Accelerating cervical cancer elimination in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women: a modelling study.

The Temporal trend in the nutritional status of Indigenous children and pregnant women in Ceará, Brazil (2014-2022).

Our objective was to determine the prevalence of hypertension, overall and by sociodemographic factors, in a large clinical population of 13,873 primarily rural and Indigenous Guatemalan women. The purpose of the research is to present epidemiological findings that can be useful for public health planning and resource allocation. Overall prevalence of hypertension was 16.3% (95% CI 15.7-17.0%) and age-adjusted prevalence was 16.0% (95% CI 15.3-16.8%) using American Heart Association thresholds of 130 mmHg for systolic blood pressure and 80 mmHg for diastolic blood pressure for classification. Seventy-nine percent of those classified as hypertensive were previously undiagnosed. Hypertension prevalence increased with age and body mass index. Indigenous women and women who spoke Mayan languages both had approximately 20% lower prevalence of hypertension than non-Indigenous and Spanish-speaking women, respectively. In general, hypertension prevalence increased as likelihood of poverty decreased. Among those classified as hypertensive who had a second blood pressure reading available, 53% had elevated blood pressure on the second reading. When thresholds of 140 mmHg and 90 mmHg were used for systolic and diastolic blood pressure, respectively, overall hypertension prevalence was 5.4% (95% CI 5.0-5.8%) and age-adjusted prevalence was 6.0% (95% CI 5.4-6.6%).

Background: In Meghalaya, India, the tribal population faces significant barriers that contribute to lower rates of facility-based births. The aim was to assess the prevalence and determinants of home deliveries in Meghalaya. Methodology: This community-based cross-sectional study, conducted in an aspirational district of Meghalaya between August 2023 - July 2024. 360 mothers who delivered in the past 12 months were enrolled through a multistage sampling technique. SPSS version 27.0 was used for data analysis, employing bivariate logistic regression with a significance level set at p <0.05. Results: In this study, 130 (36.1%) of mothers delivered at home, with two-thirds of these deliveries conducted by unskilled birth attendants. Women with two to four children (AOR = 0.09), five or more children (AOR = 0.05), and those living over 5 kilometres from a health facility (AOR = 0.42) were less inclined to utilize institutional delivery services. While the odds for institutional delivery were higher among mothers who attended ≥ 4 antenatal care visits (AOR = 2.97) and those satisfied with ANC services (AOR = 13.96). Conclusions: The findings underscore the importance of improving access to quality antenatal care and addressing geographical barriers to improve regional institutional delivery rates.

Indigenous migrant women bear layers of oppression leading to their dispossession and invisibility. Positioned at the intersection of systemic inequality, patriarchal dominance, and gender-based violence, they face compounded marginalization. This article foregrounds the everyday realities of indigenous migrant women across South Asia and Latin America, drawing on case studies and narratives from India, Bangladesh, Guatemala, Mexico, and Honduras. Engaging with social contract theory and intersectional feminist frameworks, it questions how indigenous migrant women are often relegated to the peripheries. While mainstream discourses on indigeneity usually emphasize cultural erasure, they lag in addressing the violence and vulnerability of migrant indigenous women. Combining literature review, policy reports, case studies, and narratives documented by earlier ethnographers, this paper focuses on how indigenous migrant women are subjected to racialized sexism, labor exploitation, and cultural alienation. This qualitative methodological approach helps expose the epistemic violence embedded in dominant feminist and migration discourses that exclude indigenous perspectives. As a site of critical resistance, this paper encourages an understanding of indigenous feminism, which reclaims the voices of indigenous migrant women while challenging both settler-colonial structures and internal patriarchies. It advances feminist discourse that reflects plural epistemologies. In doing so, this article repositions indigenous migrant women as key agents of resistance within the broader struggle for recognition, justice, and self-determination. Through this study, we argue that an inclusive legal framework and culturally sensitive migration policies offer potential solutions.

