African Women Research Articles

RECONSTRUCTING WOMEN IDENTITY IN CHINUA ACHEBE’S ANTHILLS OF THE SAVANNAH

African literature is the mirror of African community in which African social reality is depicted. Gender issue is one of the main themes that are a matter of interest to the majority of African authors. They portrayed woman character in patriarchal African society in which male hegemony is a stereotype. In this sense, Chinua Achebe as well as his fellows did not stray from the rule in their writings. In Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God, woman is considered as a second class citizen, and gender inequality is a predominant aspect. However, Achebe’s narratives shifted from covering and ignoring women rule to unveiling and reshaping their own identity in his Anthills of the Savannah. For that reason, the objective of the present paper is to determine how Achebe reconstructs women identity by focusing on the character of Beatrice, the female protagonist in his novel Anthills of the Savannah. By adopting post-colonial and feminist perspectives, the present research work attempts to clarify the recreation of new African women and their empowerment in the post-colonial Africa

Ama Ata Aidoo Challenged the Constructed Absence of African Women’s Leadership

Ama Ata Aidoo Challenged the Constructed Absence of African Women’s Leadership

The Slave Lodge/Soldier Eat, and: He Got Lost

Abstract: The award-winning play Venus vs Modernity unpacks the life of Saartjie Baartman, a South African woman of Khoi descent, who was exhibited as a freak show in nineteenth-century Europe under the name "Hottentot Venus." At the peak of her fame in the early 1800s, Saartjie Baartman became a reference point for abolitionists, fashion designers, and political satirists alike. Her remains were dissected and put on display at the French National Museum for 150 years. In 2002, Saartjie Baartman was finally returned to the land of her birth.

Examination of three postcolonial African writers' perspectives on third world feminism

A variation of feminism known as postcolonial feminism emerged in opposition to feminism that exclusively addressed women's experiences in Western societies. In order to demonstrate how racism and the lasting political, economic, and cultural repercussions of colonialism affect non-white and non-Western women in the postcolonial globe, postcolonial feminism examines these issues. African feminism is a subset of feminism developed by African women that is focused on the issues and concerns of women in continental Africa (African women residing on the African continent). These feminism movements do not all represent the realities of African women because Africa is not a homogeneous continent. Some feminists are particularly focused on particular subgroups of African women, including movements with a national foundation, such as feminism in Sweden, feminism in India, feminism in Mexico, feminism in Japan, feminism in Germany, feminism in South Africa, etc. The concept of feminism for many African writers in the post-colonial era in the Third World has been the subject of widespread controversy, as it is seen as a feminist movement in line with and for African women in the diaspora instead of African women in the African continent. In this study, we present the perspectives of three African writers interested in the feminist movement about their vision of the concepts and role of the feminist movement in the post-colonial era in the Third World by shedding light on African feminist movements and the challenges they face. The study presents the vision of three African writers for the women's movement in the Third World in general and the African continent in particular in the post-colonial period through the emergence and development of the African feminist movement, and the three writers selected in this study are activists of the feminist movement inside Africa through their literary activity. Delusion: Molara Ogundipe-Leslie, Assia Djebar and Robert C.J.Young.

High-risk human papillomavirus prevalence among South African women diagnosed with other STIs and BV.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is a leading cause of cervical cancer. Although this relies on infection and persistence of HPV in epithelial cells, often occurring in the context of other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and bacterial vaginosis (BV), data on the relationships between these and their relative effects on epithelial barrier integrity in women remain sparse. This study describes the epidemiology of HPV combined with STI and/or BV prevalence and the relative impact on matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) among South African women. Roche Linear Array was used for HPV genotyping in menstrual cup pellets of 243 HIV-negative women participating in the CAPRISA 083 cohort study. Vulvovaginal swabs were tested for Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, and Trichomonas vaginalis using Xpert® CT/NG assay and lateral flow assay, and Gram staining was performed to diagnose BV using Nugent scoring criteria. Concentrations of 5 MMPs were measured in menstrual cup supernatants by multiplexed ELISA. Fisher's exact tests, Mann-Whitney U tests, and multivariable regression models determined associations between HPV infection, STI and/or BV, and MMP concentrations. HPV was prevalent in 34% of women (83/243; median 23 years, interquartile range (IQR) 21-27 years). Low-risk (lr) (71%, 59/83) and high-risk (hr)-HPV infections (54.2%, 45/83) were common. Hr-HPV was frequently detected in STI and/or BV-positive women compared to women without STIs or BV (p = 0.029). In multivariable analysis, BV was associated with increased odds of hr-HPV detection (OR: 2.64, 95%CI: 1.02-6.87, p = 0.046). Furthermore, Gardasil®9 vaccine-type strains were more frequently detected in women diagnosed with STI and/or BV (55.2%, 32/58 vs 24%, 6/25; p = 0.009). Among STI and/or BV-positive women, HPV detection was significantly associated with increased MMP-10 concentrations (b = 0.55, 95% CI 0.79-1.01; p = 0.022). Most women with hr-HPV had another STI and/or BV, emphasizing an urgent need for STI and BV screening and intensive scale-up of cervical cancer screening and HPV vaccination programmes. Furthermore, the study highlights the need for more extensive research to confirm and understand the relationship between HPV infection and barrier integrity.

