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Understanding processes of risk and protection that shape the sexual and reproductive health of young women affected by conflict: the price of protection

Understanding processes of risk and protection that shape the sexual and reproductive health of young women affected by conflict: the price of protection
Understanding processes of risk and protection that shape the sexual and reproductive health of young women affected by conflict: the price of protection
It is assumed that knowing what puts young women at risk of poor sexual health outcomes and, in turn, what protects them against these outcomes, will enable greater targeted protection as well as help in designing more effective programmes. Accordingly, efforts have been directed towards mapping risk and protective factors onto general ecological frameworks, but these currently do not take into account the context of modern armed conflict. A literature overview approach was used to identify SRH related risk and protective factors specifically for young women affected by modern armed conflict.
Processes of risk and protection
A range of keywords were used to identify academic articles which explored the sexual and reproductive health needs of young women affected by modern armed conflict. Selected articles were read to identify risk and protective factors in relation to sexual and reproductive health. While no articles explicitly identified ‘risk’ or ‘protective’ factors, we were able to extrapolate these through a thorough engagement with the text. However, we found that it was difficult to identify factors as either ‘risky’ or ‘protective’, with many having the capacity to be both risky and protective (i.e. refugee camps or family). Therefore, using an ecological model, six environments that impact upon young women’s lives in contexts of modern armed conflict are used to illustrate the dynamic and complex operation of risk and protection – highlighting processes of protection and the ‘trade-offs’ between risks.
Conclusion
We conclude that there are no simple formulaic risk/protection patterns to be applied in every conflict and post-conflict context. Instead, there needs to be greater recognition of the ‘processes’ of protection, including the role of ‘trade-offs’ (what we term as ‘protection at a price’), in order to further effective policy and practical responses to improve sexual and reproductive health outcomes during or following armed conflict. Focus on specific ‘factors’ (such as ‘female headed household’) takes attention away from the processes through which factors manifest themselves and which often determine whether the factor will later be considered ‘risk inducing’ or protective.
Hutchinson, Aisha
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Waterhouse, Philippa
37968a9c-ba16-4315-b568-fb37f18439de
March-Mcdonald, Jane
5ced013c-23d1-4cd9-8399-8784d1dfa577
Neal, Sarah
2b63ebf7-1cf9-423d-80a2-bd99a759f784
Ingham, Roger
e3f11583-dc06-474f-9b36-4536dc3f7b99
Hutchinson, Aisha
dc2b3b3f-dca1-4bbc-989a-e1d2ffa3f67a
Waterhouse, Philippa
37968a9c-ba16-4315-b568-fb37f18439de
March-Mcdonald, Jane
5ced013c-23d1-4cd9-8399-8784d1dfa577
Neal, Sarah
2b63ebf7-1cf9-423d-80a2-bd99a759f784
Ingham, Roger
e3f11583-dc06-474f-9b36-4536dc3f7b99

Hutchinson, Aisha, Waterhouse, Philippa, March-Mcdonald, Jane, Neal, Sarah and Ingham, Roger (2017) Understanding processes of risk and protection that shape the sexual and reproductive health of young women affected by conflict: the price of protection. Conflict and Health, 11, [15]. (doi:10.1186/s13031-017-0117-x).

Record type: Article

Abstract

It is assumed that knowing what puts young women at risk of poor sexual health outcomes and, in turn, what protects them against these outcomes, will enable greater targeted protection as well as help in designing more effective programmes. Accordingly, efforts have been directed towards mapping risk and protective factors onto general ecological frameworks, but these currently do not take into account the context of modern armed conflict. A literature overview approach was used to identify SRH related risk and protective factors specifically for young women affected by modern armed conflict.
Processes of risk and protection
A range of keywords were used to identify academic articles which explored the sexual and reproductive health needs of young women affected by modern armed conflict. Selected articles were read to identify risk and protective factors in relation to sexual and reproductive health. While no articles explicitly identified ‘risk’ or ‘protective’ factors, we were able to extrapolate these through a thorough engagement with the text. However, we found that it was difficult to identify factors as either ‘risky’ or ‘protective’, with many having the capacity to be both risky and protective (i.e. refugee camps or family). Therefore, using an ecological model, six environments that impact upon young women’s lives in contexts of modern armed conflict are used to illustrate the dynamic and complex operation of risk and protection – highlighting processes of protection and the ‘trade-offs’ between risks.
Conclusion
We conclude that there are no simple formulaic risk/protection patterns to be applied in every conflict and post-conflict context. Instead, there needs to be greater recognition of the ‘processes’ of protection, including the role of ‘trade-offs’ (what we term as ‘protection at a price’), in order to further effective policy and practical responses to improve sexual and reproductive health outcomes during or following armed conflict. Focus on specific ‘factors’ (such as ‘female headed household’) takes attention away from the processes through which factors manifest themselves and which often determine whether the factor will later be considered ‘risk inducing’ or protective.

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Accepted/In Press date: 23 July 2017
e-pub ahead of print date: 17 August 2017

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 413758
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/413758
PURE UUID: c46ea85f-b70c-4790-a53e-a69aaa83e68c
ORCID for Sarah Neal: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-1812-7221

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Date deposited: 05 Sep 2017 16:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 04:02

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Contributors

Author: Aisha Hutchinson
Author: Philippa Waterhouse
Author: Jane March-Mcdonald
Author: Sarah Neal ORCID iD
Author: Roger Ingham

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