Pregnancy and birth can be times of joy, hope, ceremony, and connection for Indigenous women. However, Indigenous maternal health and wellbeing are adversely affected by colonialism and socioeconomic inequities, resulting in otherwise preventable maternal morbidity and mortality. These complex inequities (e.g., marginalization, economic barriers, gendered violence) are highly context specific, and understanding these contexts is essential to inform actions to improve Indigenous maternal health.This study examined the contexts shaping Batwa women’s maternal health in Kanungu District, Uganda, and explored how women engage with, challenge and define their own pregnancy and birth experiences. Using a community-based research approach, we partnered with Batwa women and their communities. We conducted 12 focus group discussions with 44 Batwa women and 16 men across three communities, 49 in-depth repeat interviews with 10 Indigenous Batwa women who had experienced pregnancy, and 17 interviews with 22 maternal healthcare providers. Data were analysed using a constant comparative method and thematic analysis. Four themes related to Indigenous pregnancy were identified: gendered pregnancy expectations; gender roles during pregnancy and birth; gender discrimination and violence during pregnancy and birth; and Indigenous resilience and resistance. Batwa women described pregnancy and childbirth as both joyous and an onerous expectation. Most women’s experiences were characterized by limited partner support, and many included instances of domestic and institutional violence. Women resisted challenges throughout their pregnancies and births finding comfort and strength in Indigenous knowledge and ceremony. These findings demonstrate that Indigenous Batwa women’s pregnancy and birth experiences are profoundly shaped by intersecting gender inequities and colonial structures that continue to undermine their safety, autonomy and access to care. Addressing these inequities requires more than improving service availability; it demands structural reforms that confront gendered violence, eliminate discriminatory practices in health facilities, and meaningfully include Indigenous leadership in maternal health policy and programming.

The clamour for gender equality in many societies in Africa is ongoing. This task may seem herculean but it is achievable with constant enlightenment of both males and females alike. The indigenous woman is compelled to obey their husbands since the indigenous society is largely patriarchal. Thus, exposing them to persistent and uncontrolled violation of their rights, privileges and freedom. The significant role of the woman in the economic development of a Nation cannot be overemphasized. Unfortunately, women over time have been limited in their roles but rather confined to the traditional gender roles which prevent expression. This paper discusses the indigenous women as breadwinners vis-a-vis their roles and responsibilities in the family. It also sheds light on how the empowerment of resilience in women can be prioritised. Education, regular training and provision of resources by the Government and Non- Governmental bodies have been suggested as potent ways at empowering resilience in the indigenous women.

This article examines tropes of the unknown and Swedish gender exceptionalism using a series of photographs taken in the Brazilian state of Acre in 2008. Upon publication, the photos sparked sensation worldwide for supposedly depicting a community ‘untouched’ by the outside world. In Sweden, they came to be particularly understood within a discourse of gender equality. Drawing on, among others, Sara Ahmed’s concept of ‘strangerness’, Alcida Ramos’ ‘hyperreal Indian’, and studies of gender exceptionalism in Sweden, the article places the photos and their reception in a wider context of colonial violence, complicity and denial of coevalness. In an effort to widen the perspective on the continuing life of non-colonized communities, the article further argues that even while justified and necessary, critique of colonial tropes of the unknown risks reproducing a conflation of the modern with the present that keeps foreclosing the possibilities of other worlds. Instead, in a final reflection, the article turns to the mobilisation of Indigenous women in Brazil and the articulation of a politics of rexistência.

This article explores how Indigenous women’s fiction functions as a site of environmental education, reimagining pedagogy through relational ethics, affective care, and land-based knowledge. Drawing on The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich (Chippewa), Crooked Hallelujah by Kelli Jo Ford (Cherokee), and The Removed by Brandon Hobson (Cherokee), the paper examines how storytelling, domestic labour, and ecological care become pedagogical practices that sustain cultural continuity. Grounded in Indigenous feminist and environmental humanities frameworks, the study integrates Leanne Betasamosake Simpson’s (Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg) concept of ‘land as pedagogy’, Mishuana Goeman’s (Tonawanda Band of Seneca) idea of spatial sovereignty, Kelli Keeler’s (Cherokee Nation) theorization of land as agent, and Beth Piatote’s (Nez Perce) notion of the ‘feminine everyday’. Together, these theories reveal how the everyday practices of Indigenous women enact sustainable learning rooted in reciprocity and care. The analysis demonstrates that these literary works do not simply represent ecological consciousness—they perform it—transforming narrative into a relational curriculum. By situating Indigenous storytelling within environmental education, the article argues that carework, kinship, and ecological reciprocity form a decolonial pedagogy aligned with Sustainable Development Goals (Quality Education), (Climate Action), and (Life on Land).

