From the website: "In today’s episode of Pasha Julia Smith, a research associate at Simon Fraser University, discusses the issue of gender and outbreaks and what can be done to deal with the often ignored problem."
From the website: "Despite over a year of containment efforts, the World Health Organisation recently declared the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. The declaration reflects the grim recognition that insecurity is preventing an effective response. In efforts to contain the outbreak the link between politics and health are being highlighted. But there’s a crucial aspect that’s rarely mentioned – how gender inequities fuel and exacerbate outbreaks. This suggests that lessons from past responses are being ignored."
From the website: "In Botswana, the African Development Bank’s (2015) Africa Gender Equality Index Report found a mix of strengths and weaknesses. Giving it the seventh-highest overall score in Africa, the report described Botswana as strong in promoting gender equality in economic opportunity and human development, but relatively weak in ensuring legal and political equality.
Data from Afrobarometer’s most recent survey in Botswana show that women generally agree with men that gender equality has improved in recent years and that women enjoy equal rights when it comes to jobs and land ownership. Women are no more likely than men to report gender-based discrimination, and in fact are somewhat more likely than men to find it easy to obtain key public services. Popular support for gender equality at the ballot box has been solid for more than a decade, although one in three men still say they should be given priority for scarce jobs."
From the website: "Abusers, it turns out, despise any relinquishment of power and control. As they are obligated to simmer through weeks of required batterer intervention, sometimes up to a year, they often remain proud non-conformists and non-adherents. Therapeutic rebellion takes the form of program non-completion (attrition rates of 40-75%) [4], absenteeism, inert participation, and peer back-patting (“I could be worse”). Some never attend sessions, violating crucial treaties with the law and risking jail time. Others attend sessions, bide their time, and earn a certificate of completion, only to re-offend with subtler, less explicit forms of violence. Mounting evidence details the scandalous inefficiencies of state-regulated batterer interventions in interrupting recidivism, re-offense, and re-planned victimization [3]. True rehabilitation is rare and fleeting."
From the website: "A research paper published four years ago estimated that between 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 5 boys had experienced some form of sexual abuse. A 2012 report showed that regardless of the type of violence experienced by children, less than 10% received some form of professional help. This is despite the fact that Kenya’s Constitution and the Children Act give children the right to health care, education, shelter and protection from all forms of violence. These rights are reiterated in various laws, including a law banning sex for anyone under 18. Despite existing laws and policies protecting the rights of children, there hasn’t been a significant reduction in child sexual abuse in Kenya. To understand the reasons we did a review of laws and policies in Kenya related to sexualised violence against children. Our findings point to a number of gaps in Kenya’s approach to protecting children. These include a lack of reparations offered to survivors in criminal proceedings, and a lack of legislation on age-appropriate, comprehensive sexuality education which would contribute towards cultivating positive gender norms."