Pregnant Women’s Knowledge and Expectations about Prenatal Ultrasound: A Cross-Sectional Study

BackgroundUltrasound imaging has been shown to improve maternal health outcomes through timely diagnosis of pregnancy problems. Despite ultrasound being vital for women's management in pregnancy, studies have reported low awareness among African women ObjectiveTo evaluate the knowledge and expectations of pregnant women in Harare about prenatal ultrasound. MethodsA cross-sectional survey of 385 pregnant women was done at the ultrasound department of a private maternity hospital in Harare, Zimbabwe. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 27.0 and Windows Excel were used to analyse the data.Results The majority of women (85.4%) concurred that ultrasound scans are important during pregnancy, but most (79.3%) were not aware that congenital abnormalities can be detected through ultrasound. Despite low overall knowledge of congenital abnormalities, 80.2% of women were familiar with Down's syndrome, and this knowledge tended to increase with higher education levels, although not statistically significant (linear-by-linear association = 0.057). The primary expectation of ultrasound scans among pregnant women was to confirm the expected delivery date, and gender determination, with the least expectation being a diagnosis of congenital abnormalities.ConclusionKnowledge levels were lower in our setting relative to other similar studies, and hence this underscores the need for further public education.Rwanda J Med Health Sci 2023;6(3):346-354

Food Is an African Feminist Issue

Abstract This essay argues that food—particularly the labor of preparing and producing food—should be seen as central to South African feminism, and to African feminisms more broadly. Salo explains how women provide the majority of the labor to produce food on the African continent, yet often are exposed to hunger because they do not own the means to food production. Moreover, as agribusiness encroaches on foodways and food production lands in Africa, this sector attempts to incorporate women in ways that continue to render them gendered subordinates in an unequal economic and political system. Centering food provides an important means for African feminists to continue recognizing the imbrication of gendered oppression with colonialism and neocolonialism, and to challenge these hierarchies while pursuing sustainability and social justice. Women’s agencies as food producers also offer alternatives to agribusiness and corporate food, including small-scale farming or gardening projects that intersect with political activism in urban and peri-urban areas. Salo discusses how such African women’s strategies align with concepts such as food sovereignty and ecofeminism, but also need to be recognized as occurring beyond the cultures of academic expertise often associated with such terms.

Are African academic women more emotionally intelligent than men? Exploring emotional intelligence, gender, and leadership in higher education

In recent years, organizational and management research has been reporting the presence of a systematic link between emotional intelligence (EI) and leadership effectiveness. Notwithstanding the practical significance, however, scholarly attention is far from adequate especially in the context of African higher education. Thus, taking Ethiopia as an example, this study investigates (a) gender differences in EI and (b) the relationship between EI and leadership style among leaders in selected higher education institutions. The study was conducted on 210 random samples of academic leaders (135 men and 75 women). Data was generated using an adapted measure Emotional and Social Competence Inventory (ESCI) to assess leaders' emotional intelligence (EI), while the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ-5x) was used to measure leadership styles. The findings show a strong positive relationship between emotional intelligence and transformational leadership, but no relationship was found between EI and transactional leadership. On the other hand, a significant negative correlation was found between laissez-faire leadership and leaders’ total EI scores. Furthermore, the study finds significant gender differences in emotional intelligence, with female leaders scoring higher in overall emotional intelligence and most of the EI components. These findings suggest that EI is the female leadership advantage. We strongly advise university administrators and policymakers to incorporate EI as a criterion for the recruitment, selection, and promotion of academic leaders to close the gender gap in higher education leadership.

