Positions on sexual and reproductive rights in Muslim-majority countries and institutions: a telling indication of things to come?

ABSTRACT

This article provides a policy analysis of Muslim-majority countries’ positions on sexual and reproductive rights (SRR). First-hand observations, interviews, and reports are used to review how statements around various intergovernmental moments continue to be formulated since the International Conference on Population and Development in 1994. The analysis outlines both the similarity and diversity between and among Muslim-majority countries on a range of SRR areas, while pointing out that positions are by no means unique to them. Rather, it is argued that opposition to SRR defines a terrain of “unholy alliances” between and among different religiously inspired nations, and ends by enquiring whether SRR may be an important political indicator of real politik.     

The percentage of HIV treatment and prevention services in Kenya provided by faith-based health providers

ABSTRACT

Although the percentage of health services provided by the faith-based sector in sub-Saharan Africa is often cited along a range from 30% to 70%, depending on the country, such citations tend to be anecdotal and without reference to actual analysis of health service data. This article reports on a secondary analysis of health service data in Kenya to determine the percentage of HIV services provided by faith-based health providers. It then discusses the contributions of faith-based providers in light of these data, identifying opportunities and challenges involved in efforts to ensure that the resources of the faith-based sector are maximised.     

Juvenile Court Practitioners’ Construction of and Response to Sex Trafficking of Justice System Involved Girls

The commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) is a growing domestic health and policy concern. Exploited girls may be at heightened risk for entering the juvenile justice system. The purpose of this study was to explore the needs of CSEC victims and resources available for system-involved girls. The data from this study included semistructured interviews, case discussions, and residential placement meeting observations with juvenile justice personnel. Findings revealed labeling issues related to (1) how court workers construct female victims of CSEC through exploitation myths, (2) the importance of trauma history and relational contexts, and (3) system-level barriers. Recommendations for practice are discussed.     

It Can't Happen in My Backyard: The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Girls in the United States

This article describes the issue of commercial sexual exploitation in the United States and details the risk factors associated with young girls entering the life. The consequences of commercial sexual exploitation are detailed and the barriers to effectively combat this growing phenomenon are investigated. Service providers who work with this population are highlighted, promising practices are discussed, current research is critiqued, and recommendations for developing a comprehensive response to the issue of commercial sexual exploitation are outlined.     

How much insecurity does security need? The discrepancy in assessing the sense of security of children,adolescents, and caregivers in institutions

When developing concepts for protecting children and youth who live in institutions, the perspective of the addressees has so far been insufficiently taken into account. This study aims to compare the assessment of children, youth, and caregivers in institutions with regard to group atmosphere, participation, and sense of safety. A combined quantitative and qualitative approach compares the assessment of children or youth and caregivers in child and youth welfare institutions, boarding schools, and clinics through the use of an online questionnaire and group discussions that address the topics safety, group atmosphere, and participation. The quantitative questionnaire included 233 youth age 14 years and up and 490 caregivers; 87 children or youth between the ages of 11 and 18 years and 73 caregivers were part of the qualitative group discussion. The questionnaire showed that youth and caregivers assessed the sense of security in principle as positive. With regard to group atmosphere and participation, youth tended to see these aspects in a positive light, but almost all youth-aged participants viewed these specific categories more critically than did the adult caregivers. The results from the group discussions make clear that children, adolescents, and caregivers often underestimate the real dangers. The existing sense of security in institutions may be the result of underestimating real dangers. Implications for the implementation of protection concepts are drawn.     

Catherine Breillat's Romance and Anatomy of Hell: Subjectivity and the Gendering of Sexuality

French filmmaker Catherine Breillat has consistently challenged viewers to consider the ways women negotiate sexual freedom in light of numerous forces of repression. This essay considers how Breillat's depiction of women's sexuality in Romance and Anatomy of Hell simultaneously evokes abjection and empowerment. Specifically, we consider Breillat's contrast between her female protagonists and male protagonists, her treatment of women and their bodies as infused with desire yet struggling towards sexual subjectivity, and the avenues available to women to define themselves outside of hegemonic masculinity. We argue that Breillat's provocative portrayals provoke consideration of the problems inherent in hegemonic female sexuality while also offering hopeful alternatives to sexual expression, sexual freedom, and changing definitions of power and pleasure.     

The relationship between adverse childhood experiences,coping using sex,and adult sexual coercion in non-incarcerated,community-based females

ABSTRACT

Adverse childhood experiences have been associated with negative outcomes in adulthood, including sexual offending. Using a cross-sectional design, we investigated whether self-reported adverse childhood experiences related to the perpetration of coercive sexual acts among 250 females recruited from the community. Furthermore, we examined whether sexualised coping mediated any potential relationship between childhood experiences and sexual coercion. A Spearman’s rank order correlation revealed no relationship between adverse childhood experiences and sexual coercion. However, adverse childhood experiences were significantly correlated with sexualised coping, which in turn was correlated with sexual coercion. Additionally, there was a significant but small indirect effect of adverse childhood experiences on sexual coercion through sexualised coping. Findings may help researchers to better understand the causal relationship between childhood experiences, sexual coping, and sexual coercion in females.     

A Prospective Examination of the Path from Child Abuse and Neglect to Illicit Drug Use in Middle Adulthood: The Potential Mediating Role of Four Risk Factors

This study examines prostitution, homelessness, delinquency and crime, and school problems as potential mediators of the relationship between childhood abuse and neglect (CAN) and illicit drug use in middle adulthood. Children with documented cases of physical and sexual abuse and neglect (ages 0–11) during 1967–1971 were matched with non-maltreated children and followed into middle adulthood (approximate age 39). Mediators were assessed in young adulthood (approximate age 29) through in-person interviews between 1989 and 1995 and official arrest records through 1994 (N = 1,196). Drug use was assessed via self-reports of past year use of marijuana, psychedelics, cocaine, and/or heroin during 2000–2002 (N = 896). Latent variable structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test: (1) a four-factor model with separate pathways from CAN to illicit drug use through each of the mediating risk factors and (2) a second-order model with a single mediating risk factor comprised of prostitution, homelessness, delinquency and crime, and poor school performance. Analyses were performed separately for women and men, controlling for race/ethnicity and early drug use. In the four-factor model for both men and women, CAN was significantly related to each of the mediators, but no paths from the mediators to drug use were significant. For women, the second-order risk factor mediated the relationship between CAN and illicit drug use in middle adulthood. For men, neither child abuse and neglect nor the second-order risk factor predicted drug use in middle adulthood. These results suggest that for women, the path from CAN to middle adulthood drug use is part of a general “problem behavior syndrome” evident earlier in life.

西方艾滋病性风险行为研究的社会性别视野

社会性别作为一个重要的分析范畴,对理解艾滋病在全球范围内的传播有着重要作用。本文从个体、人际关系和文化层次,总结上世纪90年代以来西方学者在艾滋病性风险行为研究中引入的社会性别因素,及其在不同文化背景下的应用情况,并展望了未来艾滋病性风险行为在社会性别途径的研究方向。