Intersectional Discrimination Research Articles

Intersectionality in Health Communication: How Health Communication Influences the Association Between Intersectional Discrimination and Health Information Seeking

With an intersectional orientation, we examine associations between discrimination, health communication, and information-seeking intention about HIV prevention in the context of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) among cisgender women through an online survey (N = 341). We elaborate on the idea that intersectional discrimination is a social determinant of health by considering the context with differing power relations—day-to-day life and the healthcare field—based on Bourdieu’s field theory, and explore moderating roles of health communication in this relationship according to the structural influence model of communication (SIM). The relationships between intersectional discrimination and intention show different patterns by the context in which intersectional experiences are considered, and the relationships are moderated differently by the mode of health communication. We discuss how to conduct intersectionality-informed health communication research without sacrificing intersectionality’s foundational foci.

Intersectional Discrimination in Mental Health Care: A Systematic Review With Qualitative Evidence Synthesis.

Discriminatory practices in mental health care undermine the right to health of marginalized service users. Intersectional approaches enable consideration of multiple forms of discrimination that occur simultaneously and remain invisible in single-axis analyses. The authors reviewed intersectionality-informed qualitative literature on discriminatory practices in mental health care to better understand the experiences of marginalized service users and their evaluation and navigation of mental health care. The authors searched EBSCO, PubMed, MEDLINE, and JSTOR for studies published January 1, 1989-December 14, 2022. Qualitative and mixed-methods studies were eligible if they used an intersectional approach to examine discrimination (experiences, mechanisms, and coping strategies) in mental health care settings from the perspective of service users and providers. A qualitative evidence synthesis with thematic analysis was performed. Fifteen studies were included in the qualitative evidence synthesis. These studies represented the experiences of 383 service users and 114 providers. Most studies considered the intersections of mental illness with race, sexual and gender diversity, or both and were performed in the United States or Canada. Four themes were identified: the relevance of social identity in mental health care settings, knowledge-related concerns in mental health care, microaggressions in clinical practice, and service users' responses to discriminatory practices. Discriminatory practices in mental health care lead to specific barriers to care for multiply marginalized service users. Universities and hospitals may improve care by building competencies in recognizing and preventing discrimination through institutionalized training.

Current Pitfalls of Addressing Intersectional Discrimination in the Workplace in EU Law: Hope for the Future?

Current Pitfalls of Addressing Intersectional Discrimination in the Workplace in EU Law: Hope for the Future?

Living less safely through the pandemic in England for people with serious mental and physical health conditions: qualitative interviews with service users and carers of Black African, Caribbean, and South-Asian descent.

COVID-19 Ethnic Inequalities in Mental health and Multimorbidities (COVEIMM) is a mixed methods study to explore whether COVID-19 exacerbated ethnic health inequalities in adults with serious mental and physical health conditions. We analysed data from electronic health records for England and conducted interviews in Birmingham and Solihull, Manchester, and South London. Sites were selected because they were pilot sites for the Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework being introduced by NHS England to tackle race inequalities in mental health. Prior to the pandemic people in England with severe mental illnesses (SMIs) faced an 11-17-year reduction in life expectancy, mostly due to preventable, long-term, physical health conditions. During the pandemic there was a marked increase in deaths of those living with an SMI. This qualitative interview study aimed to understand the reasons underlying ethnic inequalities in mortality and service use during the COVID-19 pandemic for adult service users and carers of Black African, Black Caribbean, Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi backgrounds living with serious multiple long-term mental and physical health conditions. We took a participatory action research approach and qualitative interviews undertaken by experts-by-experience and university researchers Participants were purposively sampled by ethnicity, diagnoses, and comorbidities across three geographically distinct sites in England. Transcriptions were coded inductively and deductively and analysed thematically. Findings indicated multiple points along primary and secondary health pathways for mental and physical health that have the potential to exacerbate the unjust gap in mortality that exists for Black and Asian people with SMIs. Issues such as timely access to care (face-to-face and remote), being treated in a culturally appropriate manner with empathy, dignity and respect, and being able to use services without experiencing undue force, racism or other forms of intersectional discrimination were important themes arising from interviews. These poor experiences create systemic and enduring healthcare harms for racialised groups with SMIs that need to be addressed. Our findings suggest a need to address these, not only in mental health providers, but across the whole health and care system and a need to ensure more equitable healthcare partnerships with service users, carers, and communities from racialised backgrounds who are often excluded.

