Gender influences on child survival, health and nutrition: a ... - Unicef
Gender influences on child survival, health and nutrition: a ... - Unicef
Gender influences on child survival, health and nutrition: a ... - Unicef
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<str<strong>on</strong>g>Gender</str<strong>on</strong>g> Influences On Child Survival, Health And Nutriti<strong>on</strong>: A Narrative Review<br />
This secti<strong>on</strong> has dem<strong>on</strong>strated that:<br />
‣ Different gender norms can produce similar outcomes for <strong>child</strong> <strong>health</strong> <strong>and</strong> nutriti<strong>on</strong>;<br />
‣ Infant feeding practices are powerfully influenced by prevailing cultural <strong>and</strong> gendered<br />
norms <strong>and</strong> recent research has highlighted the importance of including men <strong>and</strong> other<br />
supporting members of households in breastfeeding educati<strong>on</strong>;<br />
‣ The role of gr<strong>and</strong>mothers as expert advisors to young women must also be taken into<br />
account in infant feeding <strong>and</strong> other aspects of <strong>child</strong> care;<br />
‣ Addressing the challenge of infant feeding in c<strong>on</strong>texts where HIV is prevalent requires a<br />
good underst<strong>and</strong>ing of the roles which supporting members of household may play, but<br />
also needs to take into account the difficulties women may face around disclosing HIV<br />
status to their family members;<br />
‣ However it is vital that the inclusi<strong>on</strong> of other members of the household in any aspect of<br />
<strong>child</strong> care is sensitive to gender discriminati<strong>on</strong> against women <strong>and</strong> that interventi<strong>on</strong>s<br />
seek to foster collaborative care for infants, not undermine women’s roles as carers.<br />
1.3.3 DOMESTIC/INTIMATE PARTNER/GENDER BASED VIOLENCE AND CHILD HEALTH<br />
In this final secti<strong>on</strong> of the review, the discussi<strong>on</strong> turns to another serious threat to the <strong>survival</strong>, <strong>health</strong><br />
<strong>and</strong> nutriti<strong>on</strong> of young <strong>child</strong>ren: domestic violence. This issue is discussed here because various forms of<br />
gender-based violence, including domestic violence, reflect the most extreme form of gender<br />
discriminati<strong>on</strong> that exists. Similar to the phenomen<strong>on</strong> of sex selecti<strong>on</strong>, violence against women <strong>and</strong><br />
<strong>child</strong>ren dem<strong>on</strong>strates the pervasive nature of discriminatory gender norms <strong>and</strong> values through which<br />
violence is justified <strong>and</strong> perpetuated as an element of male/female relati<strong>on</strong>s. The secti<strong>on</strong> will first define<br />
domestic violence then will turn to a number of recent studies which highlight some of the threats of<br />
this violence to young <strong>child</strong> <strong>survival</strong>, <strong>health</strong> <strong>and</strong> nutriti<strong>on</strong>.<br />
REVIEW OF STUDIES<br />
Box 9 What is domestic violence?<br />
There are many definiti<strong>on</strong>s of domestic violence used in the literature. Most comm<strong>on</strong>ly domestic<br />
violence occurs within the household, which has its roots in unequal power relati<strong>on</strong>s between<br />
men <strong>and</strong> women, <strong>and</strong> which manifests through sexual, physical <strong>and</strong> n<strong>on</strong>-physical abuse (neglect<br />
<strong>and</strong> verbal abuse may also be defined as forms of violence). The term gender-based violence is<br />
used to refer more broadly to a range of violent behaviours within <strong>and</strong> outside the home, most<br />
often perpetrated against women by men, while intimate partner violence refers more<br />
specifically to violence between couples.<br />
Research into the effects of violence <strong>on</strong> <strong>child</strong>ren has increased in recent years. This secti<strong>on</strong> draws<br />
largely <strong>on</strong> a recent review of the literature by Yount, DiGirolamo & Ramakrishnan which provides a<br />
range of evidence to dem<strong>on</strong>strate that domestic violence is detrimental to <strong>child</strong> <strong>survival</strong> (Yount,<br />
DiGirolamo & Ramakrishnan 2011). The review uses the term Children Exposed to Domestic Violence<br />
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