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Full-Text Articles in Women's Health

‘They Can’T Report Abuse, They Can’T Move Out. They Are At The Mercy Of These Men’: Exploring Connections Between Intimate Partner Violence, Gender And Hiv In South African Clinical Settings, Courtenay Sprague Sep 2015

‘They Can’T Report Abuse, They Can’T Move Out. They Are At The Mercy Of These Men’: Exploring Connections Between Intimate Partner Violence, Gender And Hiv In South African Clinical Settings, Courtenay Sprague

Conflict Resolution, Human Security, and Global Governance Faculty Publication Series

This qualitative study captured South African female health provider perspectives of intimate partner violence in female patients, gender norms and consequences for patients’ health. Findings indicated female patients’ health behaviours were predicated on sociocultural norms of submission to men’s authority and economic dependence on their partners. Respondents described how men’s preferences and health decision-making in clinics affected their patients’ health. Adverse gender norms and gender inequalities affected women’s opportunities to be healthy, contributing to HIV risk and undermining effective HIV management in this context. Some providers, seeking to deliver a standard of quality healthcare to their female patients, demonstrated a …


When Nurses Are Also Patients: Intimate Partner Violence And The Health System As An Enabler Of Women's Health And Agency In Johannesburg, Courtenay Sprague, Nataly Woollett, Jane Parpart, Abigail M. Hatcher, Theresa Sommers, Shelley Brown, Vivian Black Apr 2015

When Nurses Are Also Patients: Intimate Partner Violence And The Health System As An Enabler Of Women's Health And Agency In Johannesburg, Courtenay Sprague, Nataly Woollett, Jane Parpart, Abigail M. Hatcher, Theresa Sommers, Shelley Brown, Vivian Black

Conflict Resolution, Human Security, and Global Governance Faculty Publication Series

While violence against women is a recognised global health problem, women’s agency in marginalised settings is poorly understood, particularly in relation to health systems. We explored agency as a practical and theoretical construct through qualitative research among 20 nurses with direct or indirect experiences of intimate partner violence (IPV) in Johannesburg. Interviews conducted from August 2013 to March 2014 generated rich descriptions from respondents in five health facilities. Nurses’ self-reported IPV matched national prevalence of 24–31%. Findings revealed the way in which agency is enacted by nurses, allowing them the economic means to leave abusive partnerships, yet disabling them from …