Breaking silos between peace research and global health: A review of gender, global health and violence edited by Tiina Vaittinen and Catia C. Confortini

Mazeda Hossain and Leah Kenny review Gender, Global Health and Violence: Feminist Perspectives on Peace and Disease, edited by Tiina Vaittinen and Catia C. Confortini. This book review was originally published on LSE Women, Peace and Security blog. If you are interested in the topics discussed in this review, you can explore the 2021 Women, Peace and Security Forum which features posts written by contributors to Gender, Global Health and Violence. Gender, Global Health and Violence: Feminist Perspectives on Peace and Disease. Tiina Vaittinen and Catia C. Confortini (eds). Rowman and Littlefield. 2019

Corporal punishment, discipline and social norms: A systematic review in low- and middle-income countries

There is increased recognition that incorporating a social norms approach provides insights for understanding corporal punishment and/or discipline (CPD). This review seeks to explore how the literature analyses social norms and CPD in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We searched eight electronic databases, Google Scholar, Google and institutional websites, including articles in LMICs which examined social norms and CPD perpetrated by family members or teachers. Data was extracted, assessed for quality and analyzed according to key themes. Of 21,708 articles from academic databases and 92 from other sources, 37 studies were included. We observed heterogeneity in study design, and in the definition and measurement of social norms. In the majority of studies, social norms supporting CPD were either harmful or, at times, protective. The review also finds that gender, age, power hierarchies and changes such as conflict, migration and modernization may influence norms on CPD. CPD interventions should be evaluated over longer periods and with consideration to the continuum of violence between homes and schools. Future research on CPD should (1) theorize and define social norms more clearly; (2) examine both harmful and protective norms linked to CPD; (3) explicitly examine perpetration of violence across the home-school continuum

A Call for Research: Adopting normative approaches to understanding violence against women and girls in public spaces

This guidance note is intended to support DFID advisors and programme managers with evidence, relevant examples and practical guidance on how to address harmful social norms in the context of programming to prevent VAWG.About the Violence against Women and Girls HelpdeskThe Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) Helpdesk is a research and advice service for DFID (open across HMG) providing:Rapid Desk Research on all aspects of VAWG for advisers and programme managers across all sectors (requests for this service are called “queries”). This service is referred to as the “VAWG Query Service”

Sinapinic and protocatechuic acids found in rapeseed: isolation, characterisation and potential benefits for human health as functional food ingredients

peer-reviewedRapeseed is one of the world’s major oilseeds, and rapeseed oil is produced by pressing of the seeds. This process results in the production of a low-economic-value by-product, rapeseed meal, which is commonly used as animal feed. Rapeseed meal is rich in bioactive phenolic compounds, including sinapinic acid (SA) and protocatechuic acid (PCA). Isolation of these bioactive compounds from a by-product of rapeseed oil production is largely in agreement with the current concept of the circular economy and total utilisation of crop harvest using a biorefinery approach. In this review, current information concerning traditional and novel methods to isolate phenolic compounds – including SA and PCA – from rapeseed meal, along with in vitro and in vivo studies concerning the bioactivity of SA and PCA and their associated health effects, is collated. These health effects include anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, anti-diabetes activities, along with histone deacetylase inhibition and protective cardiovascular, neurological and hepatic effects. The traditional extraction methods include use of solvents and/or enzymes. However, a need for simpler, more efficient methodologies has led to the development of novel extraction processes, including microwave-assisted, ultrasound-assisted, pulsed electric field and high-voltage electrical discharge extraction processes

Integrating a Social Norms Perspective to Address Community Violence against Sri Lankan Women and Girls: A Call for Research and Practice

Whilst violence against women and girls (VAWG) by intimate partners has received increasing research attention in the last decade, non-partner violence in public spaces remains an underexplored area. With rapid urbanization, violence against women and girls (VAWG) in public spaces, including on public transport, has become increasingly relevant. Global initiatives, such as UN Women’s ‘safe cities and safe public spaces’ have begun unpacking harmful gender and social norms, which both excuse and legitimize violence and drive bystander inaction and survivor underreporting. However, there is a dearth of literature on the social norms that sustain VAWG in public spaces in South Asia, particularly in the Sri Lankan context. The following commentary will first make the case for a social norms approach to understanding and tackling VAWG in public spaces. Moving forward, alongside prevalence studies, we hope to see further normative research on VAWG in public spaces in Sri Lanka, which can inform programming and interventions that tackle the root causes of violence

If she gets married when she is young, she will give birth to many kids: a qualitative study of child marriage practices amongst nomadic pastoralist communities in Kenya

