Sexual and Reproductive Health among University Students in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The influence of gender and sexuality on sexual and reproductive health.

The project focuses on sexual and reproductive health among university students in Addis Ababa Ethiopia. The intention is to investigate how gender and sexuality influence student’s sexual and reproductive health. Moreover, the aim is to investigate how youth perceive their knowledge about sexuality and sexual and reproductive health, how they understand the responsibility of women and men in sexuality and sexual and reproductive health and how understandings about sexuality, gender relations and reproduction affect their sexual behaviour. It also investigates how youth’s understandings can be utilized in order to raise awareness and use of sexual and reproductive health services, and to increase the relevance of the information provided. The study has been conducted at Addis Ababa University, through qualitative methods. 15 in-depth interviews with students, three focus group discussions with students, and five interviews with employees/volunteers at SRH services on campus has been conducted. In total, 35 people have been interviewed. A document analysis of the three strategies National Adolescent and Youth Reproductive Health Strategy 2007-2015, National Adolescent and Youth Health Strategy 2016-2020 and Communication Strategy on HIV/AIDS and Sexual Reproductive Health for Higher Education Institutions has also been conducted. The aim is to make visible (potential) differences at the political/legal level and among laypeople. The findings indicate that (perceptions of) gender and sexuality strongly influence people’s sexual practices and sexual and reproductive health. It also influences people’s knowledge about the topics and their abilities to engage in safe sex. There also seems to be a gap between the political/legal level and laypeople’s perceptions – both of the problem and what the solutions would be

Parenting an Adolescent with Severe Emotional Difficulties – A Qualitative Study of Family Experiences with DBT-A

Parenting an adolescent with severe emotional difficulties is challenging, and research shows that when parents do not receive adequate support it can have adverse consequences for the parents, the adolescents, and their siblings. Dialectical behavioral therapy for adolescents (DBT-A) is a treatment method that has an increased focus on parental support, and by including parents in treatment DBT-A attempts to empower parents and families. The aim of this study was to explore the experience of parenting an adolescent with severe emotional difficulties, and how parents’ needs are accommodated by health care services in general, and DBT-A in particular. It is a qualitative study with a phenomenological approach utilizing a descriptive design. Semi-structured interviews were supplemented by graphic elicitation and conducted with participants individually (N=10). Data were analyzed following a thematic approach. Participant's experience of parenthood was dominated by fear, unpredictability, and pressure. They described having to take on tasks far above what they are capable of, which had direct consequences for their health and families. Parents express a need for support and assistance but describe a system with no systematic structure to include and help them. DBT-A seems to accommodate for parents' needs and facilitate for positive experiences more efficiently than other methods, and parents with DBT-A express a greater sense of control and optimism than those without. These findings show that parents who receive information, support, and guidance are more resilient to stress and have a higher sense of self-efficacy, which contributes to positive experiences and makes them less reliant on the health care system

Diversity Claims- Making in a Transnational Space of Mobilization: The Intersections of Gender and Ethnicity

Diversity Claims-Making in a Transnational Space of Mobilization: The Intersections of Gender and Ethnicity Various organisations mobilise at the transnational, European level around gender and ethnicity issues, setting forward demands both by and on behalf of ethnic minority and migrant women. The organisations deal with diversity in terms of gender and ethnicity in different ways, but they all influence and are influenced by the EU framework. The intersectional nature of their diversity demands makes it necessary to combine particularistic claims regarding identity and European belonging with universal claims to human rights, citizenship and inclusion. The claimsmaking of the organisations is characterised by this complexity due to the transnational, multilevel nature of the demands, on one hand, and their intersectional features, on the other

Dilemmas in the Danish approach to gender equality : gender equality without gender quota

The paper addresses the dilemmas, contradictions and paradoxes in the Danish approach to gender quotas and gender equality and discusses the intersections of citizenship, democracy and gender justice. Gender research understands gender quota as a means to achieve equal rights, gender equality and gender parity. Gender theory has conceptualized gender parity as one step towards achieving gender justice in all arenas of social, political and economic life. The Danish cases illustrate that context matters and question gender quota as a universal strategy to achieve gender equality. The empirical focus of the paper is placed on three arenas: 1) gender quota in political governance; 2) gender quota in parental leave policies; and 3) gender quota in economic governance. The paper is primarily concerned with analyses of Danish discourses and policies in relation to the three policy areas and only to a limited extent addresses the impact of these policies and their implications for lived practice. One issue concerns the paradox of the relatively high female representation in politics without the adoption of gender quotas. A second issue concerns the gap between gender equality policies. Denmark lacks behind the other Scandinavian countries’ discourses and policies about gender quota but in practice the picture is much more complex. A third issue concerns the European perspective. In relation to women’s labour market participation and gender parity in politics Denmark is ahead of other European countries but lacks behind in relation to equal representation on corporate boards