Interrogating Harmful Cultural Practices

Longman, Chia; Bradley, Tamsin

doi:10.4324/9781315589640

Cited by 24 publications

(22 citation statements)

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“…Women also found support in their religion when faced with infertility; they perceived their husband’s decision to take a co-wife as an unjust punishment for a situation that was God’s will. These findings resonate with the view of anthropologists and feminist scholars stressing that culture and religion can be both a source of oppression and support for women [44, 45, 54, 55]. Individuals are able to contest, change and conform to aspects of their culture and religion, resulting in diverse and sometimes contradictory experiences and discourses [53].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 75%

“…In contrast, several anthropologist and feminist scholars who apply an ‘agency’ perspective argue that women in low-and middle-income countries are too often perceived as passive victims of culture and traditions [44–47]. Several authors have argued that the practice of polygyny itself should not be blamed, but rather men’s misappropriation of the privileges of the custom while rejecting the responsibilities [48, 49].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Women with infertility complying with and resisting polygyny: an explorative qualitative study in urban Gambia

et al. 2019

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Background In many low-and middle-income countries women with infertility are often in polygynous marriages. From a human and women’s rights perspective, the practice of polygyny is commonly understood as harmful. Studies indicate that polygyny aggravates negative life circumstances of women with infertility with respect to their health and social well-being. The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore how women with infertility experience polygyny and to understand their decision-making regarding these marriages. Methods An explorative qualitative study was conducted among women with infertility in the urban communities of the West Coast region of The Gambia using in-depth interviews (30). Data analysis involved an emergent and partially inductive thematic framework and was carried out using NVivo 11. Results With the exception of some women with infertility who described positive experiences within polygynous marriages, most women emphasised conflicts that exist within polygynous households and reported financial and emotional difficulties. Thematic analysis identified several strategies of women with infertility to cope with and resist polygynous marriages, including overcoming childlessness, addressing conflict, spending time outside the compound, looking for social support, kanyaleng kafoolu , living separately and initiating divorce. Moreover, the experiences and decision-making power of women with infertility when it comes to polygynous marriages was found to be closely related to their socio-demographic background. Conclusion This work highlights how women with infertility in polygynous marriages are in a precarious situation in urban Gambia. Women utilize a mix of compliance, coping and resistance strategies to navigate the challenges of polygynous marriages in a structurally constraining context.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 75%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Women with infertility complying with and resisting polygyny: an explorative qualitative study in urban Gambia

et al. 2019

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“…Finally, child marriage is categorized as a 'harmful cultural practice', akin to female genital cutting/mutilation, presenting a moral obligation for intervention [20]. This framing invites donors to be outraged that girls/young women are forced into marriage to draw support for the end child marriage movement, implicitly positioning high-income countries as morally superior [21]. Coupled with broader ethnocentric misconceptions about low-income countries, we therefore anticipate the public will be surprised to discover that, despite escalating pressure placed on lower-income populations to ban child marriage, it remains legal in most high-income nations.…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

What does the American public know about child marriage?

et al. 2020

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Global efforts to eradicate 'child marriage' (<18 years) increasingly target governments, the private sector and the general public as agents of change. However, understanding of child marriage may be subject to popular misconceptions, particularly because of ambiguity in the age threshold implied by the term 'child', and because awareness campaigns routinely emphasize extreme scenarios of very young girls forcibly married to much older men. Here, we ascertain public knowledge of child marriage via an online survey. Half of those surveyed mistakenly believed that the cutoff for child marriage is younger than the threshold of 18 years, and nearly three-quarters incorrectly believed that most child marriages occur at 15 years or below (it primarily occurs in later adolescence). Most participants also incorrectly believed that child marriage is illegal throughout the USA (it's illegal in only 4/50 states), substantially overestimated its global prevalence, and mistakenly believed that it primarily takes place among Muslim-majority world regions. Our results highlight important popular misconceptions of child marriage that may ultimately undermine global health goals and perpetuate harmful stereotypes. Organizations seeking to empower women by reducing child marriage should be cautious of these misunderstandings, and wary of the potential for their own activities to seed misinformation.

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“…In prevention campaigns, individuals or "African sexualities" were blamed for the spread of HIV (Schoepf 2001); traditional practices as the primary barrier in relation to girls' education (Vavrus 2002). The Human Rights agenda has facilitated blaming "harmful cultural practices" for women's subordinate position in society, despite the complex intersectionality of gender, age, class, race and ethnicity (Longman and Bradley 2015). Yet, structural, socioeconomic and political inequalities severely limit individuals' options for behavior change ).…”

Section: Blaming Culturementioning

confidence: 99%

Public Servants as Development Brokers: The Shaping of INGOs’ Reducing Teenage Pregnancy Projects in Malawi’s Primary Education Sector

Pot

2018

Forum for Development Studies

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International non-governmental organisations (INGOs) play an increasingly prominent and multifaceted role in the field of global healthas policy advocates, recipients of donor funds, and implementers of donor-funded programmes. Many such NGOs and their local affiliates have become highly professionalized and oriented towards the priorities of global-level actors, with potential negative consequences for their ability to represent the grassroots and to challenge structures of power and inequality. In this thesis, I examine the dynamics around INGO project implementation in Malawi, within the broader context of overlapping development initiatives, shifting priorities, conditions of scarcity and donor dependence, and poor health outcomes. I draw on ethnographic research conducted in rural Malawi between May 2015 and August 2016, which focused on the implementation of a Save the Children project that aimed to improve maternal health by reducing teenage pregnancies, primarily by keeping girls in school and increasing their use of reproductive health services, notably contraceptives. My ethnographic gaze is on the individuals who serve as intermediaries between donors, northern (I)NGOs and local recipients, who I conceptualise as brokers. They include INGO district staff, primary school teachers, health workers, village heads, and community representatives. Through a focus on their practices, I examine how they translate global norms and aims into programmatic practice. The thesis brings together three peerreviewed articles. The first (in Forum for Development Studies) discusses how primary school teachers deal with, and implement, various overlapping NGO initiatives targeting girls, and the implications for public sector institutions. The second article (in Medical Anthropology) examines how INGOs' programmatic focus on behaviour change interventions inadvertently results in staff blaming culture for teenage pregnancies and school dropout, reinforcing ethnic stereotypes originating in historical inequalities and previous health development initiatives which targeted harmful cultural practices. The third article (in Reproductive Health Matters) analyses the responses of village heads, midwives and women to the reintroduction of userfees for maternal health services resulting from donors' suspension of budget support, shifting national priorities, and unstable service delivery contracts. Overall, I argue that examining the practices of the brokers who implement and reshape health development initiatives can shed light on policy-to-practice gaps and how unintended consequences occur. My ethnographic research thus helps to explain why initiatives might not be sustainable despite the intention of donors and INGOs to strengthen existing public and community structures. 1 This research is led by Professor Sidsel Roalkvam, Co-Investigator Katerini Storeng, and senior researchers at the University of Malawi-Professor Blessings Chinsinga, Peter Mvula and Joseph Chunga. Fieldwork in Malawi has been carried out by three Universit...

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Interrogating Harmful Cultural Practices

Cited by 24 publications

References 0 publications

Women with infertility complying with and resisting polygyny: an explorative qualitative study in urban Gambia

Women with infertility complying with and resisting polygyny: an explorative qualitative study in urban Gambia

What does the American public know about child marriage?

Public Servants as Development Brokers: The Shaping of INGOs’ Reducing Teenage Pregnancy Projects in Malawi’s Primary Education Sector

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