Honour based violence as a global public health problem: a critical review of literature

Purpose “Honour”-based violence (HBV), a form of gender-based violence (GBV), has received increasing interest from media, human rights organisations, academics and the public. A significant increase in the occurrence and reporting of HBV in many parts of the world and its detrimental impact on the health and well-being of women, girls, communities and wider society; marks it as a major public health concern. However, awareness and recognition of HBV in the field of public health is low in many countries and there is little known about its nature, roots and distribution. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach The literature was searched using the Scopus database and a series of search terms related to HBV, GBV and health and well-being. Findings Definition of HBV and its forms is varied across cultures. There is a lack of consensus on how HBV can be identified over other forms of violence and no explicit theoretical perspectives have been sufficiently developed to deepen the understanding of HBV. Although the findings from the review suggest that HBV forms and patterns may be regionally distinct, causes emanate from gender-based and socio-economic inequalities. Research limitations/implications This review has limitations in that it included only English and Spanish language papers and those accessed through Scopus; it therefore may have excluded papers from other languages, countries and databases. Another major weakness in this review was a lack of papers specifically dedicated to HBV. Despite these weaknesses the paper is an attempt to raise awareness and recognition of HBV in public health research, policy and practice domain. Originality/value The findings from the review highlight the complexity of tackling HBV in a globalised world. They also provide insights on how a public health model can be used to analyse both the causes and prevention of HBV. Further, a non-culturalised, unprejudiced and inclusive definition is required to flag-up and record HBV cases.

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Feasibility and acceptability of a universal screening and referral protocol for gender-based violence with women seeking care in health clinics in Dadaab refugee camps in Kenya

Global Mental Health ◽

10.1017/gmh.2017.18 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 4 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

A. Vu ◽

A. L. Wirtz ◽

S. Bundgaard ◽

A. Nair ◽

G. Luttah ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Universal Screening ◽

Service Providers ◽

Public Health Problem ◽

Global Public Health ◽

Gender Based Violence ◽

Internally Displaced ◽

Health Clinics ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Screening Protocol ◽

Gender Based

Background.Gender-based violence (GBV) is both a global public health problem and violation of human rights. Refugees and internally displaced persons experience an increased risk of GBV and health outcomes associated with GBV are often exacerbated in conflict settings.Methods.A mixed methods study to examine the feasibility and acceptability of universal screening for GBV in a refugee population in the Dadaab refugee camp of Kenya, using the ASIST-GBV from January to July 2015.Results.Of 9366 women offered screening at International Rescue Committee health clinics, about 89% (n = 8369) female refugees consented to participate. Only 15% of the potentially eligible population could participate in GBV screening because of the ongoing struggle to identify private space in the clinics. Over 85% of women reported being ‘willing’ or ‘very willing’ to participate in GBV screening; 96% felt they had a good or very good experience with the screening protocol. Qualitative findings stressed the importance of securing a room/space in the busy clinic is critical to universal screening with referral to safe and confidential services for survivors.Conclusions.The findings suggest that the evidence-based ASIST-GBV is both feasible to implement and acceptable to both providers and women seeking care. Universal GBV screening and referral is an effective way for health care and service providers in humanitarian settings to assist survivors of GBV.

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Taking action on violence through research, policy, and practice

10.32920/14642148.v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ilene Hyman ◽

Mandana Vahabi ◽

Annette Bailey ◽

Sejal Patel ◽

Sepali Guruge ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Social Norms ◽

