Rural Indigenous Women Research Articles

The Types of Water Conflicts in an Irrigation System in Northern Mexico: Conflict as a Negative Link in Social Network Analysis

We used social network analysis (SNA) to identify the types of water-related conflicts between the users and members of the institutional arena of the Rio Mayo Irrigation District (RMID) within the ancestral territory of the Yoreme Mayo indigenous group in Sonora, northeastern Mexico. We combined ethnography with an analysis and visualization of bimodal networks that consisted of 118 users and their connections to the institutional arena’s 30 identified social actors who influence water management. Using a clustering algorithm, we identified four types of conflicts: (1) disputes between small- and large-scale farmers over (i) irrigation water and (ii) payments for water rights and land rental; (2) the struggle by large-scale farmers against the upper level of the water hierarchy, to obtain more water; (3) struggles by rural indigenous women against water providers, to conserve indigenous vernacular systems of managing water for domestic use; and (4) a “conflict” that turned out to be merely a structural remnant of the algorithm. We conclude that land- and water-grabbing in the RMID mainly affect indigenous small-scale farmers and that the combination of SNA and a clustering algorithm can identify the types of natural resource-related conflicts that might go undetected by other methodologies. However, SNA should in some cases be accompanied by a qualitative methodology.

A Postcolonial Feminist Perspective on Traditional Birth Attendants and Management of Pregnancy Complications Among Indigenous Women in Rural Nigeria

The work of Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) in the Global South continues to be pivotal to the operations of rural healthcare services, especially as formal healthcare services often malfunction in rural communities, as in rural Nigeria, where TBAs preponderantly conduct deliveries among Indigenous women. This study examines TBAs’ management of delivery complications in rural Nigeria among Indigenous women using a sample of TBAs and TBAs’ service users. The study adopts a qualitative methodology involving focus groups of TBAs’ service users and interviews of TBAs to determine TBAs’ effectiveness in managing obstetric complications, considering their differentiation in terms of service competence. The study apprehends the phenomenon through a postcolonial feminist theoretical lens. The results show that TBAs have differential capabilities in the management of cases and their perception and interpretation of problems determined whether physical or metaphysical strategies were employed in their work. While some TBAs competently managed the presented cases, others invited either TBA colleagues or traditional resource persons to assist in such dire moments. Even though the TBAs—victims of patriarchy and colonial subjugation—continue to be marginalized and subjugated by male-dominated colonial and neocolonial power structures, they have significantly transformed their values to create a model for rural social work that provides social and emotional support to Indigenous women in rural spaces. The study therefore identifies a social policy and social work imperative for ideas sharing between different forms of Westernized healthcare practitioners and TBAs to engender the best health outcomes for rural Indigenous women.

Low Levels of Lifetime Pap Test Receipt Among Vulnerable Guatemalans.

Low and middle-income countries, such as Guatemala, shoulder a disproportionate share of cervical cancer, a preventable disease in high income countries. Tangible obstacles, such as lack of access to health care, cultural differences, and insufficient infrastructure, and facilitators, such as being Ladino, married, and educated, have been identified in the literature related to cervical cancer prevention. The aim of this survey was to explore barriers and facilitators to cervical cancer prevention, comparing rural Indigenous and urban Ladino populations. We surveyed 139 women in two health clinics. Participants answered questions about demographic information, cervical cancer knowledge, and health care behaviors. We analyzed survey data with four bivariate models. Our results suggest vulnerable populations, such as rural Indigenous women who are single, illiterate, and lack education, face higher cervical cancer risk. Partnerships should be formed with health promotors and lay midwives to educate and encourage vulnerable populations to prevent cervical cancer.

Determinants of entrepreneurial performance of rural indigenous women entrepreneurs in Sarawak, Malaysia

PurposeThis study aims to explore the influence of internal and external factors on the entrepreneurial performance of rural indigenous women entrepreneurs (RIWEs) in Sarawak.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses a qualitative approach in data collection and analysis. Data are collected by means of a semistructured interview from 19 RIWEs at rural areas in Sarawak. Data are then analyzed using thematic analysis in NVivo software.FindingsThe study finds that RIWEs’ decision to start their business is mainly motivated by pull factors such as ego to succeed, ability to be self-employed and financially independent and to contribute to household income. The important personality traits of RIWEs to succeed in the entrepreneurial venture include self-belief, perseverance, commitment and risk-taking. Functional competencies and relationship competencies are cited as the most important core competencies to succeed. In terms of external factors, social networks, financial resources and support, business training and workshops and government’s preferential treatment policies are found to be important to RIWE’s entrepreneurial success.Originality/valueThis study is one of the few that explores the determinants of successful RIWEs in an emerging economy.

Postpartum haemorrhage in rural Indigenous women: scoping review of a global obstetrical challenge

ABSTRACT We conducted a scoping review to determine incidence and risk factors for postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) in rural Indigenous women. We systematically searched PubMed (Medline), EMBASE, and CINAHL for all peer-reviewed articles and grey literature regarding Indigenous ethnicity, rural settings, and PPH incidence, risk factors, or maternal outcomes published from inception to 11 January 2021. Eleven articles were deemed relevant after screening and quality assessment using the National Institutes of Health scoring system for mixed study reviews. Of these, 3 articles were good quality, 1 was fair, and 7 were poor. Nine possible risk factors were recorded. The outcomes studied were transfusion, hysterectomy and mortality. PPH research in rural Indigenous women is scarce, mostly low quality and fails to represent most Indigenous cultures and countries. Women from Indigenous groups in rural Canada, Australia and the USA are at higher risk for PPH but specific risk factors are unknown. While widely differing populations made the data difficult to synthesise, this inaugural scoping review highlights a need for further research and increased obstetrical resources in areas where rural Indigenous women reside.