Objectives. To examine racial/ethnic disparities in victim compensation claim approval rates for adult survivors of sexual assault. Methods. We analyzed administrative data from 18 US state victim compensation programs (2015-2023), covering 45 934 claims from adult sexual assault survivors. We used multivariable linear probability models to examine predictors of claim approval, adjusting for survivor age and state and year fixed effects. Results. Of all claims, 93.4% were from women; 41.7% were from White, 20.8% were from Latina, and 15% were from Black applicants. Black and Indigenous women's claims were less likely to be approved than were White women's (P < .001). The most common denial reason was lack of evidence that a crime had occurred (34.4%). Racial/ethnic disparities appear to be driven by administrative paperwork burdens. Approval rates varied widely, from 29.4% in Illinois to 94.1% in New Hampshire. Claims referred by hospitals or law enforcement had higher probabilities of approval than did those referred by other sources. Conclusions. Racial disparities exist in victim compensation claim approvals. Public Health Implications. Removing police reporting requirements and simplifying application processes could reduce racial disparities in access to compensation for survivors of sexual assault. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print January 15, 2026:e1-e7. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2025.308304).

Indigenous women experience distinctive mental health risks that accumulate across the life course under the continuing impacts of colonization, gendered violence, and systemic racism. Drawing on recent mandates from the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and the World Health Assembly's Resolution 76.16 (2023), as well as community-based exemplars such as Partners In Health's women-led peer models, this policy brief applies the analytical dimensions of the National Collaborating Centre for Healthy Public Policy to synthesize evidence, contextual factors, and feasible policy options. It identifies disproportionate burdens in suicide rates, perinatal depression, caregiver stress, and menopausal symptom severity, alongside a persistent lack of validated Indigenous-specific screening tools and gender-disaggregated data. The brief recommends an integrated, rights-based strategy that funds Indigenous governance of culturally safe mental health services across the life course, builds an Indigenous Women's Mental Health Data Strategy grounded in data sovereignty, embeds traditional knowledge and place-anchored healing in coverage policies, and extends targeted support for caregiving and menopausal transitions. Implementing these measures would operationalize reconciliation commitments, reduce documented inequities, and generate long-term social and economic benefits for communities and health systems alike.

In Latin America, organizations, movements, and alliances led by Indigenous, peasant, afro-descendant, and mestizo women are particularly important in resisting extractivist activities as well as in coproducing concepts, methods, and praxis that invite us to do politics otherwise. Building on our work with/within the Asamblea de Mujeres Insulares por las Aguas (AMIPA) – a women's organization in defense of waters in the Chiloé archipelago (southern Chile) – we examine the resistance to energy-related conflicts by engaging with and expanding the Riverhood framework from a situated feminist perspective. Particularly, we will examine how the Riverhood framework (and its four ontologies/dimensions) relate, take different forms, and extend when considering AMIPA and allies’ recent turn to defend the Mawida Piwchen (Cordillera del Piuchén). We explore how this ‘new wave’ of (green) extractivism, focused on the Cordillera, represents a broader political-ontological struggle over waters and territories, from which the Piwchen – a multifaceted aqueous/territorial (more-than-human) being – is entering into politics. We highlight the role of women as key political articulators across organizations when analyzing how multiple ways of worlding – such as scientific knowledges, Indigenous cosmologies, and diverse feminisms – connect at the confluence of multiple (energy, land, and water) struggles. We argue that these connections not only express ‘epistemic interfaces’ but are also embodied-territorial intra/interconnections with multiple water bodies and watery beings. We suggest that these (feminist situated) articulations facilitated by AMIPA and allies offer a grounded and expansive expression of the ontology of “rivers-as-territories” and materialize other Riverhood ontologies, particularly when Chiloé's hydrosocial territory is re-imagined through hydro(geo-eco)-logic, hydro-cosmological, and (as we suggest) ‘hydrocorporeal’ dimensions. As a grounded contribution to the Riverhood framework, we conceptualize this comprehensive ontology as ‘Waters-as-Territories’ (both in capital letters and plural terms), which offer alternative ways of living, relating, and being with plural/territorialized waters.

