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Legal Framework for Advancing the Rights of Women and Girls with Disabilities in Saudi Arabia: Strategies for Implementation and Enforcement
Get PDFThis study evaluates the effectiveness of Saudi Arabia’s legal framework in promoting the rights of women and girls with disabilities through a comparative analysis with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Sweden’s disability policies. Employing legislative texts and policy documents, the research identifies gaps and benchmarks against international norms to propose necessary enhancements. The findings indicate that while Saudi Arabia has established a comprehensive legal structure focused on non-discrimination, accessibility, and reasonable accommodation, there are significant shortcomings in enforcement and gender-specific protections. Recommendations include enhancing legal protections for gender-specific needs, improving enforcement mechanisms via independent monitoring bodies, expanding reasonable accommodation provisions, and fostering social inclusion policies. The study highlights the need for strategic implementation involving training, awareness initiatives, and international cooperation better to integrate girls and women with disabilities into Saudi society
Exploring the Lived Experiences of Women Students with Mobility Disabilities Accessing Higher Education in Oman
Get PDFThe higher education system in Oman offers various services to support disabled students to create a positive relationship between students with disabilities, their families, and the community. Both the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Social Development share the responsibility of educating students with disabilities. However, women students with disabilities, particularly those with mobility disabilities, still face challenges within higher education institutions. While Omani law allows women with disabilities to pursue higher education, it is uncertain whether women students with mobility disabilities encounter difficulties in accessing education at higher education institutions. Notably, there have been no studies specifically exploring the challenges faced by women students with mobility disabilities in this context. Therefore, this study aimed to fill this gap and investigate the experiences of women students with mobility disabilities in higher education institutions. The study used a qualitative research approach and employed phenomenology methodology. Purposive sampling based on specific criteria and snowballing were used. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were performed with 15 women students with mobility disabilities enrolled in various higher educational institutions in North Batinah Governorate, Oman. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data, leading to the emergence of three main themes: Educational constraints, physical constraints, and psychological constraints. Discrimination based on gender and disability was evident due to cultural and religious factors. These themes highlighted the challenges faced by women students with mobility disabilities in accessing education. The study also identified a significant connection between these themes, leading to the theory of resilience. Resilience is displayed by these women students when facing such challenges. Understanding the obstacles faced by women students with mobility disabilities in higher education institutions can aid policymakers in devising better approaches to offer support and services to these students in Oman. Additionally, this knowledge can help address deficiencies in educational facilities within Oman’s higher education institutions
Feminism in Practice: Learning from the Barefoot “Solar Mamas”
Get PDFThe Barefoot College (India) is an NGO working in the fields of education, skills development, health, drinking water, and solar power mainly to train older, rural women who are determined to challenge restrictive gender roles in their respective communities. Since its inception, the NGO has trained over 2,000 rural women as solar engineers across 93 countries worldwide and has brought electricity to over 18,000 homes. Barefoot trainers employ non- normative methods of sharing knowledge such as color coding, sign language, and practical experience. This paper conducts a critical assessment of the Barefoot College Solar Electrification Programme to explore how it empowers illiterate and semi-literate women from remote rural areas around the world to become solar engineers (or “Solar Mamas”). It utilizes qualitative research methods to analyze this women’s empowerment project as a landmark practical application of decolonial feminist theory. The paper contends that the Barefoot approach both challenges and conforms to the Women in Development and Gender and Development approaches of the past. The research is grounded methodologically in feminist praxis and also borrows from the conceptual frameworks of Feminist Political Ecology and Women and the Politics of Place. Stories and personal experiences from Solar Mamas have been highlighted to understand the real world impact of the program. The main findings indicate that the Barefoot College’s innovative approach to empower marginalized communities and educate older women is achieved through decentralizing control and demystifying technology
Gender-Based Cyber Violence: Forms, Impacts, and Strategies to Protect Women Victims
