Tanzania: In their own words: Poor women and health services.

"In Their Own Words: Poor Women And Health Services" highlights critical constraints that poor women experience in accessing health services, including the challenges they face and the strategies they use to overcome them. This summary report is meant to inform policy development and resource allocation in relation to basic services for the poor, and to mobilize the financial, human and material resources necessary to strengthen health services for women living in poverty. It is a 4 page companion piece to the longer "Poor peoples' experience of Health Services in Tanzania www.africafiles.org/article.asp?ID=7585 Women's Dignity specializes in treatment of and education on the problem of fistula in women when delivering a child

Humane Dignity

The ethics of care has developed as a movement of allied thinkers, in different continents, who have a shared concern and who reflect on similar topics. This shared concern is that care can only be revalued and take its societal place if existing asymmetrical power relations are unveiled, and if the dignity of care givers and care receivers is better guaranteed, socially, politically and personally. In this first volume of a new series leading care ethicists from Europe and the United States focus on the moral significance of two concepts in the debate that ask for further reflection. In discussion with the work of Axel Honneth on recognition and the work of Emmanuel Housset on compassion a contribution is made to a reconsideration of recognition and compassion from an ethics of care perspective

Lawyers as Upholders of Human Dignity (When They Aren\u27t Busy Assaulting It)

David Luban argues in this lecture that the moral foundation of the lawyer\u27s profession lies in the defense of human dignity-and the chief moral danger facing the profession arises when lawyers assault human dignity rather than defend it. The concept of human dignity has a rich philosophical tradition, with some philosophers identifying human dignity as a metaphysical property of individuals-a property such as having a soul, or possessing autonomy. Luban argues instead that human dignity is a relational property of the dignifier and the dignified, emphasizing that assaulting human dignity humiliates the victim. Lawyers honor the human dignity of others by protecting them against humiliations, and defile that dignity by subjecting them to humiliations. The lecture develops these ideas through four traditional issues in legal ethics: the right of criminal defendants to an advocate, the duty of confidentiality, paternalism of attorneys toward their clients, and pro bono service

Dignity and the Phenomenology of Recognition-Respect

What is dignity? My starting point is that dignity is one of those philosophical primitives that admit of no informative analysis. Nonetheless, I suggest, dignity might yield to indirect illumination when we consider the kind of experience we have (or rather find it fitting to have) in its presence. This experience, I claim, is what is sometimes known as recognition-respect. Through an examination of a neglected aspect of the phenomenology of recognition-respect, I argue that the possession of inner consciousness is a precondition for the possession of dignity. The reason for this, I suggest, is that the ultimate privacy of the contents of our consciousness grounds a kind of inviolability characteristic of dignity

Dignity in and at work : why it matters

Throughout the history of social science, dignity is a word that is continually used to express concern about various aspects of work. Within these concerns we see a set of implicit understandings of what dignity is, and what it does, and profoundly, dignity as an essential need of the human spirit. Beginning with some of the earliest insights that inform contemporary analyses of work we can see that, in different ways and relating their concerns to different eras, writers on work and organisation each conceptualise increasing industrialisation as entailing a possible denial of dignity. Most recently the dignity at work debate been colonised by the focus on bullying and harassment. The high profile campaign for 'dignity at work' (cf: Amicus and The Andrea Adams Trust) draws attention to the everyday bullying behaviours that occur in the workplace serving to intimidate and oppress employees, coming both from the workplace hierarchy, and, whether through cultural consensus or individual malintent, from peers. This reflects a feeling that some fundamental rights are coming under pressure. The proposed UK 'dignity at work act' advises that 'every employee shall have the right to dignity at work'

Privacy and Dignity in Continence Care for Older People. Report on Phase 1.