Prevalence and Risk Factors of Urinary Tract Infection in Pregnant Women: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) are the second-most frequent bacterial infections, with an overall incidence of 5-10%. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and risk factors associated with UTI in pregnant women. Method: A systematic search was conducted in the open domain, electronic databases such as PubMed and Google Scholar. Citation searching was also performed to identify all relevant studies. All the steps were carried out by two independent reviewers to avoid bias. Based on inclusion & exclusion criteria, followed by qualitative evaluation, the studies were included and analyzed by fixed or random effects model using CMA. A sub-group analysis was also performed for Asian and African countries for prevalence and for different categories of risk factors. Results: Out of 45 studies, 41 studies were included for the prevalence of UTI in pregnant women and 19 studies were included to evaluate the risk factors. The pooled prevalence of UTI in African pregnant women was higher when compared to Asian pregnant women (28.6% vs. 20.7%). The risk factors statistically significantly associated with UTI were found to be undergarment texture (silk), history of catheterization, diabetes mellitus, past history of UTI and HIV. Conclusion: UTIs are prevalent in pregnant women in Asian and African pregnant women. Hence, identification of risk factors and frequent screening of UTIs during pregnancy is recommended to avoid maternal-fetal complications.

Enhancing Cervical Cancer Prevention in South African Women: Primary HPV mRNA Screening with Different Genotype Combinations.

Cervical cancer prevention in regions with limited access to screening and HPV vaccination necessitates innovative approaches. This study explored the potential of a test-and-treat strategy using mRNA HPV tests to impact cervical cancer prevention in a high-prevalence HIV population. A cervical screening study was conducted at three South African hospitals involving 710 under-screened, non-pregnant women (25 to 65 years) without known cervical diseases. Cytology, HPV testing, colposcopy, and biopsies were performed concurrently. Histopathologists determined final histological diagnoses based on biopsy and LLETZ histology. mRNA-HPV-genotyping for 3 (16, 18, 45) to 8 (16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 45, 52, 58) high-risk types was performed on leftover liquid-based cytology material. The preventive potential of the test-and-treat approach was estimated based on published data, reporting the causative HPV types in cervical cancer tissue from South African women. Treatment was provided as needed. The HPV positivity rate more than doubled from 3-type (15.2%; 95% CI: 12.6-17.8) to 8-type mRNA (31.5%; 95% CI: 28.8-34.9) combinations, significantly higher among HIV-positive women. CIN3+ prevalence among HIV-positive women (26.4%) was double that of HIV-negative women (12.9%) (p < 0.01). The 6-type combination showed the best balance of sensitivity, specificity and treatment group size, and effectiveness to prevent cervical cancer. A 4-type combination (16, 18, 35, 45) could potentially prevent 77.6% (95% CI: 71.2-84.0) of cervical cancer burden by treating 20% and detecting 41.1% of CIN3 cases in the study group. Similarly, a 6-type combination (16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 45), treating 25% and including 62% of CIN3 cases, might prevent 85% of cervical cancer cases (95% CI: 79.6-90.6) among HIV-positive and negative women. Employing mRNA HPV tests within a test-and-treat approach holds huge promise for targeted cervical cancer prevention in under-screened populations. Testing for mRNA of the 6 highest-risk HPV types in this population and treating them all is projected to effectively prevent progression from CIN3 to invasive cervical cancer while reducing overtreatment in resource-constrained settings.

Development, Feasibility, and Preliminary Effects of a Hybrid-Mode Multicomponent Music Intervention for Women Undergoing Mastectomy.

Music listening interventions have been used to manage preoperative anxiety and postoperative pain in women undergoing breast cancer (BC) using face-to-face mode and music that was relevant to the patients' culture; however, the interventions were not underpinned by any theories. To assess the feasibility and preliminary effects of a theory-driven multicomponent music intervention on preoperative and postoperative patient outcomes in African women with BC undergoing mastectomy. This study was a multicenter, single-blind randomized controlled trial with qualitative interview. A total of 36 women scheduled to undergo mastectomy were recruited from Nigeria and Malawi and randomly assigned to either the intervention group or the control group. Quantitative data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U and Wilcoxon signed rank tests, whereas qualitative data were analyzed using the inductive approach. The multicomponent music intervention was effective in reducing participants' preoperative anxiety and enhancing satisfaction with care on the day of surgery, reducing postoperative pain at 24 and 48 hours after surgery, and reducing systolic and diastolic blood pressure at 48 hours after surgery. The qualitative data corroborated these findings. The study's findings indicated that the theory-driven multicomponent music intervention was feasible, acceptable, and effective in reducing preoperative anxiety and postoperative pain, optimizing vital signs, and enhancing satisfaction with care among African women with BC undergoing mastectomy. The study's findings indicate that nurses in clinical settings can integrate the intervention into the plan of care of women with BC beginning with their surgery booking visit.