Violence Prevention ◽

Community Violence ◽

Thematic Analysis ◽

Research Policy ◽

Structural Violence ◽

Gender Based Violence ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

Gender Based

Background Violence is a critical public health problem associated with compromised health and social suffering that are preventable. The Centre for Global Health and Health Equity organized a forum in 2014 to identify: (1) priority issues related to violence affecting different population groups in Canada, and (2) strategies to take action on priority issues to reduce violence-related health inequities in Canada. In this paper, we present findings from the roundtable discussions held at the Forum, offer insights on the socio-political implications of these findings, and provide recommendations for action to reduce violence through research, policy and practice. Methods Over 60 academic researchers, health and social service agency staff, community advocates and graduate students attended the daylong Forum, which included presentations on structural violence, community violence, gender-based violence, and violence against marginalized groups. Detailed notes taken at the roundtables were analyzed by the first author using a thematic analysis technique. Findings The thematic analysis identified four thematic areas: 1) structural violence perpetuates interpersonal violence - the historical, social, political and economic marginalization that contributes to personal and community violence. 2) social norms of gender-based violence—the role of dominant social norms in perpetuating the practice of violence, especially towards women, children and older adults; 3) violence prevention and mitigation programs—the need for policy and programming to address violence at the individual/interpersonal, community, and societal levels; and 4) research gaps—the need for comprehensive research evidence made up of systematic reviews, community-based intervention and evaluation of implementation research to identify effective programming to address violence. Conclusions The proceedings from the Global Health and Health Equity Forum underscored the importance of recognizing violence as a public health issue that requires immediate and meaningful communal and structural investment to break its historic cycles. Based on our thematic analysis and literature review, four recommendations are offered: (1) Support and adopt policies to prevent or reduce structural violence; (2) Adopt multi-pronged strategies to transform dominant social norms associated with violence; (3) Establish standards and ensure adequate funding for violence prevention programs and services; and (4) Fund higher level ecological research on violence prevention and mitigation.

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Immunological Impacts of Diabetes on the Susceptibility of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Journal of Immunology Research ◽

10.1155/2019/6196532 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 2019 ◽

pp. 1-8 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Birhanu Ayelign ◽

Markos Negash ◽

Meaza Genetu ◽

Tadelo Wondmagegn ◽

Tewodros Shibabaw

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Diabetes Mellitus ◽

Bacterial Load ◽

Miliary Tuberculosis ◽

Public Health Problem ◽

Health Concern ◽

Diabetic Patients ◽

Global Public Health ◽

Biochemical Basis ◽

Dual Burden

The interaction between diabetes and major world infections like TB is a major public health concern because of rapidly rising levels of diabetes. The dual burden of tuberculosis (TB) and diabetes mellitus (DM) has become a major global public health problem. Diabetes mellitus is a major risk factor for the development of active and latent tuberculosis. Immune mechanisms contributing to the increased susceptibility of diabetic patients to TB are due to the defects in bacterial recognition, phagocytic activity, and cellular activation which results in impaired production of chemokines and cytokines. The initiation of adaptive immunity is delayed by impaired antigen-presenting cell (APC) recruitment and function in hyperglycemic host, which results in reduced frequencies of Th1, Th2, and Th17 cells and its secretion of cytokines having a great role in activation of macrophage and inflammatory response of tuberculosis. In addition, impaired immune response and killing of intracellular bacteria potentially increase bacterial load, chronic inflammation, and central necrosis that facilitate bacterial dissemination and miliary tuberculosis. Understanding of the immunological and biochemical basis of TB susceptibility in diabetic patients will tell us the rational development of implementation and therapeutic strategies to alleviate the dual burden of the diseases. Therefore, the aim of this review was focused on the association between diabetes and tuberculosis, focusing on epidemiology, pathogenesis, and immune dysfunction in diabetes mellitus, and its association with susceptibility, severity, and treatment outcome failure to tuberculosis.

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Secondhand Noise and Stress

AAOHN Journal ◽

10.1177/216507990905701006 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 57 (10) ◽

pp. 436-436

Author(s):

Olga S. Tompkins

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Health Problem ◽

Secondhand Smoke ◽

Public Health Problem ◽

Noise Pollution ◽

Well Being ◽

Important Public Health Problem ◽

Important Public Health ◽

Being There ◽

Health And Well Being

Noise pollution can cause nonauditory effects on general health and well-being. There is growing awareness that secondhand noise is an important public health problem that is similar in scope to secondhand smoke.

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Gender-Based Violence in Adolescent Dating from a Medical Perspective: A Qualitative Study of the Needs Felt in Primary Healthcare Centres

Healthcare ◽

10.3390/healthcare10010017 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 17

Author(s):

Isabel Cuadrado-Gordillo ◽

Guadalupe Martín-Mora Parra

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Primary Healthcare ◽

Practical Knowledge ◽

Public Health Problem ◽

Gender Based Violence ◽

Effective Prevention ◽

Adolescent Dating ◽

Comprehensive Intervention ◽

Gender Based ◽

The Moment

Violence in adolescent dating has become a worrying public health problem. Research carried out on the issue has focused on identifying the causes of this phenomenon. However, difficulties have been found in designing and implementing effective prevention programs. In this context, primary healthcare physicians are one of the most important figures in screening for and detecting this phenomenon, since, in many cases, they are the first to have contact with the victims. The present study focuses on the qualitative analysis of a series of interviews carried out with 95 primary healthcare physicians in Extremadura, Spain. These interviews addressed various questions related to the theoretical and practical knowledge that the physicians have about the topic. The analysis of their responses reveals some of the strengths and weaknesses of the Spanish public health system, at the same time as pointing to what is needed to be able to improve comprehensive intervention for the victims, from the moment they arrive for their first consultation until they are treated and referred to different health specialists.