Fragmentation of healthcare delivery can disrupt the maternal care continuum and undermine effective coverage. In Mexico's segmented health system, institutional discontinuities may exacerbate inequities in access and quality. We examined the prevalence, determinants, and consequences of fragmented healthcare (FHC) for effective maternal healthcare coverage (EMHC) between 2009 and 2023. We conducted a retrospective, repeated cross-sectional analysis using nationally representative data from the 2014, 2018, and 2023 ENADID surveys, including 71,874 women aged 12-54 with a recent live birth. EMHC was defined as a composite indicator encompassing adequate antenatal care (ANC), skilled or institutional delivery, timely postpartum care, and a complication-free puerperium. FHC was defined as receiving ANC and delivery care from different healthcare providers. Pooled multivariable regressions with survey fixed effects assessed the association between FHC and EMHC, adjusting for sociodemographic and contextual characteristics. Between 2009 and 2023, roughly one in six women experienced FHC, while only one in three achieved EMHC. Fragmentation was more frequent among women covered by publicly subsidized insurance (Seguro Popular or INSABI), Indigenous women, those living in rural areas, and women with higher obstetric risk. Receiving ANC from private providers tripled the odds of FHC compared with women covered by employment-based social security. Women exposed to FHC had a 4.7 percentage point lower probability of achieving EMHC-equivalent to a 20% reduction in the odds of effective coverage (aOR = 0.80; 95% CI: 0.69-0.91). This adverse effect was consistent across survey waves and most pronounced among Ministry of Health users. Fragmented maternal healthcare trajectories substantially reduce the likelihood of effective coverage, disproportionately affecting socioeconomically and ethnically disadvantaged populations. The observed reduction in EMHC underscores that fragmentation is not merely a clinical or operational issue, but a structural challenge that requires reforms to improve the coordination of care. Strengthening integration across maternal care networks, ensuring interoperability of health information systems, and adopting continuity-based financing models are critical to improving coordination. Addressing FHC could prevent incomplete or unsafe care and accelerate progress toward universal health coverage. These findings offer actionable lessons for Mexico and other middle-income countries confronting health system fragmentation.

Maternal mortality in Brazil remains a critical indicator of social and racial inequalities, reflecting structural failures in access to and quality of obstetric care. Black women, particularly those categorized as black or brown, are at a higher risk of dying during pregnancy, childbirth, or the postpartum period. This is the result of the intersection of institutional racism, poverty, and social vulnerabilities. This study aimed to analyze trends and associated factors of maternal mortality among black women in Brazil from 2000 to 2020. This is a retrospective cohort analytical study using data from the Brazilian Mortality Information System. The sample included women aged 10 to 49 years whose underlying cause of death was classified under ICD-10 codes O00-O99. Descriptive and bivariate analyses were conducted, as well as Poisson and multinomial logistic regressions to estimate adjusted risk ratios according to skin color, education, region, type, and place of death. A total of 40,907 maternal deaths were identified, with 59.2% occurring among black women. The maternal mortality ratio was 39% higher among black women compared to white women and more than double among Indigenous women. Low education, residence in the North and Northeast regions, deaths outside hospital settings, and lack of formal investigation were independently associated with increased risk. Direct obstetric causes accounted for most deaths, with hypertensive disorders and puerperal complications being the leading conditions. Maternal mortality among black women in Brazil reveals deep structural inequalities. Urgent public policies that incorporate an intersectional perspective, addressing race, gender, and class, are necessary to reduce disparities and ensure equitable and dignified maternal healthcare.

This article explores the complex relationship between indigenous women in Ecuador and state as well as indigenous justice, which is marked by the continuity of colonialism, structural racism and patriarchy. Despite the formal recognition of indigenous justice in the 1998 and 2008 constitutions, gender-based violence continues to disproportionately affect indigenous women, who on the one hand, face multiple barriers to access to ordinary justice. On the other hand, despite the recognition and legitimacy of indigenous justice, it reproduces gender inequalities within community dynamics. In this context, based on a normative analysis accompanied by historical documents -such as the testimonies of Kichwa women in the province of Chimborazo, this research sets out to understand how indigenous women, through community organization, seek to redefine and transform their own justice against patriarchy and colonialism, rescuing ancestral principles and proposing mechanisms to promote territories free of violence. On this basis, it shows that indigenous women find in their own justice a hope for emancipatory, and they are on the way to strengthening it from a gender perspective, which leads community dynamics towards a life of dignity and violence-free.

