Young Māori mothers in Aotearoa/New Zealand are disproportionately vulnerable to intimate partner violence (IPV) due to multiple intersecting factors, such as relationship dynamics during youth, pregnancy, and racialized Māori (Indigenous) identity. An enduring legacy of settler colonialism has resulted in Māori being overrepresented as victims and perpetrators of violence. IPV, in particular, leads to adverse social, mental, and health outcomes over time, including those specific to mothers (e.g., postpartum depression, miscarriage). This study analyzed six narrative interviews with young Māori mothers aged 14 to 19 from the E Hine longitudinal maternal health care study. Kaupapa Māori (by Māori, for Māori) was the primary research framework, which allowed for the use of Māori modes of engagement and the centering of Māori women’s voices in the research process. Using a thematic and interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA), we aimed to understand the lived realities of young Māori mothers who have experienced IPV and to examine the extent to which service responsiveness has been culturally safe. Our findings illustrated how IPV manifests in the relationships of these six women. Their stories showed the various ways in which young Māori women resist violence, reclaim their Māori identities, and experience personal transformation during their motherhood journeys despite abuse. We find that whānau (extended family) is both a violence-perpetuating and immensely protective factor. Moreover, there are structural and institutional barriers to culturally safe service responsiveness for young Māori women. These come in the form of racism at the frontlines of government agencies, pervasive victim-blaming, and a lack of earnest decolonial structural change at the institutional level. We conclude that social services must be multisectoral, culturally safe, and specialized for Māori youth and families to support Māori mothers experiencing IPV.

Objectives To understand the differential vulnerability to household food insecurity of the Black population as compared with white counterparts in Canada. Methods Using data for households with Black and white respondents in pooled Canadian Community Health Survey cycles from 2005 to 2014, the 18-question Household Food Security Survey Module was analyzed ( N = 491,400). Bivariate and multivariate logistic and multinomial regression models were run using respondent’s race, immigration status, and six well-established predictors of household food insecurity in the general population. Additional multivariable logistic regression models were run, with race interacted with each predictor individually to yield predicted probabilities. Results The weighted prevalence of household food insecurity was 10.0% for white respondents and 28.4% for Black respondents. The odds of Black households being food-insecure as compared with white households fell from 3.56 (95% CI: 3.30–3.85) to 1.88 (95% CI: 1.70–2.08) with adjustment for household socio-demographic characteristics. In contrast with white households, there was relative homogeneity of risk of food insecurity among Black subgroups defined by immigration status, household composition, education, and province of residence. Homeownership was associated with lower probabilities of food insecurity for Black and white households, but the probability among Black owners was similar to that for white renters (14.7% vs. 14.3%). Black households had significantly higher predicted probabilities of food insecurity than their white counterparts across all main sources of household income except child benefits and social assistance. Conclusion Being racialized as Black appears to be an overriding factor shaping vulnerability to food insecurity for the Black population in Canada. Future research and public policy on food insecurity should seriously consider the role of racism at the systemic and institutional levels.

Thailand is the first country in the Asia-Pacific region to be validated by the World Health Organization as having eliminated mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV. The Thai government made health-and specifically addressing the HIV/AIDS crisis-a political priority. The Thailand experience, from the emergence of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s through the present, provides an important case study of successful MTCT elimination. To eliminate MTCT requires that health interventions reach those who are hardest to reach: the poorest of the poor, geographically distant and rural, and marginalized. This policy report highlights key factors for successfully reaching the hard to reach in Thailand, including the importance of national public policy as well as investments in health care infrastructure, such as access to antenatal care, the creation of effective monitoring and surveillance systems, and strengthening local health capacity. Increased availability and affordability of antiretroviral therapies was also critical to Thailand's success in addressing MTCT. The Thailand case offers important policy lessons for achieving universal health. This policy report draws on secondary research and key informant interviews in Thailand to highlight factors for success in eliminating MTCT of HIV.

Background: Household food insecurity is a public health concern in many high-income countries. Despite two decades of research charting the socio-demographic and geographic correlates of food insecurity in Canada, the relationship between race and vulnerability to food insecurity has not been interrogated. Our objectives were to examine the association of Black-White racial identity and prevalence and severity of household food insecurity in Canada, and understand how racialized vulnerability manifests differently for key sociodemographic predictors. Methods: Data for households with Black and White respondents with complete data on household food insecurity were drawn from the Canadian Community Health Survey cycles from 2005-2014 (N=491,400). Household food insecurity status was assessed using the Household Food Security Survey Module. Bivariate and multivariate logistic and multinomial regression models were run, including respondent’s race and immigration status, as well as six well-established household-level predictors of food insecurity in the general population: household composition, income, housing tenure, highest level of education in the household, main household income source, and province/territory. To test whether the relationship between food insecurity and these predictors differed by race, additional multivariable logistic regression models were run, with race interacted with each predictor individually and predicted probabilities estimated.Results: The weighted prevalence of household food insecurity was 10.0% for white respondents and 28.4% for Black respondents. The odds of Black households being food-insecure compared to white households fell from 3.56 (95% CI: 3.30-3.85), to 1.88 (95% CI: 1.70-2.08) with adjustment for household sociodemographic characteristics. In contrast to white households, there was relative homogeneity of risk of food insecurity among Black sub-groups defined by immigration status, household composition, education, and province of residence. Homeownership was associated with lower probabilities of food insecurity for Black and white households, but the probability among Black owners was similar to that for white renters (14.7% vs. 14.3%). Black households had significantly higher predicted probabilities of food insecurity than their white counterparts across all main sources of household income except child benefits and social assistance.Conclusions: Being racialized as Black appears to be an overriding factor predicting vulnerability to food insecurity for the Black population in Canada.