Transnational Intersectionality at Sea: Gender, Appearance, Ethnicity, Age and Marine Knowledge Production

<p>Knowledge production is inherently social, as humans interpret their environment. Scientific knowledge production differs from non-scientific ones in their systematic data collection for validation, yet both involve a social element shaping our understanding of the world. The article investigates social contestation processes as part of knowledge producing processes on a German research vessel and in German and Brazilian marine science institutes with a particular focus on the social identity markers of gender, ethnicity, and age and how they affect team-based sense-making processes. Methodologically, our research draws on participant observation of following marine scientists and associated non-scientists in their daily working routines, as well as semi-structured interviews on a research vessel in 2021 and in marine science institutes from 2022 to 2024. Conceptually, the research follows approaches of the Sociology of Knowledge (Keller et al., 2018) and intersectional approaches (Grabe & Else-Quest, 2012; Patil, 2013) that integrate transnational experiences across national borders and other (physical) boundaries. Based on the empirical research, we assess transnational intersectional sense-making practices at sea. Our findings show that 1) (sexual) harassment in marine knowledge production processes occurs independent of localities, 2) intersectional discrimination at sea leads either to emancipation processes or to withdrawal, 3) tensions especially arise between scientists and non-scientists, which broadens the gap between these social groups and knowledge systems. We conclude by providing recommendations for increased intersectional and female workforce at sea and in marine sciences, so that the doing of research and work at sea can be more inclusive, equal, and safe.</p>

Intersectional discrimination and EU law: Time to revisit Parris

In this article it is argued that the CJEU judgment in Parris needs to be revisited to recognise that intersectional discrimination is covered by the EU anti-discrimination Directives. There are several reasons for this. First, a prohibition of intersectional discrimination is now laid down in an EU anti-discrimination Directive (Directive, 2023/970/EC); second, this would fit in with developments in the EU Commission, Council and Parliament; third Parris turns on its own facts; fourth a purposive or capacious interpretation of these Directives already allows for such discrimination to be included in the Directives; fifth, the shift in CJEU case law towards a intra-group comparison for discrimination can make comparisons in intersectional discrimination cases easier. It is argued that without acknowledging that intersectional discrimination is covered by the EU anti-discrimination Directives, victims of such discrimination, like Mr Parris and others, like headscarf wearing women, might be left without a remedy when they suffer discrimination on a combination of grounds.

Hybrid governance and intersectional discrimination: An examination of women's experiences in South Africa

Hybrid governance and intersectional discrimination: An examination of women's experiences in South Africa

Integrating Feminism, Transforming the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS): An Analysis of the Scheme Through the NDIS Plans of People with Intellectual Disability

ABSTRACT The implications of gender inequality have been overlooked in the lives of women with intellectual disability who suffer intersectional discrimination because they are women but also because they have a disability. The individualised funding models used by the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) aims to advance human rights concerns, such as gender equality, by giving people the ability to decide how they are supported. Underpinning the strategy is that individuals have ‘choice and control’ over care under a market-based economy model as businesses create services to meet their needs. However, it is unclear to what extent the system recognises the needs of women with intellectual disability and the intersectional discrimination that they experience. The article presents research aimed at locating how the notions of choice, control and autonomy intersect with gender by examining 20 NDIS plans for men and women with intellectual disability. We use a feminist perspective to analyse how the complexities of power dynamics in the planning process, the subjugation of women in society, and epistemic knowledge creation are part of women with intellectual disabilities' experience of the NDIS. This article contributes to the feminist discourse and makes suggestions for improving the approach and policy of the NDIS.

Multiple and intersectional discrimination and mental health of migrant populations in Portugal after the COVID-19 pandemic