Get PDFThe rapid advancement of information and communication technology affects many aspects of women’s lives. One aspect is social media which provides freedom of expression. However, women are vulnerable to becoming victims of online crime. This study sought to reveal the forms of gender-based cyber violence experienced by Indonesian women, its impact on victims, and strategies for protecting victims of gender-based cyber violence (GBCV). This study employed qualitative research methods. Informants in this study were 98 women students who experienced gender-based cyber violence. This study found various forms of GBCV experienced by victims, including being sent pornographic videos or links, invited to chat or video chat sex, invited to engage in online prostitution (Open Booking Online), forced to engage in pornographic content, asked to post a picture of the body, and threatened that a personal video will be shared to the public. Gender-based cyber violence is often accompanied by violence that victims directly experience in the real world, since most of the perpetrators are ex-boyfriends or current boyfriends. This study found that, in addition to experiencing GBCV, victims also experienced physical and/or verbal sexual violence or harassment including whistling, groping, teasing, non-consensual caressing or hugging, rape and forced sex, hearing comments about their appearance, being sent photos of sexual body parts via social media, being told jokes with sexual overtones, engaging in video chat sex, being abused while sleeping, threatened with death, cursed at, videotaped having sex, and forced to drink alcohol. Gender-based cyber violence has a negative impact with varying degrees of severity. For this reason, efforts involving various parties are needed to eliminate GBCV and all forms of gender-based violence. The handling and prevention efforts carried out by various state institutions in Indonesia also need to be supported by other parties, for example, NGOs, schools, communities, and families. The study concludes by discussing various models of protection strategies for victims of GBCV
Behavioral, Physiological, and Circadian Effects of Constant Light on Bling C3H/HeN and C3H/HeJ
Get PDFCircadian disruptions are quite detrimental to one’s health- leading to many different diseases. The suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) (center of regulation of the circadian clock) can perceive light from the retina, allowing the SCN to register cues such as light to aid in regulating the biological clock. Due to this connection constant light is a common disruption, which can cause increased hyperactivity, anxiety, and altered circadian rhythm in mice. This study’s purpose is to determine how two rhodopsin lacking blind sub-strains of C3H mice respond to constant light regarding their behavior, physiology, and their circadian clock, as well as investigating any differences between the C3H sub-strains. Thirty-two C3H male and thirty-two female mice were purchased. Sixteen mice of each sex were from Charles River Laboratory (HeN) and sixteen mice of each sex were also from Jackson Laboratory (HeJ), and half of each sub-strain was housed in constant light and 12:12 light dark cycle. After eight weeks behavioral tests were done: open field and light dark box assay. Tissue samples of the SCN and frontal lobe were collected to analyze levels of ACTH, corticosterone, and BDNF. All mice in LD entrained to the 12:12 LD cycle, and all mice in LL exhibited a lengthened period. However, the HeN mice had a longer period and stronger power than the HeJ mice. There were no cycle differences regarding: weight gain, food intake, BDNF, ACTH, corticosterone, or anxiolytic behavior, indicating that constant light does not elicit the detrimental effects found in seeing mice. HeN mice also had increased weight gain, food intake, and were overall more anxious than HeJ mice. These strain differences could be attributed to a missense point mutation in the Tlr4 gene, which affects the immune system and can impact the biological clock, and possibly the HPA axis. In conclusion, both sub-strains of C3H seem to be immune to the negative effects of constant light, however there are a multitude of strain differences that could be due to a genetic difference and should be explored further
Assessing the Need for a Mental Health Task Force for Aviation Science Students at Bridgewater State University
Get PDFIn the current landscape of aviation, the issue of mental health is of great concern, particularly among flight training students who have shown to grapple with depression in silence. A report issued by the Pilot Mental Health Aviation Rulemaking Committee in April 2024 underscored seven significant barriers impeding pilots from seeking necessary support for mental health concerns. Consequently, we completed a study aimed at understanding the prevailing mental health challenges among flight training students and identify strategies for institutions such as Bridgewater State University (BSU) to offer meaningful assistance. Our study consisted of a survey distributed to 14 institutions in the United States. Participants were requested to complete the Patient Health Questionnaire 9, a validated tool for assessing depression severity. More than half of the participants reported mild to severe depression, and about half of the participants cited fear of repercussions from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as a deterrent to seeking help. The majority of participants also indicated that they would not be likely to use a mental health program if one was implemented at their institution. Considering these findings, it becomes imperative for institutions like BSU to adopt tools in supporting their flight training students that are effective and proactive. These include but are not limited to, education on FAA policies, regular check-ins with students, and implementing a student mentorship program
The Math Guidebook For Educators: Exploring Multiple Ways Students Interact With Math
Get PDF93 percent of Americans indicate that they experience some level of math anxiety” (Blazer). The fear of math is a prevalent issue in today’s society and needs to be addressed. The goal of this project was to create an informative Math Guidebook for Educators of all grade levels and address multiple ways that students interact with math. The first part of the Guidebook, developed over the summer through the Adrian Tinsley Program for Undergraduate Research, focuses on the main topics of math anxiety, dyscalculia, and helpful accessibility tools, researched through an extensive literature review. The second part of the Guidebook was completed during this Spring 2024 semester through an Honors Thesis. This section focuses on math education for students who are blind or deaf, researched through an extensive literature review, onsite observations at schools for students who are blind or deaf, and interviews with math-related faculty at those schools with IRB approval. Ultimately, the Math Guidebook for Educators is intended to spark the conversation about inclusive math education, and the variety of ways that students interact with mat