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On Justice, Beauty and Health – Pluralist Approaches
Get PDFThis article discusses historical and symbolic perceptions and representations of justice. In a Western context justice has for millennia been depicted as female and for a long period also as divine. In this article these symbols are interconnected with changing, complex and pluralist understandings of beauty, health and justice. Both justice and beauty are related, as are beauty and health. Beauty has a historical value, and is used for political, commercial, health, artistic and many other purposes. Ideals of beauty and attempts to live up to them can be damaging – historically especially for women. Beauty has been considered unjust, but it may also contribute to fairness, justice and wellbeing. Globalisations and technology have led to pluralisation and uncertainty about what is just, beautiful, and healthy, but they have in no way made these values obsolete
The potential for new materialist justice via Nordic feminist perspectives of law
Get PDFThe Nordic feminist perspectives in law have traditionally been relatively successful in advocating, and effectuating, a feminist perspective of justice both within law and the society. However, Nordic feminist perspectives of law have at least to some degree, at this stage been limited to questions of equality between men and women and to the production of justice within the boundaries of the nation-state. In this article, I take the challenge upon myself of elaborating the notion of justice advanced by new materialist theory as a means to infuse the Nordic feminist perspective in, and on, law. This is pursued by reading new materialist theory and Nordic feminist perspectives of law against each other. In sum, the reading suggests that a focus on new materialist justice could be used to infuse Nordic feminist legal perspectives on justice by both shifting the understanding of law, and justice, as well as its contextual focus
Silenced Voices: Online Violence Targeting Women as a Threat to Democracy
Get PDFIn this article I examine from a legal point of view some of the consequences for women, and hence for society in general, of online sexist and misogynist abuse in a Swedish context. I argue that one effect is that women’s living space online is demarcated and ultimately, that it threatens women’s possibilities to participate in public debate online. An everyday life perspective and the continuum of sexual violence, both part of a feminist legal perspective, are used as a theoretical framework to show how online abuse is silencing women. The situation demands action from the state, in order to safeguard freedom of expression and, consequently, democracy. I argue that in this particular situation, two basic aspects of freedom of expression collide: the one most emphasised, the prohibition of censorship, and the less acknowledged aspect, i.e. a diversity of voices. Deficient ways to handle sexist and misogynist online abuse leads to indirect censorship where women’s voices are silenced. Hence, the state must take action not to fail to guarantee justice for all. There are many initiatives addressing problems of online abuse, both internationally and nationally. In this article I seek to capture and examine the Swedish policy and legal regulation (criminal law and freedom of expression) in this area to sketch the legal situation, to highlight ongoing initiatives and pointing out lacunas and obstacles that needs to be dealt with to guarantee a diversity of voices
Current guidelines for malaria treatment in Somalia: evidence-based recommendations
Get PDFCase management – rapid diagnosis and prompt administration of artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) – is a fundamental pillar of recommended malaria interventions in Somalia. Unfortunately, the emergence and spread of drug resistant falciparum parasites continues to pose a considerable threat to effective case management.
With technical and financial support from WHO, the efficacy of recommended ACTs has been regularly monitored in sentinel sites since 2003. These studies provided evidence that supported the adoption of artesunate-sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine as first-line treatment in 2005 and artemether-lumefantrine as second-line treatment in 2011. Efficacy studies conducted between 2011 and 2015 showed high artesunate-sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine treatment failure rates of 12.3% - 22.2%, above the threshold (10%) for a change of treatment policy as recommended by WHO. This was also associated with high prevalence of quadruple and quintuple mutations in the dihydrofolate reductase (Pfdhfr) and dihydropteroate synthase (Pfdhps) genes, which are associated with sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine resistance.
Based on these findings, national malaria treatment guidelines were updated in 2016, with artesunate-sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine replaced by artemether-lumefantrine as first-line treatment and dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine recommended as second-line treatment. Subsequent efficacy studies in 2016 and 2017 confirmed that both the current first- and second-line treatments remain highly efficacious (cure rate above 97%). Technical and financial support from WHO has been instrumental in generating evidence that informs malaria treatment policy and should therefore continue to ensure that effective treatments are available to malaria patients in the country
Female genital mutilation (FGM) in Somaliland – why is change so slow?
Get PDFFemale genital mutilation (FGM) is defined as any procedure involving the alteration or excision of external female genitalia for no medical reason. Somaliland has among the highest prevalence rates of FGM globally. In this article we describe how the Civil Society Organisation (CSO) ‘Network against female genital mutilation in Somaliland’ (NAFIS) has approached the challenge to reduce the high FGM prevalence. From its start in 2006, NAFIS has developed a multifaceted program to reach the overall goal: the elimination of all forms of FGM in Somaliland.
