Feminist allies and strategic partners: Exploring the relationship between the women’s movement and political parties

Western political parties have been in decline in recent decades and they continue to be viewed as male institutions. Despite this, electoral politics is important to the women’s movement as a means by which to advance feminist interests. This article builds upon feminist critiques of political parties by analyzing original qualitative data undertaken with feminists in the United States and United Kingdom in order to explore how activists view political parties. The research finds that although many hold negative views, in line with broader debates concerning disengagement, they also recognize the importance of electoral politics and the need to work with individual politicians. Party and feminist ideology shapes those views, whereby politicians on the left are viewed as feminist allies and those on the right are framed as strategic partners

Waterpipe tobacco use in the United Kingdom: A cross-sectional study among university students and stop smoking practitioners

© 2016 Jawad et al.This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Introduction: Despite cigarette-like adverse health outcomes associated with waterpipe tobacco smoking and increase in its use among youth, it is a much underexplored research area. We aimed to measure the prevalence and patterns of waterpipe tobacco use and evaluate tobacco control policy with respect to waterpipe tobacco, in several universities across the UK. We also aimed to measure stop smoking practitioners' encounter of waterpipe tobacco smoking. Methods: We distributed an online survey to six UK universities, asking detailed questions on waterpipe tobacco. Multivariable logistic regression models, adjusted for age, gender, ethnicity, graduate status, university and socioeconomic status (SES) assessed associations between waterpipe tobacco smoking (single use and dual use with cigarettes) and sociodemographic variables. SES was ascertained by average weekly self-spend on non-essentials. We also descriptively analysed data from a 2012 survey of stop smoking practitioners to assess the proportion of clients that used waterpipe regularly. Results: f 2217 student responses, 66.0%(95% CI 63.9-68.0%) had tried waterpipe tobacco smoking; 14.3%(95% CI 12.8-15.8%) reported past-30 day use, and 8.7% (95% CI 7.6-9.9%) reported at least monthly users. Past-30 day waterpipe-only use was associated with being younger (AOR 0.95, 95% CI 0.91-0.99), male (AOR 1.44, 95% CI 1.08-1.94), higher SES (AOR 1.16, 95% CI 1.06-1.28) and belonging to non-white ethnicities (vs. white, AOR 2.24, 95% CI 1.66-3.04). Compared to less than monthly users, monthly users were significantly more likely to have urges to smoke waterpipe (28.1% vs. 3.1%,

HIV infection and sexual risk among men who have sex with men and women (MSMW): A systematic review and meta-analysis

Objectives: To estimate the number of men who have sex with men and women who are HIV-positive in the United States, and to compare HIV prevalence rates between men who have sex with men and women, men who have sex with men only, and men who have sex with women exclusively. Methods: Following PRISMA guidelines, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of reports referencing HIV prevalence and men who have sex with men and women. We searched PubMed and Ovid PsycINFO for peer-reviewed, U.S.-based articles reporting on HIV prevalence among men who have sex with men and women. We conducted event rate, effect size, moderation and sensitivity analyses. Results: We estimate that 1.0% of U.S. males are bisexually-behaving, and that 121,800 bisexually-behaving men are HIV-positive. Men who have sex with men and women are less than half as likely to be HIV-positive as men who have sex with men only (16.9% vs. 33.3%; OR = 0.41, 95% CI: 0.31, 0.54), but more than five times as likely to be HIV-positive as men who have sex with women exclusively (18.3% vs. 3.5%; OR = 5.71, 95% CI: 3.47, 9.39). They are less likely to engage in unprotected receptive anal intercourse than men who have sex with men only (15.9% vs. 35.0%; OR = 0.36, 95% CI: 0.28, 0.46). Men who have sex with men and women in samples with high racial/ethnic minority proportions had significantly higher HIV prevalence than their counterparts in low racial/ethnic minority samples. Conclusions: This represents the first meta-analysis of HIV prevalence in the U.S. between men who have sex with men and women and men who have sex with men only. Data collection, research, and HIV prevention and care delivery specifically tailored to men who have sex with men and women are necessary to better quantify and ameliorate this population's HIV burden. © 2014 Friedman et al

Differences in Substance Use, Psychosocial Characteristics and HIV-Related Sexual Risk Behavior Between Black Men Who Have Sex with Men Only (BMSMO) and Black Men Who Have Sex with Men and Women (BMSMW) in Six US Cities

We assessed associations in substance use, psychosocial characteristics, and HIV-related sexual risk behaviors, comparing characteristics of Black men who only have sex with other men only (BMSMO; n = 839) to Black men who have sex with men and women (BMSMW; n = 590). The study analyzed baseline data from the HIV Prevention Trials Network Brothers Study (HPTN 061), a feasibility study of a multi-component intervention for Black MSM in six US cities. Bivariate analyses compared BMSMO to BMSMW along demographics, substance use, psychosocial characteristics, and HIV-related sexual risk behaviors. Logistic regression models then assessed multivariable associations between being BMSMW and the odds of engaging in HIV-related sexual risk behaviors. Adjusted analyses revealed that BMSMW remained more likely to have unprotected anal intercourse while under the influence of alcohol (AOR: 1.45; 95 % CI:1.11–1.90) and were more likely to receive money/drugs for sex (AOR: 2.11; 95 % CI:1.48–3.03), compared to BMSMO. Substance use is an important factor to be considered when developing risk-reduction interventions for BMSMW. Structural interventions that address factors that may contribute to exchange sex among these men are also warranted

Meniscal and articular cartilage lesions in the anterior cruciate ligament-deficient knee: correlation between time from injury and knee scores

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture is associated with meniscal tears and/or articular cartilage damage. The aim of this study was twofold: (a) to report and correlate the incidence of meniscal and cartilage lesions in ACL-deficient knees with time from injury and (b) to correlate lesions of menisci and cartilage with widely used knee scores. Data were analysed from 109 consecutive patients with ACL rupture. Meniscal and articular cartilage lesions were documented during the arthroscopic reconstruction of the ACL. Patients were distributed into 3 groups according to time from injury; group A: 0-3 months (35 patients), group B: 3-12 months (39 patients) and group C: more than 12 months (35 patients). Lysholm, KOOS and IKDC rating scales were recorded preoperatively. Logistic regression analyses were applied to correlate the concomitant intra-articular pathologies with the time from injury and knee-rating scales. Of 109 patients, 32 (29 %) had a medial meniscus tear, 20 (19 %) had a lateral meniscus tear, 17 (15 %) had both menisci torn and 40 (37 %) had no meniscal tear. Analysis revealed that time from injury was not a significant factor for the presence of a meniscal lesion. The odds of development of a high-grade cartilage lesion in an ACL-deficient knee reconstructed more than 12 months from time from injury are 5.5 and 12.5 times higher when compared with knees that underwent ACL reconstruction less than 3 months and between 3 and 12 months after knee injury, respectively. No association was found between intra-articular pathology and the KOOS and Lysholm scores. A positive correlation between the IKDC score and patients without any intra-articular pathology was found. The presence of high-grade cartilage lesions is significantly increased in an ACL-deficient knee when reconstruction is performed more than 12 months after injury. However, the incidence of meniscal tears is not increased significantly. Correlation of intra-articular pathology in ACL-deficient knees with knee-rating scales is weak. Diagnostic study, Level II