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This paper examines the convergence of culture, myths, and taboos surrounding reproductive health issues African immigrant women, living in the United States, learned during childhood in their countries of origin. We also discuss how mothers’ perceptions of reproductive health education (RHE) influenced the education of their own daughters aged 10-14 years. This was a qualitative descriptive study. Data were collected via interviews and demographic survey. The sample size was 20 African immigrant mothers living in a mid-sized city in the U.S. Interviews were transcribed verbatim. Qualitative data was analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Myths and taboos related to menstruation, sexual intercourse, pregnancy, and HIV/AIDS were reported by the women interviewed. Discussion of these issues was largely taboo, and most myths the mothers learned growing up pertained to sexual intercourse, pregnancy prevention, and pregnancy termination using non-hormonal ingested substances. Myths and taboos about sexual issues are widespread in Africa and are propagated to control sexual behavior, especially that of unmarried people, particularly women. By examining these myths and taboos, we are able to somewhat contextualize the mothers’ immigrant experience regarding RHE. Although myths were reported, the majority of mothers did not appear to believe them. The most significant taboo reported was sexual intercourse. This in turn led to mothers’ overemphasis on abstinence for their daughters. It is also noteworthy that this sample contained mainly African women who overall were highly educated, spoke English, and could adequately navigate life in the U.S. It is unclear what the results would be if we were to examine African immigrant women with less achievements in these areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to explore determinants of increased suicide deaths among African youth in South Australia. The paper reports on the intersectionality between intergenerational conflicts and fatal suicides in the target population. The study employed a qualitative inquiry approach, studying 31 young people in the African community in Adelaide. Intergenerational conflicts were identified as pervasive, with negative implications for the affected individuals, their families, and the entire African community. These led to turmoil in the community, youth isolation, reduced social interactions, stress and fatal suicides. Intergenerational conflicts and the increased number of suicide deaths were identified as a significant, emerging public health issue within the African community in South Australia. A need to re-orient resources to develop and implement programs to address mental health problems and provide high quality, informed and culturally responsive services that support the community were identified as a priority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maternal mortality is still very high in Africa, despite progress in control efforts at the global level. One elemental link is the question of autonomy in maternal health, especially at the household level where intrinsic human rights are undermined. A rights-based consideration in bioethics is an approach that holds the centrality of the human person, with a compelling reference to the fundamental human rights of every person. A philosophical and sociological engagement of gender and the notion of autonomy within the household reveals some fundamental rights-based perplexities for bioethical considerations in maternal health. The right to self-determination is undermined, and therefore women's dignity, freedom and autonomy, capacities, and choices are easily defiled. This study applies a rights-based approach to maternal health and demonstrates how rights concerns are associated with negative outcomes in maternal health in Africa. The discussion is situated at the household level, which is the starting point in health care. The paper submits that beyond legal and political rights within the context of the state, rights-based issues manifest at the household level. Many of those rights issues, especially relating to women's autonomy, are detrimental to maternal health in Africa. Therefore, a rights-based approach in the social construction of maternal health realities will contribute to alleviating the burden of maternal mortality in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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One popular strategy of opposition to practices of female genital cutting (FCG) is rooted in the global feminist movement. Arguing that women’s rights are human rights, global feminists contend that practices of FGC are a culturally specific manifestation of gender-based oppression that violates a number of rights. Many African feminists resist a women’s rights approach. They argue that by focusing on gender as the primary axis of oppression affecting the African communities where FGC occurs, a women’s rights approach has misrepresented African women as passive victims who need to be rescued from African men and has obscured the role of certain international institutions that have perpetuated the oppression of African women. In this paper, I defend these critiques by arguing that the use of a women’s rights framework to combat practices of female genital cutting among African communities has often been practically ineffective and morally inappropriate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Australian Child Protection practitioners who work with children from sub-Saharan African migrant backgrounds often face challenges when applying