Sex trafficking of girls and women : Evidence from Anantapur district, Andhra Pradesh

A crucial gap in the trafficking literature from India is the dearth of primary data and micro studies that could be used for vulnerability mapping of the source areas and addressing the identified risk factors. The present paper is a small attempt to contribute to plugging the gap in the context of Andhra Pradesh, identified as a hot spot in the trafficking literature. This paper is based on case studies of 78 women who had been trafficked from their places of origin in Anantapur district in Andhra Pradesh to metropolitan cities across India and who have since returned to their homes. The paper attempted to identify the individual and family circumstances that contribute to the causes of trafficking, to highlight in particular the gendered vulnerabilities that set these women up for trafficking, and to capture the process of the trafficking experience. The findings of the study are located in the dynamic interplay of the social structural context and specificities of the district that contribute to causes of trafficking and the individual circumstances and agency of the women. The case studies reported in this paper are a pointer to the compelling urgency of interventions that will go beyond the forced / voluntary divide in trafficking and sex work.Andhra Pradesh, India, trafficking

Some peace of mind: assessing a pilot intervention to promote mental health among widows of injecting drug users in north-east India

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>HIV prevalence in north-east India is high and injecting drug use (IDU) is common. Due to HIV-related deaths there are increasing numbers of IDU widows, many of whom are HIV infected, and experiencing poor health, social isolation, discrimination and poverty, all factors likely to be compromising their mental health. There is increasing recognition of the links between HIV and mental health.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The aim of this study was to pilot a peer-facilitated, participatory action group (PAG) process and assess the impact of the intervention on the mental health of participants. The intervention consisted of 10 PAG meetings involving 74 IDU widows. Changes in quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF), mental health (GHQ12) and somatic symptoms were assessed. The value of the intervention from the perspective of the participants was captured using a qualitative evaluation method (Most Significant Change).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Participants' quality of life, mental health and experience of somatic symptoms improved significantly over the course of the intervention, and the women told stories reflecting a range of 'significant changes'.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This pilot intervention study demonstrated that a participatory approach to mental health promotion can have a positive impact on the lives of vulnerable women, and the potential to contribute to HIV prevention. Further investigation is warranted.</p

Transformative or Functional Justice? Examining the Role of Health Care Institutions in Responding to Violence Against Women in India

With the growing salience of ideas and reforms concerning women’s human rights and gender equality, violence against women (VAW) has received heightened policy attention. Recent global calls for ending VAW identify health care systems as having a crucial role in a multisector response to tackle this social injustice. Scholars emphasize the transformative potential of such response in its ability to not only address the varied health consequences but also prevent future recurrence by enabling wider access to support and justice. This wider consensus on the role of health systems, however, demands stronger empirical basis. This article reports findings from an exploratory research developed around the core question: What are the perceived strengths and challenges confronting health systems in offering a comprehensive response to VAW in India? Drawing on site visits, observations, and interviews with front-line staff and program managers of an integrated intervention to tackle violence in Kerala and nongovernment organisation staff in Delhi and Mumbai, the article presents its historical context and key barriers to effective implementation. While promising in terms of outreach and incremental changes in attitudes, barriers include deficits in infrastructure and institutional practices that reinforce inequities in gender–power relations, hostile attitudes, and limited capacities of health workforce to tackle the complex and diverse needs of women experiencing abuse. Locating these experiences in relation to other models rooted in feminist approach, I argue how conventional intervention models of provisioning fail to challenge institutional contexts and structural inequalities that underpin violence and compound vulnerabilities experienced by women, thereby serving a functional response. Health systems are social institutions embedded in prevailing gender norms and power relations that must be tackled alongside addressing imminent needs of women victims of abuse. To this end, feminist approaches to counselling and relational perspectives to social justice can strengthen responsiveness (and transformative potential) of integrated sector-wide interventions

De lo personal a lo colectivo: cuestiones psicológicas y feministas de la salud mental de las mujeres