Alone among the group of CSOs in the network, NAFIS introduced in its activities medical care and counselling for women who suffer from the consequences of FGM. From 2011 and onwards, thousands of women have been relieved of their FGM-related health complications and participated in counselling sessions at project centres. Shortly after this visit they have been invited to participate in community group meetings to share their experiences with other women who also have received FGM care and counselling, and other community members.
The aim of the article is to describe this model of work - combining FGM care and counselling with community dialogues. The article is basically descriptive, using the authors’ own observations and encounters with project clients and staff over eight years. We have also used findings from three Master's theses on aspects of the process, and from other small scale studies to highlight people’s understanding, experiences and opinions in a context of an on-going health intervention.
A lesson learnt from NAFIS project is that it has helped to open up communicative spaces in community dialogues where experiences are shared and understanding created of the harm caused by FGM, without the habitual stigma and shame. We discuss this process in a context of behavioural change theories. A major challenge during the process has been to involve men in the project’s FGM information and counselling activities. The role of nurses/midwives, being the first to meet women with FGM complications, is also discussed and the need emphasised to strengthen capacity of this category of health workers. One type of FGM gaining in usage is the poorly defined sunna, the health risks of which are unclear
Somaliland women’s perception of stillbirth - a descriptive survey study
Get PDFBackground: Somali women, not only those living in Somaliland but also those living abroad as asylum seekers and refugees, are highly vulnerable in terms of perinatal health outcomes. Respectful and supportive care is critical for all women when stillbirth occurs and improving bereavement care and reducing the stigma that surrounds stillbirth are global priorities. Culturally- and context-specific approaches that build on an understanding of the needs of women giving birth to a stillborn baby, no matter where or why, are required.
Objective: This study aims to investigate and analyze Somali women’s experiences of stillbirth, including their perceived reasons for losing their unborn baby, the premonitions they had before giving birth and their experiences of psychosocial support from healthcare professionals and relatives.
Methods: A descriptive retrospective study was conducted at the Borama regional hospital in Somaliland. A study-specific questionnaire was developed that gathered personal information and data on topics related to women’s experiences of stillbirth. Women who had either experienced a stillbirth at the hospital or had been referred there after a stillbirth 2015 were approached and 75 women agreed to participate in the study.
Results: Most of the women were multiparas and had experienced a previous stillbirth. Before having it confirmed that their baby was no longer alive most of the woman reported that they had felt no fetal movements and had a premonition that something was wrong. The most common perceived cause of stillbirth that the women reported was prolonged labour followed by a ‘big baby’. Thirty-three women (44%) felt it was important to know the cause of the stillbirth and eight reported feeling angry or disappointed (11 %) with the health care providers who assisted them during labour, birth, or post-partum, although 41 women (55%) were satisfied with their treatment. A third of the women blamed themselves for their stillbirth and a majority spoke to others about it.
Conclusions: Our results show that women in Somaliland share similar perceptions of stillbirth as women in high income countries. This raises important implications for antenatal care and preventive interventions and stressed the need to respond to women’s concerns regardless of background, context or setting. A maternal healthcare approach that is equal in its global application must be established to enable health care providers to give relevant information and care both in the cultural setting of Somaliland and elsewhere in the world where Somali-born women live and give birth
The Long Timeline of the Ice: A Geological Perspective on the Arctic Ocean
Get PDFIce ages constitute a significant part of Earth’s climate history with the first signs of widespread ice sheets occurring at about 2.4 billion years ago. In 2004, a nearly 450 metres thick accumulation of seafloor sediments on the submarine Lomonosov Ridge in central Arctic Ocean was drilled by the international Arctic Coring Expedition (ACEX). This geological archive has provided insights into the long-term history of the Arctic Ocean back to 56 million years. The first signs of extensive sea ice along the Arctic coasts appear 47.5 million years ago (Ma), while evidence for the type of pack ice we have today that survives more than one season occurs first 15–13 Ma. The Earth’s climate changed mode at about 2.6 Ma. Cold periods, characterized by large ice sheets covering the Northern Hemisphere, were intervened by warmer periods with climates more similar of today. These glacial-interglacial cycles were largely controlled by changes in solar insolation resulting from cyclical variations in Earth’s orbit around the Sun. In this article, I tell the personal story of how we mapped the Lomonosov Ridge and found evidence supporting a controversial hypothesis of the existence of kilometre-thick floating ice shelves in the Arctic Ocean during past glaciations
Ruptures in Existence - Openings for the Future: The Need for a Different Resource Landscape
Get PDFTaking the once seemingly constant yet constantly moving Arctic sea ice as inspiration, this article reflects on how individuals and societies can navigate the ruptures in our expectations about a predictable future caused by climate change. With insights from scientific assessments of adaptation and resilience in the Arctic, it describes various facets of a resource landscape for addressing the challenges brought by the new reality of a warmer and more unpredictable world. In focus is the central role of people, including their learning processes and ability to cooperate. It furthermore emphasizes that futures and values are the outcome of social processes, not predetermined, and thus in the hands of those who engage in shaping them