countermovement theory. These findings were then compared with pre-established arguments against women's suffrage in Sweden. The study finds that the argumentative strategies deployed against Swedish climate activists are characterized by climate denial, hostility, and mockery, which are used as tactics to discredit, undermine, and oppose them. The analysis also shows a historical resemblance between the opposition to climate activists and the suffragettes, highlighting the recurring resistance to socially progressive pro-women movements.

Women’s rights advocacy is as multifaceted and as intricate as women’s position in society. Their fundamental human rights are frequently challenged in the name of religion and culture. In this paper I explore how women’s rights advocates are seeking to find footing between endorsing sovereignty and religious rights within today’s multicultural societies within the theories of universalism and cultural relativism. For many, it is out of the question to separate religious- and women’s rights, therefore navigating between the two, and hence, the two theoretical standpoints become a fundamental principle for those who work within that space. Through qualitative semi-structured interviews, this thesis analyses the main navigational strategies and negotiations of the global movement Musawah to further explore the tensions of the two theories and ways in which to work within them. Musawah is a global movement for justice and peace initiated by the Malaysian based organization Sisters in Islam (SIS). It aims to promote an egalitarian Islam, with a focus on women’s rights within the Global South, by reforming Muslim family law and advocating for Islamic feminist voices. This research paper identifies the challenges and navigational strategies of Musawah’s advocacy within both a Muslim and non- Muslim context. It also aims to pinpoint the theories’ main influence within the challenges and strategies of Musawah’s work. I conclude that their advocacy is influenced by both theories as their knowledge-building is founded on a universalist standpoint, and its distribution is based on a cultural relativist stance.

Previous research on framing has proved its strong effects on the social perception and political preferences of individuals. Therefore, the aim of this research is to explore how Saudi women's issues have been framed in a sample of United States and Saudi newspapers. Saudi Vision 2030 is the post-oil plan for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that was announced on April 25, 2016. The sample of this thesis was 300 news stories from eight newspapers. The U.S. newspapers were the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and the Los Angeles Times. The Saudi newspapers were Al Riyadh, Okaz, Al Jazirah, and Al Watan. This thesis explores how these issues have been covered before and after Saudi Vision 2030 by answering five basic questions. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to analyze the news stories. For the quantitative analysis, five pre-defined generic frames from Semetko and Valkenburg were adopted: conflict frame, human interest frame, morality frame, economic consequences frame, and responsibility frame. An inductive approach to find the new frames was used for the qualitative analysis. Moreover, this thesis looked at how U.S. and Saudi newspapers have visually framed Saudi women through an analysis of the types of images used in the news stories related to Saudi women's issues. The main finding suggests that within the used frames in the newspapers, the U.S. newspapers focused more on the human-interest frame, while the Saudi newspapers mostly used the economic frame. Furthermore, the types of issues covered are discussed.

This thesis will examine the issues of women's spirituality, suffering, their survival in the midst of suffering. These issues will be examined in the context of a post-apartheid South Africa within a Christian framework looking at issues of faith and spirituality. More particularly the Methodist church will be examined, looking at key aspects of its spirituality and how that might have contributed and provided for its women. Two of the Methodist Women's organisations, the Women's Manyano and the Women's Auxiliary will be looked at; their history and significant aspects of their programmes and structures that have led them to be important places for the women who are part of them. The thesis will seek to determine how the Methodist Women's organisations have impacted the spirituality of two women especially when they have gone through difficult times. The lives of these two women are examined through conversations the author has with them. In particular the author will examine particular circumstances of these women and seek to set them against a background of their spirituality and in particular whether their particular Methodist organisation played any role during this time. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M. Th. (Christian Spirituality)

This study investigated the health needs of immigrant women from the African Great Lakes living in South Africa in the province of Gauteng, Tshwane Metropolitan city. It described their challenges and related factors compromising their holistic wellness, and identifies their context specific health needs as a gender group. A qualitative approach was utilised concurrently with participatory action research method. Data collection involved triangulation of instruments. A literature study was conducted to select relevant information usable as basis for this study. Data analysis and interpretation revealed factors that make it difficult for immigrant women from the African Great Lakes region to gain access to health care services in South Africa, identifying their specific women’s health needs. Recommendations proposed that policy makers and implementing professionals rendering women’s health care services should consider utilising a holistic and interdisciplinary approach to meet these basic needs. / Health Studies / M.A. (Public health)