PurposeA growing body of evidence suggests that experiences of discrimination may affect physical and mental health through multiple pathways. This paper aims to characterize the extent of everyday perceived discrimination among Brazilian and Cape Verdean immigrant adults in Portugal, to identify its forms and analyze its association with mental health.Design/methodology/approachThis study draws on data from the EQUALS4COVID19 (Equity in health in times of pandemic) project that implemented a cross-sectional survey combining online and face-to-face questionnaires for data collection between February and November 2022.FindingsWomen were less likely than men to report no discrimination experiences and more likely to report combined bases of discrimination. While Brazilian women were more likely than Cape Verdean counterparts to report gender and nationality-based discrimination, Cape Verdean women and men were more likely to report experiencing race-based discrimination. Gender (being identified as a woman) and length of stay in Portugal were the main predictors of depression, while resilience and perceived social support were protective factors. Participants with higher levels of resilience showed a significantly diminished association between perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms.Practical implicationsThis study highlights the need for further research on the interlocking influences of gender, race, nationality and other structures of power, on health and illness to increase our understanding of what would help meet the specific needs of migrants’ mental health and improve equitable health care.Originality/valueThe findings on the multiple and intersectional discrimination perceived by the Brazilian and Cape Verdean populations in Portugal illustrated the ways mental health can be affected by social structures, such as gender and ethnic hierarchies, and can be used to inform the relevance to design and implement programs on combating individual and institutional discrimination and improving the rights of all people.

Immigrant and Racialized Populations' Cumulative Exposure to Discrimination and Associations with Long-Term Conditions During COVID-19: A Nationwide Large-Scale Study in Canada.

This cross-sectional study examines associations between the race-migration nexus, cumulative exposure to intersectional discrimination (2years before and during the COVID-19 pandemic), and long-term conditions. A nationwide self-selected sample (n = 32,605) was obtained from a Statistics Canada's Crowdsourcing online survey from August 4 to 24, 2020. Binary and multinomial logistic regression models were used to examine disparities by the race-migration nexus in accumulative experiences of multiple situations- and identity-based discrimination and their relations with long-term conditions, after controlling for sociodemographic covariates. During the pandemic, discrimination stemming from racialization - such as race/skin color (24.4% vs 20.1%) and ethnicity/culture (18.5% vs 16.5%) - and cyberspace (34.1% vs 29.8%) exaggerated relative to pre-pandemic period; compared to Canadian-born (CB) whites, the likelihood of experiencing multiple discrimination increased alongside the domains of discrimination being additively intersected (e.g., identity-based, all p's < 0.001) among CB racialized minorities (ORs 2.08 to 11.78), foreign-born (FB) racialized minorities (ORs 1.99 to 12.72), and Indigenous populations (ORs 1.62 to 8.17), except for FB whites (p > 0.01); dose-response relationships were found between cumulative exposure to multiple discrimination and odds of reporting long-term conditions (p's < 0.001), including seeing (ORs 1.63 to 2.99), hearing (ORs 1.83 to 4.45), physical (ORs 1.66 to 3.87), cognitive (ORs 1.81 to 3.79), and mental health-related impairments (ORs 1.82 to 3.41). Despite a universal health system, Canadians who are CB/FB racialized and Indigenous populations, have a higher prevalence of cumulative exposure to different aspects of discrimination that are associated with multiple long-term conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Equity-driven solutions are needed to tackle upstream determinants of health inequalities through uprooting intersectional discrimination faced by racialized and immigrant communities.

Intersectional challenges in post-trafficking reintegration of survivor women of trafficking

ABSTRACT This article reviews the available literature to address a fundamental question concerning the impact of intersectional discrimination on women during their post-trafficking reintegration. The problem under examination involves two conceptual terms: ‘intersectionality’ and ‘reintegration’. We scrutinise the existing literature to understand the profound effects of multiple forms of discrimination on trafficked women during their post-trafficking reintegration by employing ‘intersectionality,’ a theoretical framework introduced by Crenshaw (1989). We conducted a systematic review of peer-reviewed literature, identifying articles published in English between 2010 and 2021. The articles included in our review either reported on original research or were conceptual studies focusing wholly or partially on the trafficking of women and the intersectional challenges they face during reintegration interventions. Our review presents compelling findings that highlight the influential role of intersectional identity on the rights of trafficked women, contributing to systemic discrimination against them during their long-term reintegration. Regarding outcomes, this article proposes a comprehensive solution for long-term reintegration, addressing a variety of needs, including therapeutic intervention, economic sustenance, gender-sensitive healthcare, and social inclusion.

Brick by brick bias: Arab Muslim experience of intersectionality in housing

ABSTRACT The study presented in this paper examined intersectional discrimination against individuals with multiple minority identities in the housing market, specifically those identifying as Arab Muslims. By sending inquiries from three fictitious applicants – a Swedish Christian, an Arab Christian, and an Arab Muslim – to 1,200 landlords in Sweden, we analyzed differences in landlord responses. Results showed the Swedish Christian received the most positive replies, followed by the Arab Christian, with the Arab Muslim receiving the fewest. The study underscores the compounded discrimination faced by those with multiple minority identities and challenges the conflation of ethnic and religious identities in prior research.

