Stop Violence Against Girls in School : A cross country analysis of baseline research from Ghana, Kenya and Mozambique

This report presents findings from baseline studies carried out in three districts in Kenya, Ghana and Mozambique for Stop Violence Against Girls in School, a five year project (2008-2013) led by ActionAid. The study aimed to provide a baseline with which to measure and evaluate change over the course of the project, as well as building in depth knowledge of gender, violence and education in the project areas in order to inform decision making about community intervention, advocacy and research priorities in the project, and contributing to the international literature on gender violence in schools. Data was collected in 2009 in 13 primary schools and communities in Ghana, 16 in Kenya and 15 in Mozambique. A total of 2757 respondents participated in the baseline study, including girls and boys, teachers and head teachers, parents, SMC members, community leaders and women’s group leaders, District Education Officers, District Health Officers and Police. The studies combined quantitative and qualitative methods, and a desk review of the legal and policy frameworks. The baseline study confirmed that primary schoolgirls in the project areas experience multiple forms of violence in their schools, homes and communities. Gender violence is closely linked to poverty, with forms of punishment, early marriage, and transactional sex related to the demands on girls to provide support for their families in a context of economic hardship. Across the three project sites, we see disconnects between legal and policy change and local implementation. While Education For All messages are clearly impacting at local levels with increasing access and reducing gender gaps at school, attitudes to and action on gender and violence seem harder to shift. There is some evidence of change (possibly related to recent NGO work in the areas), but apparent changes in awareness or knowledge are often not matched by changes in behaviour. For example, teachers condemning corporal punishment in Kenya and Mozambique, and girls speaking out against female genital cutting and other forms of violence against girls in Kenya may be influenced by policies and interventions, yet these seem to be having little impact on changing practice. Whilst girls being able to openly condemn violence, at least with each other, is an important step in challenging violence in schools and communities, without wider change girls may be placed at increased risk of violence by speaking out in an unsupportive environment. Opportunities for reflection on deeply ingrained beliefs about gender and violence and on how these beliefs relate to practice, as well as opening spaces for different groups at different levels to come together in dialogue and action is likely to be needed to effect wider change

Preventing falls in In-Patient Older Adult Mental Health Services: Different Causative Factors in Mental and Neurocognitive Disorders

Aims: To compare falls sustained in two groups of patients (one with mental disorders and the other neurocognitive disorders), in two acute inpatient older adult mental health services in Western Australia (WA). Background: Falls are the most common adverse event experienced during inpatient care. Older people with mental disorders and neurocognitive disorders constitute a high-risk group for accidental falls in hospitals. Methods: Data relating to 207 fall events from 2010-2011 reported in medical records and incident reports were collected. Individuals who sustained a fall were grouped as having a mental disorder (n=73) or neurocognitive disorder (n=134) according to their primary ICD10 diagnosis. Results: Significant differences in the factors that contributed to the fall between the two groups were highlighted. Falls sustained by those with a neurocognitive disorder were due to confusion and disorientation, and psychotropic medication effects. Their falls were more likely to be unwitnessed and injuries were generally less severe. Falls sustained by older adults with mental disorders were attributed to symptoms of their illness or medication side effects and tended to result in more severe injuries requiring medical treatment or further investigation. Conclusions: Older adults with neurocognitive disorders and behavioural and psychological symptoms associated to dementia have different falls risk factors related to their specific illness and cognitive functioning. There is a need for health professionals to receive training to assess, manage and provide appropriate interventions to reduce the specific falls risks in patients with both mental disorders and neurocognitive disorders

The Silence of Mental Health Issues Within University Environments: A Quantitative Study

A descriptive study was used to examine the attitudes and experiences of staff and students towards mental health problems. Staff completed the "Attitude towards mental illness survey", and students who self identified having a mental health problem completed the "Stigma scale". Using an online collection process, data from 270 staff and 201 students showed that the "silence" surrounding mental health problems permeates the university environment and impacts on help seeking behaviors, the provision of support and on the recovery and wellbeing of affected individuals. Universities must decrease stigma and foster social inclusion to build self-esteem in people who have mental health problems