Family influences on oral PrEP use among adolescent girls and young women in Kenya and South Africa.

Effective use of oral HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has been lower among African adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) than among older women, young men who have sex with men, and serodiscordant heterosexual couples in the region. Efforts to build PrEP support have centered around peers and male partners, but the family may also play an important role. This qualitative study aimed to describe family influence on PrEP use among AGYW in in three African cities. POWER (Prevention Options for Women Evaluation Research) was a PrEP demonstration project among 2550 AGYW (16-25 years old) in Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa and Kisumu, Kenya conducted from 2017 to 2020. In-depth interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with 136 AGYW participants to explore their PrEP views and experiences, including awareness and interest in PrEP; barriers and facilitators to uptake and use; the influence of family, peers, intimate partners, and community; and the key types of support for their PrEP use. Transcripts were coded and analysed thematically. The decision to initiate PrEP was associated with fear and anxiety linked to anticipated stigma from family members, and with family's lived HIV experience. Family disclosure, especially to mothers, was important to participants, as most lived with their families and considered it essential for them to obtain their mother's approval to use PrEP. Most family members, particularly mothers, provided instrumental, emotional, informational and appraisal support to participants using PrEP, including reminders, encouragement, and problem-solving. Participants reported that family members with insufficient information about PrEP safety and efficacy and who voiced concerns were a substantial barrier to their use. However, they often became supportive after receiving more PrEP information. Families, particularly mothers, can play an important role in supporting PrEP use. PrEP programmes should leverage family support to help with PrEP persistence by providing basic information to families about PrEP safety and efficacy. AGYW using PrEP should be encouraged to selectively disclose PrEP use to build support and counseled on how to disclose and address family concerns.

Managing Maternal Sepsis after Delivering an Advanced Abdominal Pregnancy in Low Resource Setting Health Facility

Background: Abdominal pregnancy is a rare form of ectopic pregnancy with a higher misdiagnosis rate. Sepsis is a life-threatening complication associated with this type of ectopic pregnancy. Various techniques for managing septic advanced abdominal pregnancy have been discussed in the literature. In this article, we report a case of managing septic abdominal pregnancy in which a macerated baby was delivered, and the necrotic placenta was left in situ. Case presentation: We report a 34-year-old African woman, para 5 living 4, who was three days post laparotomy due to abdominal pregnancy. A re-laparotomy was done due to maternal sepsis. The peritoneum had foul-smelling pus, with a necrotized placenta which was still attached to various parts of the abdomen. The placenta was left in situ and the abdomen was left open. Pus swab revealed methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus which was sensitive to Vancomycin. She was managed with a ten-day Vancomycin regime. Dressing with normal saline and honey twice or thrice a day for eight weeks was done. Secondary suturing was done and the patient was discharged home later in good health. Conclusion: Advanced abdominal pregnancy is a rare condition, and its management is very challenging. Once it complicates into maternal sepsis the life of the mother becomes endangered. Identifying and treating the source of infection with daily dressing using normal saline and honey is simple and cheap, it saves life.

Prevalence and incidence of sexually transmitted infections among South African women initiating injectable and long-acting contraceptives.

South Africa is among the countries with the highest prevalence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG). In 2017, there were an estimated 6 million new CT, 4.5 million NG and 71 000 Treponema pallidum infections among South African men and women of reproductive age. We evaluated STI prevalence and incidence and associated risk factors in 162 women aged 18-33 years old, residing in eThekwini and Tshwane, South Africa who were part of the Evidence for Contraceptive Options and HIV Outcomes (ECHO) trial. Women were randomised to use depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (n = 53), copper intrauterine device (n = 51), or levonorgestrel (n = 58) implant. Lateral vaginal wall swab samples were collected prior to contraceptive initiation and at months one and three following contraceptive initiation for STI testing. There were no significant differences in STI incidence and prevalence across contraceptive groups. At baseline, 40% had active STIs (CT, NG, Trichomonas vaginalis (TV), Mycoplasma genitalium (MG) or herpes simplex virus-2 shedding across all age groups- 18-21 years (46%), 22-25 years (42%) and 26-33 years (29%). The incidence of STIs during follow-up was exceptionally high (107.9/100 women-years [wy]), with younger women (18-21 years) more likely to acquire CT (75.9/100 wy) compared to 26-33 year olds (17.4/100 wy; p = 0.049). TV incidence was higher in the 26-33 year old group (82.7/100 wy) compared to the 18-21 year olds (8.4/100 wy; p = 0.01). Although the study participants received extensive counselling on the importance of condom use, this study highlights the high prevalence and incidence of STIs in South African women, especially amongst young women, emphasising the need for better STI screening and management strategies.

