BMC International Health and Human Rights

BACKGROUND: Women, especially those who marry as children, experience various forms and degrees of exclusion and discrimination. Early marriage is a harmful traditional practice that continues to affect millions around the world. Though it has declined over the years, it is still pervasive in developing countries. In Ethiopia, Amhara National Regional State (or alternatively Amhara region) hosts the largest share of child-brides in the country. This study aimed at assessing the effects of early marriage on its survivors' life conditions - specifically, empowerment and household decision-making - in western Amhara...

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BACKGROUND: Quality of life (QOL) research develops data and insight into issues that pertain not only to the individual, but that can also apply to the population as a whole. This study aimed to analyze the QOL of Kurdish women from families of martyred individuals in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. METHODS: A cross-sectional study of 380 women from families of martyred individuals was conducted. All women were patients at the Medical Center of Martyr Families in Erbil City from January 2018 to April 2019...

BACKGROUND: Brazil has the third largest prison population in the world. In 2016, the female prison population totaled 42,000, an increase of 656% over the population recorded in the early 2000s. The objective of this study was to describe the socialeconomic and reproductive health of women in Brazilian prisons, and the specific assistance received within the prison system. METHODS: This is a first of its kind national survey conducted in 15 female prisons in eight Brazilian states between 2014 and 2015...

BACKGROUND: An evaluation was conducted of a three-year intervention focused on violence against women and girls (VAWG) and implemented in the conflict-affected north-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a country with high rates of VAWG. The intervention addressed VAWG, and especially sexual violence, by specifically engaging with communities of faith and their leaders. METHODS: Two community surveys were conducted, one before and one after the intervention, in three health areas in Ituri Province in the DRC...

BACKGROUND: The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) was ratified in 2004 in Slovakia and in 2005 in Finland. The aim of this study was to compare the implementation of the FCTC in the national laws and policies regarding smoking in Finland and Slovakia. METHODS: In this case study the following areas are compared: the legal framework; the monitoring system and health promotion; treatment; and policies aimed at reducing tobacco consumption. We report on these in this order after a short historical introduction...

BACKGROUND: When it comes to gender-based violence (GBV), migrant women and girls represent the most vulnerable group. GBV can happen at any stage of migrants' flight and/or during the asylum process. It has severe consequences on their life and health. Victims therefore need timely access to healthcare. This study explores the context GBV victims face when they seek refuge in Switzerland. METHODS: Qualitative methodology was used where we conducted five semi-structured focus groups and three interviews...

BACKGROUND: Sexual function is one of the main aspects of life. Pregnancy affects sexual function. The aim of this study was to determine the sexual dysfunction in young pregnant women and its correlation with intimate partner violence (IPV). METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted using two-stage cluster sampling method. The data were collected using a socio-demographic questionnaire, Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), and Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS2)...

BACKGROUND: Disrespectful and abusive treatment of women by health care providers during the process of childbirth at health facility is an international problem. There is a lack of data on disrespect and abuse of women during the process of childbirth at health facilities in Sub-Saharan Africa. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of disrespect and abuse of women during the process of childbirth at health facilities in sub-Saharan Africa. METHODS: The PRISMA guideline protocol was followed to write the systematic review and meta-analysis...

Notwithstanding COVID-19, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) will be the leading cause of death in every region in the world by 2030. This contribution, which forms an introduction to our collection of articles in this journal, identifies elements for a transdisciplinary research agenda between law, public health, health economics and international relations aimed at designing concrete interventions to curb the NCD pandemic, both globally and domestically.

BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer claims 311,000 lives annually, and 90% of these deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. Cervical cancer is a highly preventable and treatable disease, if detected through screening at an early stage. Governments have a responsibility to screen women for precancerous cervical lesions. Yet, national screening programmes overlook many poor women and those marginalised in society. Under-screened women (called hard-to-reach) experience a higher incidence of cervical cancer and elevated mortality rates compared to regularly-screened women...

BACKGROUND: Birth registration establishes the existence of a child under law and provides the foundation for ensuring many of his/her rights. Despite its significance, a continuous, effective and comprehensive birth registration system has not been established in Ethiopia until the recent past. This paper examines the status of child's birth registration and its associated factors in selected districts of Tigray Region, Ethiopia. METHOD: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from April to May 2018 among 383 randomly selected mothers who had given birth to at least one child since August 2016...

BACKGROUND: Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) has been recognized as a gross violation of human rights of girls and women. This is well established in numerous international legal instruments. It forms part of the initiation ceremony that confers womanhood in Sierra Leone. Girls and women who are subjected to this practice are considered to be ready for marriage by their parents and communities and are rewarded with celebrations, gifts, and public recognition. Following this, we examined the relationship between education and women's FGM/C intention for their daughters in Sierra Leone...

BACKGROUND: The magnitude of the noncommunicable epidemic is difficult to overstate. The projected cost of the epidemic is substantial. It disproportionately affects people in low- and middle-income countries as well as poorer and marginalised communities in high-income countries. The international community has taken various steps to address the four modifiable risk factors causing the majority of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), however, action has so far fallen short of expectations...

BACKGROUND: Freedom from noncommunicable diseases is a component of the human right to health. The obligation to reduce the pandemic of civilisation diseases should result from the provisions of the constitution, national law and local regulations. This means that representatives of local and regional communities also take responsibility for limiting the pandemic of civilisation diseases. MAIN BODY: The goal of this debate is to examine the effectiveness of the decentralised polish model for dividing the competences of preventing and combating non-communicable diseases into three levels: local, regional and central...

BACKGROUND: The determinants of sexual- and gender-based violence (SGBV) and early marriage are embedded across different levels of the social ecological system, including at the individual, family, community, and policy levels. In Jordan and the Middle East, SGBV, honor killing, and early marriage are priority public health and human rights issues that often overlap, and affect a significant percentage of youth. Jordan is home to a large number of refugees from across the Middle East, who may be even more vulnerable to these forms of violence than the local youth...

BACKGROUND: Illicit financial flows (IFFs) drain domestic resources with harmful social effects, especially in countries which are too poor to mobilise the revenues required to finance the provision of essential public goods and services. In this context, this article empirically examined the association between IFFs and the provision of essential health services in low- and middle-income countries. METHODS: Firstly, a set of indicators was selected to represent the overall coverage of essential health services at the country level...

Human rights language has become a common method of internationally denouncing violent, discriminatory or otherwise harmful practices, notably by framing them as reprehensible violations of those fundamental rights we obtain by virtue of being human. While often effective, such women's rights discourse becomes delicate when used to challenge practices, which are of important cultural significance to the communities in which they are practiced. This paper analyses human rights language to challenge the gender disparity in access to health care and in overall health outcomes in certain countries where such disparities are influenced by important cultural values and practices...

BACKGROUND: Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is a human-rights violation with adverse long-term and inter-generational consequences. Redefining VAWG as legally unacceptable is one strategy for social change. The co-occurrence of national laws against VAWG is understudied, and tools to monitor the national legal environment are lacking. We developed the Laws on Violence against Women and Girls Index (LoVI) to measure global progress to develop comprehensive national legislation against child marriage, sexual harassment, domestic violence, and marital rape...

BACKGROUND: Building on a broader sociological discourse around policing approaches towards vulnerable populations, increasing public health and human rights evidence points to policing practices as a key health determinant, particularly among street-based sex workers. Despite the importance of policing as a structural health determinant, few studies have sought to understand the factors that underlie and shape harmful policing practices towards sex workers. This study therefore aimed to explore the drivers for policing attitudes and practices towards street-based cisgender female sex workers...