Foundation characteristics of edible Musa triploids revealed from allelic distribution of SSR markers

Background and Aims The production of triploid banana and plantain (Musa spp.) cultivars with improved characteristics (e.g. greater disease resistance or higher yield), while still preserving the main features of current popular cultivars (e.g. taste and cooking quality), remains a major challenge for Musa breeders. In this regard, breeders require a sound knowledge of the lineage of the current sterile triploid cultivars, to select diploid parents that are able to transmit desirable traits, together with a breeding strategy ensuring final triploidization and sterility. Highly polymorphic single sequence repeats (SSRs) are valuable markers for investigating phylogenetic relationships. Methods Here, the allelic distribution of each of 22 SSR loci across 561 Musa accessions is analysed. Key Results and ConclusionsWe determine the closest diploid progenitors of the triploid 'Cavendish' and 'Gros Michel' subgroups, valuable information for breeding programmes. Nevertheless, in establishing the likely monoclonal origin of the main edible triploid banana subgroups (i.e. 'Cavendish', 'Plantain' and 'Mutika- Lujugira'), we postulated that the huge phenotypic diversity observed within these subgroups did not result from gamete recombination, but rather from epigenetic regulations. This emphasizes the need to investigate the regulatory mechanisms of genome expression on a unique model in the plant kingdom. We also propose experimental standards to compare additional and independent genotyping data for reference. (Résumé d'auteur

CALNOC demonstrates leadership in nursing outcomes research

To enhance the quality of health care services provided by the nursing workforce, organisations need to have appropriate programs and initiatives in place. They must also ensure nursing quality measurements are clearly identified and assessed

Stop Violence Against Girls at School : A cross-country analysis of change in Ghana, Kenya and Mozambique

The study aimed to assess change over the course of the Stop Violence Against Girls 5-year project, and to consider the implications for future interventions concerned with gender violence in schools and communities. The study combined qualitative and quantitative methods and involved participation of 2,739 girls, boys, families, teachers and local leaders. There have been many changes in how violence is experienced, prevented and responded to by girls, boys, their teachers, families and communities. However, change has been uneven, and violence against girls in 2013 remains commonplace. Girls’ clubs have had positive effects in all three countries on girls’ knowledge, confidence, attitudes and practices in managing violence and inequality. Some changes have been influenced by events outside the project, including droughts, floods, conflict and personal crises and family disruptions. There is persuasive evidence that the project has had a positive influence on family dynamics including division of labour and forms of punishment in the project communities. But norms about gender, including female submission, still persist, and the area where project work has been most difficult, and sometimes evoked hostility, has been engaging with discussions in communities about teenage sex and relationships. Over the five years of the project, there have been notable changes in gender equality in schooling access and participation, although practices in corporal punishment prove more resistant to change. The project work at national level demonstrates the importance of coalition-building in working to influence governments, and in each country this has helped to strengthen legislative and policy frameworks related to violence against girls, though progress has been uneven. At the community level, there have also been improvements in knowledge about child protection processes and in strengthening community-based structures that coordinate between informal and formal judicial systems. However there are still major weaknesses in formal protection systems

Conceptualising gender and violence in research : insights from studies in schools and communities in Kenya, Ghana and Mozambique

Gender and violence are complex and contested concepts, understood in varying ways in research, policy and interventions in education. Often there has been an emphasis on acts of violence, with much less attention to the social conditions and gender relations behind these acts. This paper discusses the development of a conceptual framework that emphasises not just acts and individuals, but also transformation of gendered power relations and inequities, alongside a focus on addressing the identity conflicts and struggles of everyday life. The framework underpins research, advocacy and community interventions in a multi-partnered project on violence against girls led by ActionAid. Drawing on findings from a mixed methodology baseline study carried out for the project in Kenya, Ghana and Mozambique, we discuss how conceptual lenses focused on acts/individuals, institutions and interactions inform the analysis of sexual violence. We identify some tensions in using a multi-perspectival framing, yet, we argue that holding the tensions between approaches in play can be productive, yielding rich data to inform NGO interventions at community, district and national levels. We conclude with suggestions for theorising and realising gender justice and violence in education research and NGO partnerships