Resilience of traditional midwifery in Southern Cameroons: 1922-1961

It is instructive that well organized healthcare systems existed in Africa before contacts with the outside world. During this period, midwifery services were prioritized because societal wellbeing depended on the quality and availability of child and maternity services. The arrival of European colonial imperialists with their assumed superior culture/civilization and their colonial economic agenda caused the introduction of Western biomedicine. This was intended in part to maintain a constant and healthy work force for colonial exploitation. Drawing from the case of Southern Cameroons, this paper sets out to examine the resilience of local midwifery practices in the face of an imposed Western biomedicine. The paper was informed by both primary and secondary sources. Archival information and oral interviews made up the primary sources while books, published articles and dissertations constituted the secondary sources. The discriptive historical approach was employed in the analysis of the work. This study submits that: African women were not passive subjects on issues of their reproductive life but agents that could reject imposed values and stick to their tested practices. The ideological and cultural arrogance that characterized the introduction of Western biomedicine had the unintended impact of galvanizing an unexpected resilience of traditional medical practices. Consequently appreciable change in favor of Western biomedicine was only witnessed in the period after independence.

The complexities of trans women’s access to healthcare in South Africa: moving health systems beyond the gender binary towards gender equity

BackgroundPublic health research highlights the influence of socio-political biases shaping obstacles to fair healthcare access based on gender. South Africa has shown commitment to resolving gender imbalances in healthcare, historically emphasizing cisgender women’s challenges. However, research gaps exist in exploring how public health systems perpetuate disparities among gender-diverse persons, like trans women, who face exclusion due to their deviation from cisgender norms in healthcare. Critical, intersectionality-informed health research carries the potential to reveal the diversity of gendered healthcare experiences and expose the systems and processes that marginalize trans patients.MethodsThis study adopts a critical trans politics perspective to explore the socio-political forces limiting South African trans women's access to public healthcare. Using a critical narrative approach, the research asks:1) What narratives do South African trans women share about their experiences in health systems?2) What gendered societal structures, practices, and norms enable or hinder their inclusion in health systems?Over a period of two months in 2022, five South African adult trans women between the ages of 22 and 30 participated in 60 to 90-min long, semi-structured individual, telephonic interviews, focusing on participants' subjective experiences in healthcare.ResultsTrans women's narratives unveiled a culture of medical genderism in South African public healthcare, discriminating against patients whose gender misaligns with societal norms. This culture is represented by the trans women's experiences of their identities being structurally stigmatized and delegitimized when seeking healthcare, reflected in institutional policies, practices, and protocols consistently disregarding and misgendering them. Trans women’s systemic erasure was illustrated by the restricted professional knowledge, availability, and adoption of gender-affirming healthcare in a ciscentric public healthcare system prioritizing cisgender needs. The intersection of gender, race, and class dynamics compounded the obstacles faced in accessing healthcare.ConclusionsThis inquiry underscores the structural hurdles trans women face when accessing suitable public healthcare. It introduces a gender equity framework for trans inclusive healthcare, outlining implications for research, theory, policy, and practice. Toward the goal of embracing complexity and diversity, this framework, for example, promotes the rigorous absorption of trans persons and their healthcare experiences in gender-responsive programming, and encourages the development of a comprehensive understanding of gender equity from an intersectional perspective incorporating the unique needs and rights of trans healthcare seekers. The framework also offers practical guidance for cultivating health systems attuned to gender diversity (such as addressing medical genderism and recognizing the broad spectrum of identity at a policy level).