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DE LO PERSONAL A LO COLECTIVO: CUESTIONES PSICOLÓGICAS Y FEMINISTAS DE LA SALUD MENTAL DE LAS MUJERES

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Not AvailableTwenty-seven enzyme systems, six random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) primers, and two microsatellite loci were tested to determine intraspecific divergence in the natural population of the endangered Indian featherback fish, Chitala chitala, for the first time. The 262 samples of C. chitala were collected from six riverine locations in India: the Satluj, Ganga (Ghagra, Bhagirathi, and Brahmaputra), Mahanadi, and Narmada river systems. The analysis revealed population subdivisions, with an FST value from 0.1235 (95% confidence 0.0868–0.1621) for RAPD and a combined FST of 0.0344 (95% confidence 0.0340–0.0350) for microsatellite loci. An analysis of 38 allozyme loci did not reveal any polymorphism in the samples from any of the riverine localities; a possible explanation for this could be that the ancestors of Chitala could have faced a population reduction in prehistoric periods, as low allozyme variation is also reported for other species of Chitala from south Asia.NATP-ICAR (subproject MM-18

The grey zone: the 'ordinary' violence of extraordinary times

The article analyses the 'ordinary' violence of revolutionary politics, particularly acts of gendered and sexual violence that tend to be neglected in the face of the 'extraordinariness' of political terror. Focusing on the extreme left Naxalbari movement of West Bengal, it points to those morally ambiguous 'grey zones' that confound the rigid distinctions between victim and victimizer in insurrectionary politics. Public and private recollections of sexual and gender-based injuries by women activists point to the complex intermeshing of different forms of violence (everyday, political, structural, symbolic) across 'safe' and 'unsafe' spaces, 'public' and 'private' worlds, and communities of trust and those of betrayal. In making sense of these memories and their largely secret or 'untellable' nature, the article places sexual violence on a continuum of multiple and interrelated forces that are both overt and symbolic, and include a society's ways of mourning some forms of violence and silencing others. The idea of a continuum explores the 'greyness' of violence as the very object of anthropological inquiry

Analysis of multi-temporal shoreline changes due to a harbor using remote sensing data and GIS techniques

Abstract Coastal landforms are continuously shaped by natural and human-induced forces, exacerbating the associated coastal hazards and risks. Changes in the shoreline are a critical concern for sustainable coastal zone management. However, a limited amount of research has been carried out on the coastal belt of Sri Lanka. Thus, this study investigates the spatiotemporal evolution of the shoreline dynamics on the Oluvil coastline in the Ampara district in Sri Lanka for a two-decade period from 1991 to 2021, where the economically significant Oluvil Harbor exists by utilizing remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) techniques. Shorelines for each year were delineated using Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM), Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+), and Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager images. The Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) was applied as a spectral value index approach to differentiate land masses from water bodies. Subsequently, the Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) tool was used to assess shoreline changes, including Shoreline Change Envelope (SCE), Net Shoreline Movement (NSM), End Point Rate (EPR), and Linear Regression Rate (LRR). The results reveal that the Oluvil coast has undergone both accretion and erosion over the years, primarily due to harbor construction. The highest SCE values were calculated within the Oluvil harbor region, reaching 523.8 m. The highest NSM ranges were recorded as −317.1 to −81.3 m in the Oluvil area and 156.3–317.5 m in the harbor and its closest point in the southern direction. The maximum rate of EPR was observed to range from 3 m/year to 10.7 m/year towards the south of the harbor, and from −10.7 m/year to −3.0 m/year towards the north of the harbor. The results of the LRR analysis revealed that the rates of erosion anomaly range from −3 m/year to −10 m/year towards the north of the harbor, while the beach advances at a rate of 3 m/year to 14.3 m/year towards the south of the harbor. The study area has undergone erosion of 40 ha and accretion of 84.44 ha. These findings can serve as valuable input data for sustainable coastal zone management along the Oluvil coast in Sri Lanka, safeguarding the coastal habitats by mitigating further anthropogenic vulnerabilities