Structural violence
February 26, 2023
Violence and Sexual Harassment Against Women in Health Professions
Women make up 70% of the health care workforce worldwide. Sadly, female health care workers are faced with sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment (SEAH) at work every day perpetrated by male colleagues, male patients, and male community members. Oftentimes, SEAH experienced by women in the health sector goes unreported, unrecorded, and unpunished. In 2022, Women…
December 15, 2022
‘Every chemist has a backroom’: the rise of secret Female Genital Mutilation in Kenya
In 2011, Kenya passed laws to decrease the rates of female genital mutilations (FGM), by imposing hefty fines on its practitioners, and increasing surveillance and enforcement. But the recent medicalization of FGM is posing a new challenge for the east African nation, which has a 15% medicalization rate: one of the highest in Africa. In…
December 13, 2022
[BOOKS] on Structural Violence
Structural violence refers to the social, economic, or political harm ingrained in the underlying systems and structures of a society, causing long-term suffering and disadvantage for certain groups or individuals. Here are some suggested books on the topic: “Violence: Reflections on a National Epidemic” by James Gilligan (1997) Gilligan, a psychiatrist and expert on…
November 11, 2022
Food insecurity is driving women in Africa into sex work, increasing HIV risk.
There are many underlying causes that can reduce the burden of HIV if addressed timely. HIV can be spread through blood, semen, vaginal fluid, breast milk, and other body fluids. Among the possibilities are: Sexual contact with someone who has the HIV virus without using a condom A needle exchange or syringe exchange that results…
August 24, 2022
U.N. Faces Record Humanitarian Aid Shortfall — but Not for Ukrainians
Important article about a just published UN report that describes the structurally racist responses to global humanitarian crises. Farnaz Fassihi reminds us that as war, global heating/drought, COVID-19, and longstanding structural violence have grossly increased the need for global humanitarian assistance, the responses from the US, Europe, and Japan has focused on Ukraine at the…
May 31, 2022
[BOOKS] on War in Global Health
Here is a list of some books that emphasize the role of the USA in fomenting war across the world, often to protect US dominance, corporate exploitation, and promote neoliberal policies – or to undermine or overthrow governments that challenge such exploitation. Some of the books include: “Washington Bullets” by Vijay Prashad (2020) Prashad…
March 19, 2022
Treatment of Palestinians by Israel called “Apartheid” by Amnesty International
Amnesty International released their report: “Israel’s Apartheid Against Palestinians: a Cruel System of Domination and a Crime Against Humanity” They now join other respected Israeli and international human rights organizations in naming Israel as an Apartheid State. The report describes Israel’s system of oppression and domination against the Palestinian people, including seizures of Palestinian land…
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