In recent years dignity in care has become a priority and the focus of a number of government reports and policy initiatives. (DH 2003, 2007), (SCIE 2006). The National Service Framework for older people (DH 2001) and its follow up document, (DH 2006a) for example stated that maintaining dignity was pivotal in improving care for older people. However, despite this political support, there continue to be problems in health and social care settings related to preserving the dignity of older people (Levenson 2007). There is a risk therefore that generalised policy statements have little effect on actual practice and care unless they are operational, and supported by detailed guidelines for practice. Alongside policy, there has also been an increase in studies of dignity in health care (Chochinov et al,2002a), (Woolhead et al 2006) particularly focusing on the ways in which dignity is defined and what it means to people. There have, however, been far fewer on the relationship between dignity and personal care particularly when care involves sensitive issues such as incontinence. This report provides an initial analysis of emerging themes and findings from Phase 1 of the study of privacy and dignity in continence care for older people funded by the Royal College of Physicians and the British Geriatrics Society. The overall objectives of this two year project are to: i. develop reflective standards/guidelines for dignified care, ii. produce recommendations for best practice, iii. provide advice with regard to changing practice in the clinical setting

Educational Ethics in Academic Environment: Medical Students' Perspectives

Background and Objective: Educational ethics imply values such as honesty, reliance on one's own personal effort, not to abuse the efforts of others, and respect the dignity and respect for others. Students are faced with different situations in which they show various moral and immoral behaviors. This study aimed to explore medical students' viewpoints and experiences at Golestan University of Medical Sciences about ethics in academic environment in 2013. Materials and Methods: In this qualitative study a purposive sampling was used with maximum variation and 12 medical students participated in the research. Data was gathered using semi-structured interviews. At least an open question "When I say ethics in education or educational environment, what comes to your mind" was repeated in all the interviews. The interviews recorded and transcribed line by line and then analyzed according to "conventional content analysis" method. Results: "Respecting teacher dignity", "preserving dignity of classroom", "respecting and maintaining dignity for classmates", "seeking for knowledge and sciences” emerged as the main themes of the current study. Conclusion: University students considered learning environment as a sacred place; conforming its expected rules and ethics would be mandatory. Abnormal behavior causes not only loss of students dignity but also could be harmful to the calmness of educational atmosphere and may evoke different unpleasant pessimistic ideas about such academic environment

Kantian Dignity and Marxian Socialism

This paper offers an account of human dignity based on a discussion of Kant's moral and political philosophy and then shows its relevance for articulating and developing in a fresh way some normative dimensions of Marx’s critique of capitalism as involving exploitation, domination, and alienation, and the view of socialism as involving a combination of freedom and solidarity. What is advanced here is not Kant’s own conception of dignity, but an account that partly builds on that conception and partly criticizes it. The same is the case with the account of socialism in relation to Marx’s work. As articulated, Kantian dignity and Marxian socialism turn out to be quite appealing and mutually supportive

Decasticization, Dignity, and ‘Dirty Work’ at the Intersections of Caste, Memory, and Disaster

In this qualitative study we examine the role of caste, class, and Dalit janitorial labor in the aftermath of floods in Chennai, India, in 2015. Drawing from a variety of sources including interviews, social media, and news coverage, we studied how Dalit (formerly known as ‘untouchable’) janitors were treated during the performance of janitorial labor for cleaning the city. Our study focuses on two theoretical premises: (a) caste-based social relations reproduce inequalities by devaluing Dalit labor as ‘dirty work’; and (b) Dalit subjectivities, labor, and sufferings including occupational hazards become invisible and ungrievable forcing Dalits to provide a counter narrative to preserve the memory of their trauma and dignity injuries. We find that the discursive construction of janitorial labor as dirty work forced Dalit janitors to work in appalling and unsafe working conditions. Janitors suffered several dignity injuries in terms of social exclusion and a lack of recognition for their efforts and accomplishments. Specifically, we examine various ways through which caste, dirty work, and dignity intersected in the narrative accounts of Dalit janitors. We also explore memory and how processes of remembering and forgetting affected the dignity claims of Dalit janitors