Mujeres, diversidad y diálogo: de caminos y fronteras

RESUMEN Los municipios y las instituiciones de primera línea (fundamentalmente centros de salud, servicios sociales y escuelas) son un termómetro de los cambios sociales, que han tenido y siguen presentando grandes dificultades para estar al día y dar respuesta a una realidad donde convergen, en la comunidad de personas que conviven, códigos diversos y marcos de referencia también diversos

Demographic agent-based simulation of gambians immigrants in Spain

Changes in our society have created a challenge for policymakers, who confront a need of tools to evaluate the possible effects of their policies. Agent-based modelling and simulation is a promising methodology which can be used in the study of population dynamics. In this paper we introduce an agent-based simulation approach to project the population of Gambian migrants in Spain during 10 years. Our approach not only enables to simulate the life course of individuals, but also allows deeping on the movements, interactions, and behaviours of the target population. The model is able to capture individual characteristics and to overcome some data-related limitations with assumptions on behavioural rules. With this methodology, we want to show the potential of the tool with the study of a real case scenario

A mixed methods study on child marriage in the Gambia

Altres ajuts: Agència Catalana de Cooperació al DesenvolupamentChild marriage is a human rights violation that is often rooted in strong gender inequalities (UNICEF, 2022). This article presents the results of a mixed methods study conducted in The Gambia, deepening understanding of why the practice remains widespread throughout the country and in West and Central Africa, which have one of the highest levels of child marriage in the world. The study explores the arguments and factors that come into play to defend or take a position against child marriage, establishing for this the differences between knowledge, attitudes and practices and taking into account different variables such as age, gender, ethnicity and region of residence

Knowledge, attitudes and practices of female genital mutilation/cutting among health care professionals in The Gambia : a multiethnic study

Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) is a harmful traditional practice with severe consequences for the health and well-being of girls and women. Health care professionals (HCPs) are therefore expected to be aware of how to identify and manage these consequences in order to ensure that those affected by the practice receive quality health care. Moreover, their integration and legitimacy within the communities allow them to play a key role in the prevention of the practice. Nevertheless, the perception of HCPs on FGM/C has been barely explored in African contexts. This study seeks to contribute to this field of knowledge by examining the knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding FGM/C among HCPs working in rural settings in The Gambia. A cross-sectional descriptive study was designed through a quantitative methodology, following a multiethnic approach. A pre-tested questionnaire with open and closed-ended questions was created. Forty medical students from the Community-based Medical Programme were trained to administer the questionnaire, face to face, at village health facilities in rural areas of The Gambia. A final sample of 468 HCPs included all nurse cadres and midwives. A significant proportion of Gambian HCPs working in rural areas embraced the continuation of FGM/C (42.5%), intended to subject their own daughters to it (47.2%), and reported having already performed it during their medical practice (7.6%). However, their knowledge, attitudes, and practices were shaped by sex and ethnic identity. Women showed less approval for continuation of FGM/C and higher endorsement of the proposed strategies to prevent it than men. However, it was among ethnic groups that differences were more substantial. HCPs belonging to traditionally practicing groups were more favourable to the perpetuation and medicalisation of FGM/C, suggesting that ethnicity prevails over professional identity. These findings demonstrate an urgent need to build HCP's capacities for FGM/C-related complications, through strategies adapted to their specific characteristics in terms of sex and ethnicity. A culturally and gender sensitive training programme might contribute to social change, promoting the abandonment of FGM/C, avoiding medicalisation, and ensuring accurate management of its health consequence

Mapa de la Mutilación Genital Femenina en España 2021

Altres ajuts: Proyecto «Conocer para actuar: Mapa de la Mutilación Genital Femenina (MGF) en España 2021 y creación de materiales formativos para profesionales en detección, prevención y atención de la MGF en España», financiado por el Ministerio de Inclusión, Seguridad Social y Migraciones (MISSM), cofinanciado por el Fondo de Asilo, Migración e Integración (FAMI) y también financiado por el Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores, Unión Europea y Cooperación (MAEC)

The impact of circular migration on FGM/C : transnational communities in Spain and the Gambia

Funding: This research was funded by the European Union in The Gambia, grant number 2015/366-445.Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) is a traditional harmful practice that migrates with people and has become a global phenomenon. Understanding how the diaspora resignifies and can change the tradition will allow us to measure the impact of transnational relations on information flows and decision making in a multisite space. The objective is to analyze the influence of migration on the practice of FGM/C with a participatory and circular methodology, focused on Gambian communities both in Spain and in The Gambia. The study shows the trends on how acculturation processes entail cultural change, both in Africa as well as in diaspora

Female genital mutilation/cutting : changes and trends in knowledge, attitudes, and practices among health care professionals in The Gambia