Child marriage is associated with adverse health and social outcomes for women and girls. Among pastoralists in Kenya, child marriage is believed to be higher compared to the national average. This paper explores how social norms and contextual factors sustain child marriage in communities living in conflict-affected North Eastern Kenya. In-depth interviews were carried out with nomadic and semi-nomadic women and men of reproductive age in Wajir and Mandera counties. Participants were purposively sampled across a range of age groups and community types. Interviews were analysed thematically and guided by a social norms approach. We found changes in the way young couples meet and evidence for negative perceptions of child marriage due to its impact on the girls’ reproductive health and gender inequality. Despite this, child marriage was common amongst nomadic and semi-nomadic women. Two overarching themes explained child marriage practices: 1) gender norms, and 2) desire for large family size. Our findings complement the global literature, while contributing perspectives of pastoralist groups. Contextual factors of poverty, traditional pastoral lifestyles and limited formal education opportunities for girls, supported large family norms and gender norms that encouraged and sustained child marriage

Revealing the relational mechanisms of research for development through social network analysis

Achieving impact through research for development programmes (R4D) requires engagement with diverse stakeholders across the research, development and policy divides. Understanding how such programmes support the emergence of outcomes, therefore, requires a focus on the relational aspects of engagement and collaboration. Increasingly, evaluation of large research collaborations is employing social network analysis (SNA), making use of its relational view of causation. In this paper, we use three applications of SNA within similar large R4D programmes, through our work within evaluation of three Interidsiplinary Hubs of the Global Challenges Research Fund, to explore its potential as an evaluation method. Our comparative analysis shows that SNA can uncover the structural dimensions of interactions within R4D programmes and enable learning about how networks evolve through time. We reflect on common challenges across the cases including navigating different forms of bias that result from incomplete network data, multiple interpretations across scales, and the challenges of making causal inference and related ethical dilemmas. We conclude with lessons on the methodological and operational dimensions of using SNA within monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) systems that aim to support both learning and accountability

Improving provision of family planning among pastoralists in Kenya: perspectives from health care providers, community and religious leaders

There exist significant inequities in access to family planning (FP) in Kenya, particularly for nomadic and semi-nomadic pastoralists. Health care providers (HCP), are key in delivering FP services. Community leaders and religious leaders are also key influencers in women’s decisions to use FP. We found limited research exploring the perspectives of both HCPs and these local leaders in this context. We conducted semi-structured interviews with HCPs (n=4) working in facilities in Wajir and Mandera, and community leaders (n=4) and religious leaders (n=4) from the nomadic and semi-nomadic populations the facilities serve. We conducted deductive and inductive thematic analysis. Three overarching themes emerged: perception of FP as a health priority, explanations for low FP use, and recommendations to improve access. Four overlapping sub-themes explained low FP use: desire for large families, tension in FP decision-making, religion and culture, and fears about FP. Providers were from different socio-demographic backgrounds to the communities they served, who faced structural marginalisation from health and other services. Programmes to improve FP access should be delivered alongside interventions targeting the immediate health concerns of pastoralist communities, incorporating structural changes. HCPs that are aware of religious and cultural reasons for non-use, play a key role in improving access

Living (well) with cancer in the precision era

Surviving cancer in the precision era of targeted drugs and immunotherapies increasingly involves surviving-with malignancy. Against this backdrop of precision, innovation and chronicity, this paper offers a person-centred examination of some of the emerging intersections of chronic living and cancer treatment. Using a temporally extended qualitative methodology drawing on solicited diaries and successive in-depth interviews with people receiving precision cancer therapies, we focus on the often opaque worlds of surviving-with cancer, day-to-day, amidst the evolving scene of therapeutic innovation. Tracing how elements of the catastrophic and the mundane are braided through these everyday experiences, we seek to provide an embodied and temporally extended account of everyday life, beyond the binaries of presence/absence of disease, or of death/cure. In so doing, we consider how the normative expectations of treatment, bodies, care and emotions are being reshaped, elevating the moral work of the precision-cancer intersection

Personhood, belonging, affect and affliction

What does migrancy mean for personhood, and how does this flow through caring relations? Drawing on life history interviews and photo elicitation with 43 people who identify as migrants and live with cancer, here we argue for the significance of recognising complex personhood as it inflects illness and care. Drawing on social science theory around temporalities, moralities and belonging, we assemble a series of cross-cutting themes at the intersection of personhood and care; relations that transcend cultural origins yet are vividly illustrated in relation to migrant pasts. In seeking a multidimensional view of personhood, we attend to the intersecting layers of complexity that make up care in this context vis-a-vis an emphasis on forms of difference, vulnerability and otherness. In this way, we develop an approach to personhood and care that broadens the lens on migrancy and cancer, but also, one that speaks to the importance of recognition of complexity and how it shapes care more generally