Exploring the properties of the Intersectional Discrimination Index — Major in Canadian Veterans with chronic pain

LAY SUMMARY In this study, the utility of a new self-report scale to capture experiences of discrimination or violence among a sample of Canadian military Veterans with chronic pain was evaluated. The Intersectional Discrimination Index — Major (InDI-M) was administered through an online survey along with other scales to measure experiences of pain, mood disorder, and functional interference. Results indicate that the InDI-M appears to measure both experiences of interpersonal violence and of systemic inequity, although some problems were identified when using the scale in this sample of predominantly white male Veterans. The InDI-M might be a useful research tool for exploring effects of interpersonal violence on pain and mental health but less so for exploring experiences of systemic inequity in military Veteran health research.

Catch 22: Social workers’ perceptions of the socio-cultural and formal-structural factors that inhibit interventions with at-risk young Arab-Palestinian women in Israel

The factors that inhibit and promote professional interventions with young adults refer to social, formal-structural, and personal factors. Nevertheless, studies of these factors from social workers’ perspective, and research of the inhibitors associated with the socio-cultural context of minority young adults, are few. The aim of the present study was to examine social workers’ perceptions of the factors that inhibit and promote interventions in the socio-cultural and formal-structural context of at-risk young Arab-Palestinian women in Israel, who are at an intersection of marginal positions. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 21 social workers. The findings revealed two themes: 1) Social workers’ perceptions of the challenges in two dimensions, a) socio-cultural factors which include family centrality in the young women’s life, and b) formal-structural inhibitors. 2) Promoting factors which include professional values and the need for cooperation between organizations themselves and with recipients of the services The findings were reviewed according to the intersectional invisibility model, and were based on the concept of institutional discrimination, which showed that at-risk young Arab women experience an intersectional invisibility of their identities and, at the same time, the social workers experience a conflicting situation within the wider context of intersectional discrimination. The paper concludes with recommendations to practitioners and policymakers.

Intersectional activism: Dutch-Turkish Muslim women “talking back” to securitization and Islamophobia

ABSTRACT This article investigates the efforts of influential Turkish Muslim civil society actors to amplify the voices of Muslim women in the Netherlands. Through interviews, the research uncovers the impacts of Islamophobia and securitization policies on the classification of Muslim women as either threats or victims. The study captures participants’ responses challenging intersectional discrimination based on gender, religion, and race, employing the notion of “talking back” as an analytical framework reflecting resistance. This includes criticisms of boundaries, discrimination, a lack of representation, and patriarchal practices. Participants engaged in talking-back practices by critiquing mainstream feminism’s homogenous approach, advocating for Muslim women’s rights through Islamic feminism, distinguishing culture from religion, and participating in local women’s organizations. The findings hold significant implications for integration, citizenship, security, and multiculturalism amidst rising Islamophobia. This research contributes to uncovering the voices of Dutch-Turkish Muslim women pushing back against marginalization at the intersection of racism, sexism, and discrimination.

Whisper network knowledge of BAME women in academia: a critical realist, critical race feminist theory model of theorising inequality regimes

PurposeThis paper introduces a new approach to theorising and learning from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) women’s experiences of inequality in academia. It offers a versatile model with which the structure of a particular racist-sexist inequality regime can be theorised from empirical evidence.Design/methodology/approachThe paper presents composite, fictionalised accounts of intersectional discrimination which are then analysed through critical realist frameworks, employing critical race feminist theory insights. This novel “whisper network” method centres the knowledge of BAME women in academia, and is translatable to other marginalised actors, offering a more protective means by which to access their knowledge as a foundation for organisational change.FindingsThrough theorising the ontological arrangement of key causal mechanisms responsible for the reproduction of inequality regimes, the paper illuminates links between micro-level intersectional discrimination and meso-level institutional inequality.Research limitations/implicationsIn order to preserve anonymity and reduce potential backlash, the vignettes in this paper are not intended to precisely capture specific empirical realities, but instead reflect wider patterns from the author's own whisper network knowledge. Nonetheless, the analytical method developed here could be applied to rigorously collected empirical data, with clear implications for improving organisational practice.Practical implicationsThe paper offers a structured and systematic process by which qualitative data on institutional inequality can be analysed and stakeholders engaged to develop and propose solutions, even by individuals new to the field.Social implicationsA methodical basis for strategic action addressing the issues revealed through such an analysis can be developed in order to galvanise and steer organisational change.Originality/valueThe novelty of the paper is twofold: in its original synthesis of critical realist depth ontology and ontological insights from critical race feminist theory about social structures of oppression, and in the development of the innovative “whisper network” method based upon a critical race theory counter-storytelling epistemology, in conversation with the emergent stream of literature within feminist organisation studies regarding the importance of “writing differently”.

