This study was specifically designed to collect information on women’s health and their experiences of violence in Jamaica. A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods was used to collect the data, including a household survey, in-depth interviews and focus group sessions. The household survey resulted in 1,340 respondents, with a household response rate of 85.5 percent and an individual response rate of 65.9 percent. The questionnaire covered, inter alia, general and reproductive health; attitudes towards gender roles; experiences with intimate partner violence; impacts and coping with intimate partner violence; and experiences with non-partner violence.

This book explores the widespread problem of gender-based violence in the Anglophone Caribbean, exploring reasons for its perpetuation and proposing viable policy and programming solutions to prevent it. Drawing on the work of a multidisciplinary team of Caribbean researchers and practitioners, the book explores the ways in which violence victimisation and perpetration have been socially and institutionally shaped, and supported by fixed gender codes. Key themes in the book include the institutional frameworks and structural inequalities that perpetuate gender-based violence, the role of the church both in perpetuating the problem and its potential to combat it, the role of law, access to justice, and governmental and non-governmental responses to gender-based violence. The book covers violence against women, but also explores women as perpetrators, men and boys as victims, and gender-based violence against young persons. It also demonstrates the ways in which gender-based violence can further marginalise already marginalised groups, such as members of the LBTQ+ community or persons with disabilities. Bridging the divide between academia, government, and civil society, this book challenges the normalisation of gender-based violence in the Anglophone Caribbean and proposes viable, culturally relevant solutions for prevention. It will be of interest to researchers and practitioners working on issues related to gender, the Caribbean, global development, criminology, and human rights.

he starting point for this guideline is the point at which a woman has learnt that she is living with HIV and it therefore covers key issues for providing comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights-related services and support for women living with HIV. As women living with HIV face unique challenges and human rights violations related to their sexuality and reproduction within their families and communities as well as from the health-care institutions where they seek care particular emphasis is placed on the creation of an enabling environment to support more effective health interventions and better health outcomes. This guideline is meant to help countries to more effectively and efficiently plan develop and monitor programmes and services that promote gender equality and human rights and hence are more acceptable and appropriate for women living with HIV taking into account the national and local epidemiological context. It discusses implementation issues that health interventions and service delivery must address to achieve gender equality and support human rights.

Each year more than 4 million children are born with birth defects. This book highlights the unprecedented opportunity to improve the lives of children and families in developing countries by preventing some birth defects and reducing the consequences of others. A number of developing countries with more comprehensive health care systems are making significant progress in the prevention and care of birth defects. In many other developing countries, however, policymakers have limited knowledge of the negative impact of birth defects and are largely unaware of the affordable and effective interventions available to reduce the impact of certain conditions. Reducing Birth Defects: Meeting the Challenge in the Developing World includes descriptions of successful programs and presents a plan of action to address critical gaps in the understanding, prevention, and treatment of birth defects in developing countries. This study also recommends capacity building, priority research, and institutional and global efforts to reduce the incidence and impact of birth defects in developing countries.

This important volume offers readers an in-depth understanding of women's sexuality around the world, bringing to light a history that is often suppressed. What is reproductive health like for women in other countries of the world? How are marriage and love viewed in other cultures? This volume examines aspects of women and sexuality across the globe. Each chapter in this volume focuses on a different world region, including North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, Central and East Asia, South and Southeast Asia, and Oceania. The topics covered in each chapter include sexual attitudes and practices, the influence of religion on sexuality, sexual violence, reproductive health, love and marriage, and the media and sexuality. Specific country and cultural examples are interwoven such that readers come away with an understanding of the beliefs, practices, traditions, and customs that are common in each world region. Readers will be able to make cross-cultural comparisons, learning how the sexuality of women varies and yet is also the same from culture to culture. This volume is written in clear, jargon-free language, making it appropriate and useful for students and general readers.

The evaluation of reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health (RMNCH) by the Disease Control Priorities, Third Edition (DCP3) focuses on maternal conditions, childhood illness, and malnutrition. Specifically, the chapters address acute illness and undernutrition in children, principally under age 5. It also covers maternal mortality, morbidity, stillbirth, and influences to pregnancy and pre-pregnancy. Volume 3 focuses on developments since the publication of DCP2 and will also include the transition to older childhood, in particular, the overlap and commonality with the child development volume. The DCP3 evaluation of these conditions produced three key findings: 1. There is significant difficulty in measuring the burden of key conditions such as unintended pregnancy, unsafe abortion, nonsexually transmitted infections, infertility, and violence against women. 2. Investments in the continuum of care can have significant returns for improved and equitable access, health, poverty, and health systems. 3. There is a large difference in how RMNCH conditions affect different income groups; investments in RMNCH can lessen the disparity in terms of both health and financial risk.