Women with Substance Abuse Problems Exposed to Men’s Violence - A Public Mental Health Challenge (original) (raw)
Related papers
Analysis of Domestic Violence on Women’s Health
Journal of Human Growth and Development, 2015
Introduction: Violence against women is characterized by damage to physical and mental health of the victim, and is not linked solely to the use of physical force, but also the idea of submission, culturally ingrained in gender relations, in which man behaves itself as being dominant and women an inferior being. As result of violence, women are hindered in their social life, repressed and psychologically shaken. It is a public health problem of great magnitude in the world. It is known that women are more vulnerable to health problems and has unique needs, differentiated from other groups in society, such as prevention, control and combat to physical and mental illnesses. According to the National Policy for Integral Attention to Women's Health, these injuries are more linked with gender issues such as the situation of discrimination in society than to biological factors. Gender inequalities, historically produced and legitimated by culture and society, put women in inferiority and depreciation position. In this context, violence is used as a mechanism of maintenance and confirmation of male power over women. Objective: Investigating the health problems resulting from domestic violence against women. Methods: An exploratory study with a qualitative approach, in the city of João Pessoa, involving 406 women who met the inclusion criteria. The speeches made by the interviewees were coded as analysis technique of speech. Results: The main diseases cited were headache, nausea, feeling of insecurity, stress, depression, difficulty with new relationships. Conclusion: The grievances caused from domestic violence in women who suffer permeate the physical damage, interfere with quality of life and surpass. It is important to give visibility to the phenomenon and insert gender concepts in the training of health professionals, providing tools for them to meet in a humane way and emancipatory approach to this population segment.
2001
The gender politics of HIV/AIDS has been mainly focused on prevention particularly on women’s vulnerability to HIV infection and the prevention of mother-to-child transmission and seldom on women’s care issues of which treatment is a vital part. Gender inequality is reflected in the response to HIV/AIDS. One of the key responses to women and HIV/AIDS has been to highlight women’s reproductive role and to focus on the prevention of mother-to-child transmission. Women want and have a right to reproductive health services that will increase the likelihood of healthy babies. However women are often seen only as mothers and not as individuals in their own right with their own identities and needs. There is a vast body of literature about the treatment and management of HIV/AIDS. The problem with much of this research is male bias- -it is defined and conducted by men with most of the research participants being men (Doyal). It also pays little or no attention to the different manifestatio...
Social Pedagogy and Social Education: Bridging Traditions and Innovations , 2018
In the network of attention to drug addiction we find 65% of women who are suffering Gender Violence. Biopsychosocial intervention from an androcentric perspective causes: - Difficulty in accessing women to treatments - Difficulties of women staying in treatments The main reasons women explain how they start in consumption and why they leave it are the following: - They are induced to consumption by the aggressor, with the intention of submitting, there is an evasion of the situation of violence. Reasons to abandon to the use of drugs: - Break with the situation of violence. - Need to be alert when moving away from the aggressor, and therefore not be under the effects of substances. - Being able to maintain the custody and guardianship of their sons and daughters. - They are women who suffer a triple social victimization: for having been victims of violence.
Women and girls at risk. Evidence across the life course
2014
Following its consultation with Clinks, CIFC's view that that the focus of work over the next few years should be moved 'upstream' has been confirmed. It recognises that if the number of women and girls ending up in negative life trajectories is to be reduced, it needs to look at not only the criminal justice system, but also a broad network of systems and interventions. The consultation demonstrated that there was widespread support among practitioner organisations for this broader focus, and an appetite for developing an alliance of funders, practitioners and others to identify or develop an evidence base of effective practice, and to create a convincing case for systems change so that the needs of vulnerable women and girls can be met at an earlier stage, and where interventions fail, health, criminal justice and other statutory services are improved so that they are able to break negative cycles.