ABSTRACT Intimate partner violence (IPV) profoundly disrupts women’s sense of self, relationships, and belonging, with particularly severe consequencesfor marginalized and indigenous women. This paper reports findingsfrom a pilot study on the development and preliminary implementationof a culturally grounded mental health intervention for tribal women survivors of IPV in Wayanad, Kerala, India. The intervention was developed in response to the limited cultural relevance of main stream trauma-focused models in indigenous contexts and was informed by constructivist, psychodynamic, narrative, and cognitive-behavioural principles. Ten tribal women aged 18–50 participated in a five-session group-based programme that integrated indigenous cultural expressions—such as folk songs, rhythmic movement, clayart, and storytelling—with therapeutic processes aimed at meaning-making, emotional regulation, and identity reconstruction. Sessions emphasized symbolic expression and collective reflection, enabling participants to externalize traumatic experiences and renegotiate personal narratives within a culturally familiar and emotionally safe space. Qualitative reflections indicated notable shifts from shame, self-blame, silence, and social isolation toward emerging narratives of resilience, agency, and connection. Participants reported enhanced emotional expression, strengthened coping strategies, and increased community support. Overall, the findings underscore the feasibility and cultural relevance of art-based, constructivist interventions for tribal women survivors of IPV. Future research should employ larger samples and mixed-methods designs to assess long-term outcomes and adaptability across diversetribal contexts.

The aim of the present study was to investigate birth weight and associated factors among Indigenous peoples in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. A cross-sectional baseline study was conducted with an Indigenous birth cohort of 407 livebirths to Indigenous women living in villages, retaken territories, and urban communities between 2021 and 2022. Birth weight (in grams) was considered the main outcome, with means and 95% confidence intervals calculated according to maternal and household characteristics. A multiple linear regression model was run to determine associations between mean birth weight and maternal household, demographic, and obstetric characteristics, with a 95% confidence level. Mean birth weight was 3,160.5g. The prevalence of low birth weight and macrosomia was 6.4% and 3.7%, respectively. After the adjustment for confounding variables, lower birth weight was found among livebirths of women living in households with a communal outdoor faucet and those with insufficient gestational weight gain. Children with higher birthweights were found among women with excessive gestational weight gain and multiparous women. The birth weight of Indigenous children was associated with maternal nutritional status, multiparity, and limited access to drinking water, indicating the need to improve nutritional surveillance for Indigenous women of childbearing age and strengthen intersectoral public policies that ensure access to drinking water on Indigenous lands.

Mangrove ecosystems in Youtefa Bay, Jayapura, function not only as ecological buffers but also as socio-cultural spaces that sustain Indigenous livelihoods, particularly for women. This study aimed to examine the roles of Indigenous women in mangrove utilization, customary governance, and adaptation strategies in Enggros and Tobati villages. A qualitative ethnographic case study approach was applied, using in-depth interviews, focus group discussions (FGD), participant observation, and document analysis involving 25 informants. The findings reveal that women are central actors in mangrove management, locally recognized as women's forests through shellfish harvesting, social cohesion, and intergenerational knowledge transmission. Distinct patterns of mangrove use were identified, with Enggros showing collective semi-commercial practices and Tobati emphasizing subsistence and household food security. However, these customary systems are increasingly challenged by infrastructure development, pollution, and declining knowledge transfers. This study recommends strengthening gender-sensitive mangrove governance by formally recognizing Indigenous women's ecological knowledge and integrating customary institutions into coastal management policies to ensure ecological sustainability and social equity.

Weaving culture: Indigenous women of Northeast India as agents of tradition and identity

In this article, I explore the connections between the medicalization of childbirth and environmental devastation through Guarani-Mbyá understandings of life and the living. I argue that the cuts made to Guarani-Mbyá women's vaginas (episiotomies) in Brazilian hospitals are experienced and situated on the same cosmopolitical level as the cuts made in their ancestral territories by fences that demarcate soybean plantations and cattle ranches. What I call an extractivism of vitalities occurs precisely through both bodies and territories. In exploring this issue, I highlight connections obvious to Indigenous women: Their bodies and territories are inherently linked by vital forces that are shared and modulated through different qualities of relations involving humans and other-than-human beings.