Cette thèse lève en partie le voile sur l’histoire des sports féminins au Québec de 1919 à 1961, soit de l’âge d’or des sports féminins au Canada jusqu’à l’adoption de la Loi sur la condition physique et le sport amateur par le gouvernement fédéral. Elle montre comment les rapports de genre ont été re/produits dans les sports féminins en étudiant les discours et les pratiques, tout en portant une attention particulière à l’influence qu’exercent l’appartenance de classe, l’ethnicité et la religion sur les sports féminins. L’analyse se penche d’abord sur les discours des médecins, des professeurs d’éducation physique et des clercs de l’Église catholique pour étudier les prescriptions qu’ils ont formulées à l’égard de la participation sportive des femmes. Les idées de deux Montréalaises, Myrtle Cook et Cécile Grenier, sont ensuite examinées pour montrer comment elles contestent les discours dominants. Enfin, les pratiques sportives des femmes dans deux centres sportifs montréalais, soit la Palestre nationale et le Young Women’s Christian Association, ont été étudiées de manière détaillée afin de mettre en lumière les différences, mais aussi certaines similitudes, entre l’organisation des sports féminins dans les communautés francophones et anglophones de la ville. Cette thèse met en évidence les tensions qui découlent des rapports de genre, de classe, d’ethnicité et de l’appartenance religieuse, et qui sont présentes à la fois dans les discours et les pratiques. Comme ailleurs en Amérique du Nord et même ailleurs en Occident, les discours dominants au Québec ne sont pas univoques, alors que des vues divergentes les contestent et que les pratiques sont plurielles. Tout en s’inscrivant dans le mouvement plus large d’accès des femmes aux sports en Occident, les discours et les pratiques observables à Montréal s’en distinguent, notamment par la forte influence de l’Église catholique et par les tensions ethniques. Le Québec est donc un cas d’espèce tout indiqué pour mettre en lumière la complexité de la re/production des rapports de genre à travers l’analyse des sports féminins, l’étude de ce champ constituant en même temps une avenue de recherche fort stimulante pour mieux saisir l’entrée de la province dans la modernité. / This dissertation analyses women’s sports in Quebec from 1919 to 1961 from the golden age of women’s sport in Canada to the adoption of the Fitness and Amateur Sport Act by the federal government. It shows how gender relations have been re/produced in women’s sport by studying discourses and practices, while also considering the influence of class, ethnicity, and religion on women’s sport. The analysis studies first the way doctors, physical education teachers, and the Catholic Church conceived women’s participation in sport. The ideas of two active participants in women’s sport organization in Montreal, namely Myrtle Cook and Cécile Grenier, are then analyzed in order to see how they contested dominant discourses. Finally, women’s sports played at the Palestre and Young Women’s Christian Association, two sport centers of Montreal, are detailed in order to show the differences, but also some similarities, in sport organization in the Francophone and Anglophone communities. This dissertation highlights the tensions ensuing from gender, class, ethnicity, and religion, all of which were present in discourses and practices. As elsewhere in North America, and even in Occident, dominant discourses on women’s sport in Quebec were not homogeneous, as different points of view contested them, and practices were numerous and varied. While taking part in the larger movement of women’s access to sport in Occident, discourses and practice in Montreal had also their own particularities because of the Catholic Church influence and the ethnic tensions. The province of Quebec is thus an interesting case study to highlight the complexity of re/production of gender relations in women’s sport. Moreover, women’s sport is a greatly stimulating research avenue to better grasp the entry of the province in modernity.

Cette thèse porte sur la question de la mobilisation de la nouvelle génération des femmes en Afghanistan après 2001. Elle interroge d’abord l’existence d’un mouvement féministe, selon les significations des outils théoriques occidentaux. Ensuite, elle analyse la mobilisation des femmes à partir des éléments qui provoquent une mobilisation pour la transformation socialeet politique afin d’assurer les droits des femmes : ceux qui ont un impact important sur la société comme la politique ou l’économie qui ne laisse pas la place aux femmes pour s’exprimer librement. La nouvelle génération des femmes qui ont grandi sous la Révolution et les théories des révolutionnaires s’engagent progressivement dans un combat pour le droit et la démocratie sous l’influence du développement : la modernisation économique, l’éducation, l’immigration et la mondialisation. / This thesis focuses on the topic of mobilization of the new generation of women in Afghanistan after 2001. First, it questions the existence of a feminist movement in Afghanistan, according to the meanings and Western theoretical tools. Then it analyzes themobilization of women from the elements that cause mobilization for social and political transformation to ensure women's rights: those that have a significant impact on society such as politics and economy of both countries which do not leave room for women to express themselves freely. The new generation of women who has grown up under the Revolution andrevolutionary theories has mobilized progressively in a fight for rights and democracy under the influence of development: economic modernization, education, immigration and globalization.