‘Our Darkest Hour’: Women and Structural Violence under Ireland’s 8th Amendment

This article analyses women’s stories of violence in the context of the 8th Amendment. Our analysis of 773 anonymous women’s narratives from In Her Shoes reveals instances of rape and partner violence, health disparities, forced travel, barriers to care, and withholding of information by healthcare providers. Posts described the impact of structural violence on women’s medical care and lived realities. While scholars have produced essential analyses of structural violence in twentieth-century Ireland, assessing how harm has impacted women and children in particular, most works focus exclusively on the institutions run by the state and Catholic Church: schools, asylums, laundries, and homes for unmarried mothers. Here, we argue for the expansion of the concept of structural violence, demonstrating that it also affected women and children who were not institutionalised. Anti-abortion policies, we contend, are part and parcel of gendered structural violence. In Ireland, the 8th Amendment enacted interconnected forms of violence on many of Ireland’s women and, in some cases, girls. Despite the violence these women faced, their voicing of their experiences served as resistance, demonstrating how support and storytelling, in some instances, can help start the process of healing the individual and collective wounds of the past

Adverse childhood events: Incarceration of household members and health-related quality of life in adulthood

Incarceration of a household member has been associated with adverse outcomes for child well-being

Condom use and incarceration among STI clinic attendees in the Deep South

Abstract Background Incarceration history is associated with lower rates of condom use and increased HIV risk. Less is known about duration of incarceration and multiple incarcerations’ impact on condom use post-release. Methods In the current study, we surveyed 1,416 adults in Mississippi about their incarceration history and sexual risk behaviors. Generalized estimating equations (GEE) were used to test associations between duration of incarceration, multiple incarcerations, socio-demographic factors, substance use, sexual behavior, and event level condom use at last sex. Results After adjusting for covariates, having been incarcerated for at least 6 months two or more times remained significantly associated with condomless sex. Conclusions This study found a strong, independent relationship between condom use and multiple, long-term incarceration events among patients in an urban STI clinic in the Deep South. The results suggest that duration of incarceration and multiple incarcerations have significant effects on sexual risk behaviors, underscoring the deleterious impact of long prison or jail sentences on population health. Our findings also suggest that correctional health care professionals and post-release providers might consider offering comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services and those providing community care should consider screening for previous incarceration as a marker of risk

Condom use and incarceration among STI clinic attendees in the Deep South

Abstract Background Incarceration history is associated with lower rates of condom use and increased HIV risk. Less is known about duration of incarceration and multiple incarcerations’ impact on condom use post-release. Methods In the current study, we surveyed 1,416 adults in Mississippi about their incarceration history and sexual risk behaviors. Generalized estimating equations (GEE) were used to test associations between duration of incarceration, multiple incarcerations, socio-demographic factors, substance use, sexual behavior, and event level condom use at last sex. Results After adjusting for covariates, having been incarcerated for at least 6 months two or more times remained significantly associated with condomless sex. Conclusions This study found a strong, independent relationship between condom use and multiple, long-term incarceration events among patients in an urban STI clinic in the Deep South. The results suggest that duration of incarceration and multiple incarcerations have significant effects on sexual risk behaviors, underscoring the deleterious impact of long prison or jail sentences on population health. Our findings also suggest that correctional health care professionals and post-release providers might consider offering comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services and those providing community care should consider screening for previous incarceration as a marker of risk

The influence of depression status on weekly exercise in children ages 6 to 17 years

Exercise has been found to be an effective treatment for mild to moderate depression. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between depression status and weekly exercise in children ages 6 to 17 years stratifying by age and sex using a large nationally representative sample. The study data (n = 65,059) came from the 2011–12 National Survey of Children's Health. Depression categories were current, former, and no history of diagnosed depression. Exercise categories were exercising ≤6 days a week and 7 days a week. Multivariable regression stratified by age and by sex was conducted on the weighted survey data. Among children age 6 to 17, 95.2% were never depressed, 2.1% were formerly depressed, and 2.8% were currently depressed and 28.0% exercised daily. Currently depressed children had 0.75 (95% CI 0.56, 1.00) times and formerly depressed children had 1.09 (95% CI 0.76, 1.57) times the adjusted odds of exercising daily compared to never depressed children. Stratified separately by sex and by age, females and children age 12 to 17 with current depression had 0.63 (95% CI 0.42, 0.94) and 0.48 (95% CI 0.35, 0.66) times the adjusted odds of exercising daily compared to their counterparts with no depression. This study indicates a significant difference in daily exercise habits between currently depressed children age 12 to 17 and females compared to their never depressed counterparts. Healthcare workers should be aware of the possible heightened risk of physical inactivity for depressed female children and children age 12 to 17. Keywords: Depression, Exercise, Child, Adolescent, United States, Health survey

Adverse childhood events: Incarceration of household members and health-related quality of life in adulthood

BACKGROUND: Incarceration of a household member has been associated with adverse outcomes for child well-being. METHODS: We assessed the association between childhood exposure to the incarceration of a household member and adult health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in the 2009/2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System controlling for age, race/ethnicity, education, and additional adverse childhood experiences. RESULTS: Adults who lived in childhood with an incarcerated household member had higher risk of poor HRQOL compared with adults who had not (adjusted relative risk [ARR] 1.18; 95% CI 1.07, 1.31). Among Black adults the association was strongest with the physical health component of HRQOL (ARR 1.58 [95% CI 1.18, 2.12]); among White adults, the association was strongest with the mental health component of HRQOL (ARR 1.29, [95% CI 1.07–1.54]). CONCLUSIONS: Living with an incarcerated household member during childhood is associated with higher risk of poor HRQOL during adulthood, suggesting that the collateral damages of incarceration for children are long-term