child protection laws and policies to address childrearing and parenting issues. The aim of this study is to examine the influence of cultural beliefs, values, attitudes and practices on childrearing practices within sub-Saharan African communities. Methods: The systematic review was guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses statement. Databases searched included Science Direct, ProQuest Central, Embase, EbescoHOST (Medline; PsychINFO; CINAHL; ERIC; SocINDEX; PsycARTICLES), Web of Science (SCI-EXPANDED; SSCI) and Google Scholar; the search dates were from January 2000 to December 2016. The studies were assessed using the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ) and the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational studies in Epidemiology guidelines (STROBE). The search strategy identified 2631 articles, of which 57 met the inclusion criteria for the review. Participants were children aged from three months old to seventeen years and adults aged eighteen years or older. Results: Data analysis resulted in 7 primary themes: Illness Conception, Traditional Beliefs and Health-seeking Behaviour; Fosterage and Community Responsibility; Family Dynamics; Discipline; Child Spirits and the Supernatural; Body Stimulation; and Female Genital Mutilation. Conclusion: Framed within the acculturation theory, the review identifies important factors that converge to provide insight into the specific caregiving context of sub-Saharan African families. It further makes clear that, for the most part, the childrearing practices of sub-Saharan African migrants who settle in Australia are influenced by their cultural values and norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is an issue of global concern and there is a dearth of research into the culture-specific barriers that migrant women in Australia face. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which migrant women in Australia experience IPV, and to understand the factors that influence their help-seeking behavior. One hundred and thirty migrant women from the continents of Asia, Europe, South America, North America and Africa aged between 19 and 65 years (M = 38.15 years) reported their experiences of IPV and their preparedness to seek assistance through surveys. The results showed that over 50% of the participants experienced some form of IPV, with the most common type being verbal and emotional, followed by physical and psychological, and then financial. Most women indicated that they needed help, however, many refrained from seeking it; a range of barriers influenced their decision to not seek assistance. The findings have implications for future studies examining violence against culturally and linguistically diverse minority women, the barriers in them seeking assistance and their main sources of support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current research had the primary goal of investigating the difference in police reporting patterns by sexual assault victims in Western and in non-Western countries. The data for the present study were obtained from the International Crime Victimization Survey. The present work found a significant difference in police reporting behavior by sexual assault victims in Western and in non-Western countries. Gender, urban residency, and the number of offenders were important factors for victims in non-Western countries, but not for those in Western countries. On the other hand, a victim's prior relationship with his or her offender and family income level were significantly related to police reports in Western countries, but not in non-Western countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite efforts to increase HIV testing in the African region, the proportion of men who report ever having been tested for HIV remains low. Research has focused on individual level determinants of women's testing however little is known about factors associated with men's testing behavior. This analysis investigates community influences on HIV testing among men ages 15-54, using Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data from Chad, Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Multilevel models were fitted in each country for the outcome of ever receiving an HIV test. After controlling for individual and household level factors, community level factors of demographics, economics, and behavior and knowledge remain significantly associated with HIV testing among men. The results of this analysis highlight the need to recognize the impact of community influences on men's HIV test seeking behavior, and to harness these community factors in the design of programs aimed at encouraging the uptake of HIV testing among men in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies show that cultural beliefs influence disease conceptualization, adaption, and coping strategies of chronic diseases. This study investigated the type 2 diabetes cultural belief model of English-speaking Afro-Caribbean women in southwest Florida. A 53 item cultural consensus beliefs questionnaire was designed and administered to 30 Afro-Caribbean women diabetics. Cultural consensus analysis found that these women shared a single cultural belief model about type 2 diabetes, .72 ± .081 SD. Women with higher cultural knowledge scores ( r = -.41730, P = .0218) were significantly younger at type 2 diabetes diagnosis than women with lower scores. In qualitative interviews, women described ongoing struggles to modify their traditional Caribbean diet and believed in the efficaciousness of traditional Caribbean medicine and prayer to treat type 2 diabetes. These findings suggest that health