Pants, Not Petticoats: Transgressive Female Characters in Literature

Female character development in literature can be revolutionary, especially for protagonists that bend the rules and replace a socially-based image of classical femininity with their own gender non-conforming expressions. In Pants, Not Petticoats: Transgressive Female Characters in Literature, comparative analysis is used to study the non-conforming aspects of three gender rebels: Jo March from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (1980 Illustrated Junior Library Edition), Scout Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (2002 First Perennial Classic Edition), and Eliza Sommers from Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende (2006 First Harper Perennial Edition). Through a close reading of each novel, aspects of their physical appearance, mannerisms / behaviors, and aspirations for the future are examined. Family structure and social construction are weighed in the influence over the formation and expression of gender identity. This essay illustrates the impact that gender bending characters such as Jo, Scout, and Eliza can have upon young and adult readers alike. Each novel has been notably celebrated for its coming of age story and the ways in which it has resisted gender norms. With each generation, a new wave of young readers discovers the rich complexity of these characters and are shown that there are alternative ways of being a girl

Addressing gender-based violence in the Latin American and Caribbean Region : A critical review of interventions

The authors present an overview of gender-based violence (GBV) in Latin America, with special emphasis on good practice interventions to prevent GBV or offer services to its survivors or perpetrators. Intimate partner violence and sexual coercion are the most common forms of GBV, and these are the types of GBV that they analyze. GBV has serious consequences for women's health and well-being, ranging from fatal outcomes, such as homicide, suicide, and AIDS-related deaths, to nonfatal outcomes, such as physical injuries, chronic pain syndrome, gastrointestinal disorders, complications during pregnancy, miscarriage, and low birth-weight of children. GBV also poses significant costs for the economies of developing countries, including lower worker productivity and incomes, and lower rates of accumulation of human and social capital. The authors examine good practice approaches in justice, health, education, and multisectoral approaches. In each sector, they identify good practices for: (1) law and policies; (2) institutional reforms; (3) community-level interventions; and (4) individual behavior change strategies.Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Gender and Development,Gender and Social Development,Public Health Promotion,Children and Youth,Adolescent Health,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Youth and Governance,Gender and Social Development,Children and Youth

Preventing and responding to gender-based violence in middle and low-income countries : a global review and analysis

Worldwide, patterns of violence against women differ markedly from violence against men. For example, women are more likely than men to be sexually assaulted or killed by someone they know. The United Nations has defined violence against women as"gender-based"violence, to acknowledge that such violence is rooted in gender inequality and is often tolerated and condoned by laws, institutions, and community norms. Violence against women is not only a profound violation of human rights, but also a costly impediment to a country's national development. While gender-based violence occurs in many forms throughout the life cycle, this review focuses on two of the most common types-physical intimate partner violence and sexual violence by any perpetrator. Unfortunately, the knowledge base about effective initiatives to prevent and respond to gender-based violence is relatively limited. Few approaches have been rigorously evaluated, even in high-income countries. And such evaluations involve numerous methodological challenges. Nonetheless, the authors review what is known about more and less effective-or at least promising-approaches to prevent and respond to gender-based violence. They present definitions, recent statistics, health consequences, costs, and risk factors of gender-based violence. The authors analyze good practice initiatives in the justice, health, and education sectors, as well as multisectoral approaches. For each of these sectors, they examine initiatives that have addressed laws and policies, institutional reforms, community mobilization, and individual behavior change strategies. Finally, the authors identify priorities for future research and action, including funding research on the health and socioeconomic costs of violence against women, encouraging science-based program evaluations, disseminating evaluation results across countries, promoting investment in effective prevention and treatment initiatives, and encouraging public-private partnerships.

Non-consensual sexual experiences of young people: A review of the evidence from developing countries

Although there is increasing evidence of risky consensual sex among young people in developing countries, non-consensual sexual experiences among them have rarely been studied and few interventions have been designed to protect them from the risks of such experiences. However, what is available suggests that coercion and unwantedness may play a considerable role in the sexual relations of young people—girls and young women but also boys and young men. The implications of non-consensual sexual experiences for young people’s rights, their health and development and the risks they pose in the transition to adulthood are enormous. This review collates what is known about non-consensual sexual experiences of young people—those aged 10-24—in developing countries, synthesises from this a profile of the magnitude and correlates of sexual coercion, and draws lessons for the implementation of appropriate programmes. Notwithstanding significant methodological limitations, the few available studies provide several common insights and have suggested that although definitions, study populations and study designs may differ, making comparison difficult, nonconsensual sex is indeed experienced by disturbing proportions of young people in all settings from which data were drawn. Non-consensual sex is experienced largely by girls and women, but also by boys and men. While studied largely among the unmarried, there is evidence that it is commonplace among married couples as well. It occurs largely among individuals who are acquainted with each other. It covers a continuum of behaviours ranging from unwanted verbal advances to unwanted touch to assault and forced sex, as well as sex in exchange for money, gifts, food or protection. The consequences of sexual coercion are formidable: they are short and long-term; and have physical, psychological and social effects. Sexual health manifestations range from unintended pregnancy, abortion and infection to risk-taking behaviours, including early onset of consensual sex, multiple partner relations and non-use of condoms. Psychological outcomes range from symptoms of anxiety and depression to suicide attempts. School performance can also be affected. A number of obstacles inhibit adolescents from protecting themselves from non-consensual sexual relations and from taking action against a perpetrator or to withdraw from a coercive relationship. Gender double standards and expectations of women and men in the sexual arena dominate these obstacles. Communication and negotiation on sexual matters, moreover, tend to be difficult and are often replaced by actions that include force and violence to resolve differences. The lack of a supportive environment and trusted adults and peers to consult on sexual health matters may also enhance young people’s (and particularly young women’s) vulnerability to coercive sexual relations. And finally, perceptions of institutional indifference—at the community, school, crime and health sector levels—can inhibit help-seeking both among victims as well as others who may wish to seek counselling on how to confront a potentially threatening situation. We conclude with a discussion of programmatic and research priorities

Bridging the gaps: a global review of intersections of violence against women and violence against children.