Altres ajuts: The completion of this study has been made possible thanks to the work of Wassu Gambia Kafo personnel, with special regards to the training and research team members, who offered their expertise and professionalism. We would also like to thank the HCPs who agreed to participate in the research and the close collaboration of the Gambian health and academic institutions, whose collaboration was fundamental for its development. Likewise, we acknowledge Diputación Foral de Álava/Arabako Foru Aldundia, "La Caixa" Foundation and the Catalan Agency for Development Cooperation (ACCD) for having the confidence and providing the financial support that has made this study possible.Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) is a harmful traditional practice that affects two out of three girls in The Gambia, seriously threatening their life and well-being with severe health consequences. By tracking the reference values established in former research conducted between 2009 and 2011, the objectives of this study are to explore trends and to measure and assess changes in knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding FGM/C among health care professionals (HCPs) in The Gambia. A cross-sectional descriptive study was designed to collect and analyze data from an overall stratified sample consisting of 1,288 HCPs including health professionals and students throughout the six regions of The Gambia. Data were collected by the implementation of a self-administered written knowledge, attitudes, and practices questionnaire between 2012 and 2014. The results of this study showed that 76.4% of HCPs are eager to abandon FGM/C, and 71.6% of them regard it as a harmful practice with negative consequences on life and health. HCPs reported more knowledge and favorable attitudes towards FGM/C abandonment, being better able to identify the practice, more aware of its health complications, and more concerned in their essential role as social agents of change. However, 25.4% of HCPs still embraced the continuation of the practice, 24.4% expressed intention of subjecting their own daughters to it, and 10.5% declared to have performed it within their professional praxis. Findings confirm progress in knowledge and attitudes regarding FGM/C among HCPs, who are better skilled to understand and manage the consequences. Nevertheless, discrepancies between information, intention, and behavior unveil resistance in practice and proves that FGM/C medicalization is increasing. Thus, there is an urgent need to support HCPs in the integration of FGM/C preventive interventions within the public health system, to address arguments favoring medicalization, and to use data to design appropriate strategies

Approaching parallel computing to simulating population dynamics in demography

Agent-based modelling and simulation is a promising methodology that can be applied in the study of population dynamics. The main advantage of this technique is that it allows representing the particularities of the individuals that are modeled along with the interactions that take place among them and their environment. Hence, classical numerical simulation approaches are less adequate for reproducing complex dynamics. Nowadays, there is a rise of interest on using distributed computing to perform large-scale simulation of social systems. However, the inherent complexity of this type of applications is challenging and requires the study of possible solutions from the parallel computing perspective (e.g., how to deal with fine grain or irregular workload). In this paper, we discuss the particularities of simulating populating dynamics by using parallel discrete event simulation methodologies. To illustrate our approach, we present a possible solution to make transparent the use of parallel simulation for modeling demographic systems: Yades tool. In Yades, modelers can easily define models that describe different demographic processes with a web user interface and transparently run them on any computer architecture environment thanks to its demographic simulation library and code generator. Therefore, transparency is provided by by two means: the provision of a web user interface where modelers and policy makers can specify their agent-based models with the tools they are familiar with, and the automatic generation of the simulation code that can be executed in any platform (cluster or supercomputer). A study is conducted to evaluate the performance of our solution in a High Performance Computing environment. The main benefit of this outline is that our findings can be generalized to problems with similar characteristics to our demographic simulation model

Female genital mutilation/cutting in The Gambia : long-term health consequences and complications during delivery and for the newborn

Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) is a harmful traditional practice deeply rooted in 28 Sub-Saharan African countries. Its prevalence in The Gambia is 76.3%. The objective of this study was to gain precise information on the long-term health consequences of FGM/C in The Gambia as well as on its impact on delivery and on the health of the newborns. Data were collected from 588 female patients examined for antenatal care or delivery in hospitals and health centers of the Western Health Region, The Gambia. The information collected, both through a questionnaire and medical examination, included sociodemographic factors, the presence or not of FGM/C, the types of FGM/C practiced, the long-term health consequences of FGM/C, complications during delivery and for the newborn. Odds ratios, their 95% confidence intervals, and P values were calculated. The prevalence of patients who had undergone FGM/C was 75.6% (type I: 75.6%; type II: 24.4%). Women with type I and II FGM/C had a significantly higher prevalence of long-term health problems (eg, dysmenorrhea, vulvar or vaginal pain), problems related to anomalous healing (eg, fibrosis, keloid, synechia), and sexual dysfunction. Women with FGM/C were also much more likely to suffer complications during delivery (perineal tear, obstructed labor, episiotomy, cesarean, stillbirth) and complications associated with anomalous healing after FGM/C. Similarly, newborns were found to be more likely to suffer complications such as fetal distress and caput of the fetal head. This study shows that FGM/C is associated with a variety of long-term health consequences, that women with FGM/C are four times more likely to suffer complications during delivery, and the newborn is four times more likely to have health complications if the parturient has undergone FGM/C. These results highlight for the first time the magnitude of consequences during delivery and for the newborn, associated with FGM/C in The Gambi