practitioners treating English-speaking Afro-Caribbean diabetics should offer culturally appropriate nutritional guidance and inquire about their use of traditional Caribbean medicines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The opposition of ‘culture’ and ‘rights’ is not uncommon in feminist legal discourse. This article argues that such an approach is fraught with danger as it creates an extremely restrictive framework within which African women can challenge domination; it limits our strategic interventions for transforming society and essentially plays into the hands of those seeking to perpetuate and solidify the existing structures of patriarchy. Drawing examples from a parallel research on Gender, Law and Sexuality, I propose that a more critical and interpretative approach to these two concepts may present a different perspective to portrayals of ‘tradition’ as constraining and/or fixed often displayed in mainstream feminist legal thinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although Modern Man had developed long before the migration from Africa began ∼ 55,000 years ago no agricultural societies developed until about ∼ 10,000 years ago. In the next 5,000 years agricultures developed independently in at least six regions of the world. It is virtually certain that it was not a chance occurrence that so many new agricultures appeared in the same 5,000 years. What inhibited agriculture world wide for 44,000 years and what changed ∼ 10,000 years ago? Here we suggest that a major factor influencing the development of agricultural societies was climate stability. From the experience of four cultures we estimate that the development of agriculture needed ∼ 2,000 years of climate free from significant climate variations on time scales of a few centuries. Using the Empirical Mode Decomposition technique specifically designed to exhibit the time history of the amplitude of variations in non-stationary time series such as climate proxy records, we find that between 50,000 years ago and the termination of the Younger Dryas ∼ 11,600 years ago there was probably no time span as long as 2,000 years that was free of relatively large century scale variations. Furthermore variations on these time scales appear to have been relatively small since the Younger Dryas (YD) ended, supporting our proposition concerning the importance of climate stability in the history of human culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diffusionist theories have often been invoked to explain how ancient African cultures were formed and developed. Explanations were either in terms of waves of migrations or by infiltration by people of less African origin or people alleged to have had a high culture. This article provides new evidence for a Neolithic cultural sequence on the islands and coast of East Africa. It proposes that archaeological cultural horizons such as these should be re-examined using a revised diffusionist theory. On this basis, it can be shown that the people who were smelting iron in Sub-Saharan Africa around the first century a.d. were not marauding communities of Bantu peoples with no inclination to settle and build up empires, but of people who were well settled, and had a long history of building stable settlements and trading from Neolithic times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the development and the changes needed in the practice of African archaeology. Continuity of culture throughout the ages; State of knowledge regarding environmental archaeology in West Africa; Means to raise the level of awareness of people about their cultural heritage.

Presents a systematic synthesis of information from the seven most long-term studies on the behavior of chimpanzees throughout Africa. Extensive patterns of variations; Behavior patterns that are customary or habitual in some communities, but absent in others where ecological explanations have been discounted.

It has been argued that in terms of local economic development, the fortress city of Johannesburg is seeking to transform itself into a creative city. The initiatives which I examined in the process of assessing the potential of Johannesburg to become a centre for cultural and media excellence all had the common vision of Johannesburg at the centre of the African renaissance. Not only did the interviewees express the desire for Johannesburg to become the most competitive city in the country, they extended this desire to the whole of Africa. Private-public partnerships have been suggested as a strategy to combat the common challenge of a lack of finance, and innovative strategies have demonstrated a refusal to allow the threat of crime to dominate them. With these strategies in place, the only weakness which Johannesburg faces is the training of its residents so that there is a pool of highly skilled workers available for the ever increasing technological sophistication which many of the industries rely upon to expand. Johannesburg is primed to become the centre of cultural and media excellence in South Africa. The energy and commitment which many of the interviewees expressed almost guarantees Johannesburg the status of being the centre of the African renaissance. *** DIRECT SUPPORT *** A00OB018 00006 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the effects of state hostility or indifference to the developers of culture in Africa. African countries that have experienced the truncation of their artistic and intellectual potential in the process of nation building; Arrest of Nigerian dramatist Hubert Ogunde for his play "Bread and Bullets"; Contribution of the artist to development of culture in Africa.