Tire to Cope up the Patriarchal World as Portrayed by Adichie in The Purple Hibiscus

Women worry about subordination, as well as other issues impacting the development of the Nigerian female, have been voiced from a number of different perspectives. Nonetheless, themes like as gender-based violence, religious extremism, domestic abuse, and violence are seldom addressed in post-colonial literature by first generation female writers, in contrast to the writings of the new generation of female writers such as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. As a result of the author’s works, it has been determined that patriarchy is an ideology that attempts to demonstrate that a woman’s primary role in life is that of a mother and wife. This classification has an impact on a variety of women, regardless of their educational background. Adichie provides a multifaceted rather than a simple picture of her characters in Purple Hibiscus. She has been successful in dismantling the stereotype of African women as a homogeneous group of hard-working, helpless, and self-sacrificing victims who are complacent in their inferior positions, as she has done. Beatrice is a character in Purple Hibiscus, and through her, she portrays a picture of an African woman who is oppressed by the dual burdens of patriarchy and illiteracy. She is unable to redefine herself or speak up for her rights, and she ultimately resorts to murdering her husband Eugene in order to save herself and her children from their ordeal. Due to her failure to assert her own rights early in the novel, she suffers the tragedy of her husband’s death as well as the imprisonment of her son, as well as the start of her insanity.

Population-based study of the reproductive risk factors for transvaginal ultrasound diagnosed uterine fibroids in Nigerian women

There has been no previous systematic, epidemiological study of the reproductive risk factors for uterine fibroids (UF) in African populations despite African women having the highest burden of UF in the world. Improved knowledge of the associations between UF and reproductive factors would contribute to better understanding of the etiology of UF and may suggest novel opportunities for prevention and therapeutic interventions. We used nurse administered questionnaires to survey the demographic and reproductive risk factors of UF among 484 women who are members of the African Collaborative Center for Microbiome and Genomics Research (ACCME) Study Cohort in central Nigeria, and who had transvaginal ultrasound diagnosis (TVUS). We used logistic regression models to the evaluate associations between reproductive risk factors and UF, adjusted for significant covariates. In our multivariable logistic regression models, we found inverse associations with number of children (OR = 0.83, 95%CI = 0.74–0.93, p-value = 0.002), parity (OR = 0.41, 95%CI = 0.24–0.73, p-value = 0.002), history of any type of abortion (OR = 0.53, 95%CI = 0.35–0.82, p-value = 0.004), duration of use of Depot Medroxyprogesterone Acetate (DMPA) (p-value for trend = 0.02), menopausal status (OR = 0.48, 95%CI = 0.27–0.84, p-value = 0.01), and a non-linear positive association with age (OR = 1.04, 95%CI = 1.01–1.07, p-value = 0.003). Other reproductive risk factors that have been reported in other populations (age at menarche and menopause, and oral contraceptives) were not associated with UF in this study. Our study confirms some of the reproductive risk factors for UF that have been found in other populations and shows that some of them are stronger in the Nigerian population. The associations we found with DMPA suggest opportunities for further research to understand the mechanisms of action of progesterone and its analogues in the etiology of UF, their potential use for prevention and treatment of UF.

“Women, Gender, and Financial Inclusion”

Much of the institutions that form part of governing structures in African countries reflect gendered perspectives of notions such as freedom and development, thus resulting in a skewed perspective on the development of a country. African women often play second fiddle in matters such as redress, redistribution, and financial inclusion. There is a need to ask why and how this can be remedied through policy transformation and implementation.

Give the Black Girl the Remote: De-colonising and Depatriarchalising Knowledge and Art in Black Panther and Colour Me Melanin

This article explores two texts set in Africa to determine to what extent they exhibit decolonial and anti-patriarchal impulses. They are Ryan Coogler's 2018 film, Black Panther, and the adult colouring book, Colour Me Melanin (Kekana 2019), which features 27 portraits of African women paired with 27 poems inspiring pride in women's African heritage. Black Panther features a Black superhero: the hypermasculine T'Challa, although its technological genius is not T'Challa (the eponymous Black Panther), but his sister Shuri, disparaged by traditionalists in Wakanda as 'a child'. Despite her irreverent and iconoclastic approach to tradition, sixteen-year-old Shuri is 'the smartest person in the world, smarter than Tony Stark [Iron Man]' (Malik 2023). Despite these promising features, the film's portrayal of Shuri - a Black girl nerd who is manifestly her brother's equal in the arts of war and technology - stops short of a complete depatriarchalisation of the norm that reserves superhero status for men. Further, Black Panther contains a number of concerning representations that reinforce, rather than disrupting, the colonial view of Africa. Colour Me Melanin may be called speculative fiction in that it points to a future that is yet to come as it shifts the locus of women's beauty away from whiteness and places it firmly in the domain of Black African women's embodiment. All the same, some aspects of this multimodal text signal its affinity for colonial taxonomies and ways of thinking about ethnicity.