BACKGROUND: The international community recognises violence against women (VAW) and violence against children (VAC) as global human rights and public health problems. Historically, research, programmes, and policies on these forms of violence followed parallel but distinct trajectories. Some have called for efforts to bridge these gaps, based in part on evidence that individuals and families often experience multiple forms of violence that may be difficult to address in isolation, and that violence in childhood elevates the risk of violence against women. METHODS: This article presents a narrative review of evidence on intersections between VAC and VAW - including sexual violence by non-partners, with an emphasis on low- and middle-income countries. RESULTS: We identify and review evidence for six intersections: 1) VAC and VAW have many shared risk factors. 2) Social norms often support VAW and VAC and discourage help-seeking. 3) Child maltreatment and partner violence often co-occur within the same household. 4) Both VAC and VAW can produce intergenerational effects. 5) Many forms of VAC and VAW have common and compounding consequences across the lifespan. 6) VAC and VAW intersect during adolescence, a time of heightened vulnerability to certain kinds of violence. CONCLUSIONS: Evidence of common correlates suggests that consolidating efforts to address shared risk factors may help prevent both forms of violence. Common consequences and intergenerational effects suggest a need for more integrated early intervention. Adolescence falls between and within traditional domains of both fields and deserves greater attention. Opportunities for greater collaboration include preparing service providers to address multiple forms of violence, better coordination between services for women and for children, school-based strategies, parenting programmes, and programming for adolescent health and development. There is also a need for more coordination among researchers working on VAC and VAW as countries prepare to measure progress towards 2030 Sustainable Development Goals

ABSTRACT

Dance games are one of the most popular types of bodycontrolled console games, making them ideal candidates for initiating exertion in players who do not exercise regularly. However, in order to become effective tools for consistent cardiovascular exercise, dance games need to maintain interest over a long time span. One solution that could help with long-term engagement is the addition of more narrative, competitive, and decorative elements. While other gameplay genres utilize this content to keep players involved, motion-controlled dance games are just beginning to incorporate these elements. We built Dance Enhanced, a website designed to offer earnable content to players of the game Dance Central 2. We conducted a four-week study comparing a group of participants playing the game alone with a group that also had access to the website. In this paper, we discuss the methodology for designing and operating this study, as well as our results, which indicated the potential for higher interest in competition, characters and storylines when presented with extra content

HIV testing, treatment and prevention: Generic tools for operational research

This toolkit was developed for operational research on topics related to HIV treatment and prevention. The toolkit includes a main document that is intended to serve as a basis for formulating research questions and designing operational research projects to address them as well as data collection instruments

Evaluating Four Inosine-Uridine Preferring Nucleoside Hydrolases in Bacillus Anthracis for Decontamination Strategies

Andrew Roser­ is a doctoral student in the School of Biological Sciences at Louisiana Tech University. Abigail Bass, Sophie Bott, Madison Brewton, Adam Broussard, Taylor Clement, Makenzie Cude, Hunter Currie, Claire Herke, Mary Hickman, Lauren James, Hailey Johnson, Madeline Lechtenberg, Sarah Murchison, Alex Plaisance, Wil Plants, Alex Sullivan, Sara Vandenberg, and Kaitlynn Willis are undergraduate students in the School of Biological Sciences at Louisiana Tech University. Rebecca Giorno is an Associate Professor in the School of Biological Sciences at Louisiana Tech University

Who perpetrates violence against children? A systematic analysis of age-specific and sex-specific data.

OBJECTIVE: The epidemiology of violence against children is likely to differ substantially by sex and age of the victim and the perpetrator. Thus far, investment in effective prevention strategies has been hindered by lack of clarity in the burden of childhood violence across these dimensions. We produced the first age-specific and sex-specific prevalence estimates by perpetrator type for physical, sexual and emotional violence against children globally. DESIGN: We used random effects meta-regression to estimate prevalence. Estimates were adjusted for relevant quality covariates, variation in definitions of violence and weighted by region-specific, age-specific and sex-specific population data to ensure estimates reflect country population structures. DATA SOURCES: Secondary data from 600 population or school-based representative datasets and 43 publications obtained via systematic literature review, representing 13 830 estimates from 171 countries. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR SELECTING STUDIES: Estimates for recent violence against children aged 0-19 were included. RESULTS: The most common perpetrators of physical and emotional violence for both boys and girls across a range of ages are household members, with prevalence often surpassing 50%, followed by student peers. Children reported experiencing more emotional than physical violence from both household members and students. The most common perpetrators of sexual violence against girls aged 15-19 years are intimate partners; however, few data on other perpetrators of sexual violence against children are systematically collected internationally. Few age-specific and sex-specific data are available on violence perpetration by schoolteachers; however, existing data indicate high prevalence of physical violence from teachers towards students. Data from other authority figures, strangers, siblings and other adults are limited, as are data on neglect of children. CONCLUSIONS: Without further investment in data generation on violence exposure from multiple perpetrators for boys and girls of all ages, progress towards Sustainable Development Goals 4, 5 and 16 may be slow. Despite data gaps, evidence shows violence from household members, peers in school and for girls, from intimate partners, should be prioritised for prevention. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: PROSPERO 2015: CRD42015024315