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From End Treatment to Source Prevention: Socio-Ecological Approaches to Promote Research on the Environment and Non-Communicable Chronic Diseases with Special Reference to China

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph16111900 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 16 (11) ◽

pp. 1900

Author(s):

Xi-Zhang Shan ◽

Yong Li ◽

Kun Lai

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Chronic Diseases ◽

Behavioral Interventions ◽

Public Health Problem ◽

Well Being ◽

Environmental Interventions ◽

Integrative Research ◽

Critical Public Health ◽

Health And Well Being ◽

Effective Source

Globally, the pandemic of non-communicable chronic diseases (NCDs) has become a critical public health problem. Although NCD prevention has been shifting from individual behavioral interventions to broad environmental interventions, it is still necessary to promote research on the environment and NCDs as a whole. Therefore, this conceptual paper aimed to develop a general and novel framework to advance this line of research. The framework uses socio-ecological approaches that emphasize source prevention rather than the end treatment. Specifically, this framework comprehensively covered integrative research approaches, prioritized areas, urgent efforts, innovative methodologies, and improved funding. The framework used China as a typical context, where its public health policies, similar to other nations, still focus on the end treatment of NCDs, placing emphasis on biomedical approaches and technologies. China’s relevant efforts may furnish new insights and approaches concerning NCD prevention, and these efforts may benefit the improvement of global health and well-being. Such social-ecological research efforts can help to accelerate a shift from existing individual interventions to environmental interventions, thereby ultimately achieving the effective source prevention of NCDs in China and around the globe.

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Supporting Health and Well-Being for Resettled Refugee Women: The Global Women’s Group

Creative Nursing ◽

10.1891/1078-4535.22.4.226 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 22 (4) ◽

pp. 226-232 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Irene C. Felsman

Keyword(s):

Psychological Health ◽

Preventive Health Services ◽

Well Being ◽

The United States ◽

Literacy Intervention ◽

Gender Based Violence ◽

Refugee Women ◽

Physical And Psychological Health ◽

Gender Based ◽

Health And Well Being

Women refugees arrive in the United States often having experienced extreme levels of poverty, deprivation, and violence, including gender-based violence, which can severely affect their physical and psychological health and well-being. A women’s group was initiated to improve the health and well-being of refugee women in Durham, North Carolina, through a collaboratively designed, culturally appropriate health literacy intervention for women based on mutually identified needs; to empower them to seek preventive health services and screening through knowledge and skills about health needs and access to care; and to create an environment for the development of a supportive social/peer network for the prevention of social isolation and mental health issues related to the refugee experience.

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Gender-Based Violence: A Crucial Challenge for Public Health

Kathmandu University Medical Journal ◽

10.3126/kumj.v11i2.12499 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 179-184 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

S Sanjel

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Sexual Abuse ◽

Well Being ◽

Public Health Issue ◽

Gender Based Violence ◽

Violence During Pregnancy ◽

Victims Of Violence ◽

Gender Based ◽

Free Environment ◽

Women Violence

This article attempts to summarize the situations of gender-based violence, a major public health issue. Due to the unequal power relations between men and women, women are violated either in family, in the community or in the State. Gender-based violence takes different forms like physical, sexual or psychological/ emotional violence. The causes of gender-based violence are multidimensional including social, economic, cultural, political and religious. The literatures written in relation to the gender-based violence are accessed using electronic databases as PubMed, Medline and Google scholar, Google and other Internet Websites between 1994 and first quarter of 2013. The keywords such as gender-based violence, women violence, domestic violence, wife abuse, violence during pregnancy, women sexual abuse, political gender based violence, cultural gender-based violence, economical gender-based violence, child sexual abuse and special forms of gender-based violence in Nepal were used for internet search. As GBVs remain one of the most rigorous challenges of women’s health and well-being, it is one of the indispensable issues of equity and social justice. To create a gender-based violence free environment, a lot works has to be done. Hence, it is suggested to provide assistance to the victims of violence developing the mechanism to support them. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/kumj.v11i2.12499 Kathmandu University Medical Journal Vol.11(2) 2013: 179-184

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