Family Violence and Victimization: Treatment Issues for Women With Alcohol Problems
Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 2000
A brief overview of the prevalence of violence in women's lives and psychological and physical consequences of these experiences is presented, with special attention to populations of women with alcohol and other drug problems. Barriers to identification of violent victimization within health care settings are discussed. Finally, potential areas for further consideration regarding policy, practice, and research are identified. The relationships between women's experiences of violent victimization and their use of alcohol and drugs are documented, although prior research has not fully explored or explained the etiologic nature of these relationships. Of additional importance is the recognition that various forms of violence occur throughout a single life span. Women's histories of violent victimization negatively affect their children, and thus, intergenerational issues are of concern. Understanding how the combined problems of alcohol and drugs interconnect with violence is relevant to the delivery of health services for women.
Substance Abuse and Rehabilitation, 2012
Gender, Alcohol, and Culture: An International Study (GENACIS) is a collaborative study of gender-related and cultural influences on alcohol use and alcohol-related problems of women and men. Members conduct comparative analyses of data from comparable general population surveys in 38 countries on five continents. This paper presents GENACIS findings that (1) age-related declines in drinking are uncommon outside North America and Europe; (2) groups of women at increased risk for hazardous drinking include women who cohabit, women with fewer social roles, more highly educated women in lower-income countries, and sexual minority women in North America; (3) heavier alcohol use shows strong and cross-culturally consistent associations with increased likelihood and severity of intimate partner violence; and (4) one effect or accompaniment of rapid social, economic, and gender-role change in traditional societies may be increased drinking among formerly abstinent women. These findings have potentially important implications for women-focused intervention and policy. Substance abuse services should include attention to middle-aged and older women, who may have different risk factors, symptoms, and treatment issues than their younger counterparts. Creative, targeted prevention is needed for high-risk groups of women. Programs to reduce violence between intimate partners must include attention to the pervasive role of alcohol use in intimate partner aggression. Social and economic empowerment of women, together with social marketing of norms of abstention or low-risk drinking, may help prevent increased hazardous alcohol use among women in countries undergoing rapid social change. Greater attention to effects of gender, culture, and their interactions can inform the design of more effective prevention, intervention, and policy to reduce the substantial global costs of alcohol abuse in both women and men.
Unmet health care needs among children of mothers exposed to violence
Child Abuse & Neglect, 2020
Introduction: Adolescence is a period of maturity, a point of physical, emotional, social and psychological change. Menstruation is described as the exclusive sign of femininity and it is a physical manifestation of complex endocrine axis. Body mass index or BMI have the most control over menstrual irregularity. The increasing trends in the prevalence of childhood obesity, early puberty and menarche, and ethnic racial differences in the effect of body mass index on the reproductive characteristics of young females around the world, warrant continuous evaluation. Hence, we aim to investigate possible variations in the influence of body mass index on the age at menarche as well as duration of menstrual cycle and menses in young girls. Material and Method: Present study was conducted on 300 young female medical students over a period of 18 months. Young and unmarried female medical students in the age group of 17-25 years of age group were included. Married or who were on treatment for menstrual problem or had primary amenorrhoea or undergone pelvic surgery were excluded. Structured questionnaire was used to determine the occurrence of menstrual problem. Body mass index was calculated and the collected data was analysed between the relationship parameter i.e. body mass index and menstrual abnormalities. Result: The mean age of the study population was 21.98 yrs. The mean of BMI in the study population was found to be 21.42kg/m 2. Irregular menses (including short and long cycles) is highly significantly associated with underweight and overweight BMI as clear with P-value of 0.0001 and 0.0001 respectively. Irregular cycles were seen in 45 cases out of which 9 were having Polymenorrhea i.e. cycle length less than 21 days, 10 were having irregular cycle with no fixed length, and 26 were having oligomenorrhea. Out of 45 cases with irregular cycle 19 were in underweight category, 9 in overweight category, and 2 in obese class 2 and rest 15 in normal BMI category. Conclusion: The present study suggests alteration in body mass index was associated with changes in menstrual pattern. Maintaining the correct weight according to the height is utmost important to avoid so many menstrual irregularities as well as long term metabolic complications.