A fairy tale with an unhappy ending: the organizational regulation of “Latina accountant identity” in Spain

PurposeIdentity regulation is part of a management control package. Organizations regulate employees’ self-identity to influence their behaviors. The success of this regulation depends on its trade-off with employees’ work identities and personalities. Organizational discourse nurtures this dynamic and interactive process. We focus on the regulation of an (undesired) organizational identity that is born at the intersection of race/ethnicity, gender, sex and migrant discrimination in accounting-related positions. We aim to analyze how Latina accountants who migrate to Spain perceive that their triple status as Latina, women and migrants affects their careers as accountants and interpret whether this triple intersectional discrimination aims to create a Latina accountant’s self-identity.Design/methodology/approachThis critical study follows a phenomenological approach to analyze the experiences of women born in Latin America who migrated to Spain to occupy accounting-related positions. A thematic analysis of their semi-structured interviews allowed us to examine the challenges faced by Latina accountants in their accounting careers in Spain.FindingsOur interviewees' narratives display an internalization of, even resignation to, a self-identity that we label “Latina accountant identity.” This identity is based on explicit discrimination discourses that cause them to suffer from the intersection of racism, sexism and migrant conditions and is nurtured by the discourses of their senior managers, co-workers and subordinates.Originality/valueTo the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to frame the regulation of an intersectional discriminatory identity that is used to control Latina accountants from the inside, acting on the triple condition of Latinas, women and foreigners, influencing their self-perceptions regarding work and personal lives.

0258 Intersectional Discrimination: An Approach to Understanding Insomnia Symptoms in Minoritized Populations

0258 Intersectional Discrimination: An Approach to Understanding Insomnia Symptoms in Minoritized Populations

“It's Kind of My Responsibility”: An Analysis of the Current EDI Discourse in Canadian STEM Fields and its Potential and Limitations to Contest Intersectional Discrimination

Since 2019, equity, diversity, and inclusion have become institutional priorities for Canadian funding agencies and universities under the acronym EDI. Here, we examine for the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) how the current EDI discourse unfolds in scientists’ understandings as EDI construct. This study presents data collected through 18 online interviewswith researchers in STEM fields across Canada. For our analysis we apply critical discourse analysis and the matrix of domination. Four themes emerge from our data regarding STEM researchers’ understanding of and experience with the EDI construct: (a) EDI astrainable knowledge, (b) EDI as human resources/managerial issue, (c) EDI as assessable performance, and (d) EDI as individual initiative/lonely endeavour. Our findings suggest that the EDI discourse increases the awareness of the underrepresentation ofgroups in STEM fields. However, most interview participants demonstrate an essentialist understanding of identity decontextualized from institutional and structural processes of difference making along axes of gender, race, class, and body, amongst others. This critical discourse-analytical work contributes to an intersectional, power-acknowledging understanding of EDI in Canadian highereducation.

Disordered eating and emotional eating in Arab, middle eastern, and north African American women

Arab, Middle Eastern, and North African (A-MENA) American women are often subject to intersectional discrimination, and they have also not been traditionally recognized as a distinct racial group in disordered eating literature. No study to date has provided descriptive information on disordered and emotional eating A-MENA American women, nor has examined perceptions of widely used measurements of eating pathology in this population. The current study generated descriptive information among A-MENA women on two widely used measures of eating pathology, the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) and the Emotional Eating Scale (EES). Participants (N = 244) were A-MENA adult women were recruited via social media and snowball sampling. Qualitative findings provide potential sociocultural predictors of disordered eating that should be further explored, such as bicultural identity and family pressures/comments toward appearance. Secondly, themes from the EES-R indicate adding emotion of shame and considering identity-related stress. The current study provides prevalence data and future directions of research on widely used eating pathology and appearance attitude measurements for A-MENA American women.