Women's autonomy and food security: Connecting the dots from the perspective of Indigenous women in rural Colombia

There is a growing consensus that women's autonomy is positively related to food security. However, the evidence is inconsistent, and the nature of the pathways connecting the two factors remains unclear. ObjectiveTo analyze the connection between women's autonomy and food security drawing from the perspective of rural Indigenous women in Nariño, Colombia. MethodsFocus group discussions and photovoice were conducted with 24 women. ResultsWomen elucidated numerous economic, social, cultural, and political constraints affecting their autonomy and limiting their ability to ensure a nutritionally adequate diet for their households. Economically, key constraints include the lack of remuneration for women's work, a lack of education, and restrictive gender roles and discrimination in the agricultural realm. Social constraints center around the inadequate recognition and valuation of women's work, gender stereotypical roles, and gender-based violence. With regard to the cultural domain, the women identified a lack of traditional knowledge transfer, a shift in the agricultural landscape, and environmental degradation as critical constraints. Further, they asserted that the dearth of political representation and participation of rural Indigenous women has direct implications for food security and facilitates the legitimization and institutionalization of the constraints identified across other areas. ConclusionsThis study offers a nuanced understanding of the complexities linking food insecurity, autonomy, gender-inequality, discrimination, and poverty, while examining how intersectionality impacts these dynamic processes by recognizing women's points of view and perspectives—in this case—of one of the most vulnerable underserved, and under-researched segments of the Colombian population – Indigenous women.

Gender inequalities in the sale of handmade corn tortillas in central Mexican markets: before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to analyze gender inequalities and intersectionality experienced by rural-indigenous women who produce and sell native maize tortillas at three different markets-tianguis in central Mexico, facing the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsThis was a qualitative study based on 36 in-depth interviews before pandemic (2018), as well as 16 interviews during pandemic (2020) of women engaged in this work.ResultsMaking corn tortillas by hand is one of the culturally assigned gender roles in the indigenous population of the Mazahua region, which is why their sale in local markets as a female strategy to have access to income for household sustenance has been widely by the communities. The configuration of the different market-space for the sale of handmade tortillas, reflects the inequalities of gender and intersectionality (ethnicity, class, age, family life cycle and education levels). The women in conditions of poverty, landlessness, and with school-age children, have met greater disadvantages in continuing to sell tortillas in the face of the experience of pandemic restrictions.ConclusionsThe women who were already disadvantaged by their intersectional relationships continue to experience the same inequalities that conditioned their position in the marketplaces before the pandemic, sustaining a marginal but constant market.

Unearthing conscious intent in women’s everyday resistance to mining in Indonesia

Resistance to nickel mining in Sorowako, Indonesia has existed since the operation started taking land from farmers in the 1970s. However, in Sorowako and beyond, little is known about the gendered nature of everyday resistance to mining. We conducted a photovoice study with women from two Indigenous communities affected by the same mine to uncover conscious intent in everyday resistance. Some scholars call for abandoning intent and consciousness in analytical frameworks for everyday resistance, but by pairing photovoice with a conjunctural exercise, we found women’s awareness of how dispossession and exploitation for mining affects them and their responses to mining as rural Indigenous women. The participants used photovoice to show that their everyday acts, such as accessing forbidden land, intend to lessen their domination and better their conditions, a kind of quiet encroachment of the ordinary theorized by Bayat.

The Perception of Malaysian Rural and Urban Indigenous Women on Body Image

This study investigates the perception of body image among indigenous women in Peninsular Malaysia. Using a sample drawn from urban (n=38) and rural (n=21) settings, the study engages participants who are more or less socio-economically acculturated to mainstream society in order to explore different attitudes to body image, and anxiety level about social physique between rural and urban women. Rural indigenous women registered a higher level of body dissatisfaction than their urban counterparts. However, there was no significant difference in attitudes towards body image between indigenous women in both locations. Due to a degree of presumed acculturation to western ideals of body image, urban indigenous women who were not underweight showed a higher anxiety level concerning their physique than those from rural areas with a similar body size. It was also found that a higher level of body dissatisfaction correlated with a poorer body image among indigenous women in Malaysia.

Implementing a Group-Specific Multidimensional Poverty Measure: The Case of Persons with Disabilities in Peru

ABSTRACT We contribute to the literature on multidimensional poverty and people with disabilities by developing a group-specific, comprehensive, and policy-relevant measure of multidimensional poverty adapted to exploring deprivations within the group of persons with disabilities in Peru. Based on the Alkire-Foster method, we calculated multidimensional poverty estimates using data from the first Specialised National Survey on Disability in Peru collected in 2012. Our measure included eight dimensions, four of which were operationalised using disability-specific indicators, of which, in turn, three involved deprivation criteria specific to different categories of disability. Our results showed that 41.1% of the population with disabilities in Peru suffer deprivations in at least three out of the eight dimensions, whereas rural populations, women, indigenous peoples, persons with severe disabilities, and persons with communication disabilities face the highest levels of poverty. Additionally, we identified rural indigenous women as the poorest subgroup within the overall group of persons with disabilities in Peru with a poverty incidence of 88.1%. Our results suggested that eradicating multidimensional poverty among persons with disabilities in Peru will involve implementing reasonable accommodations to existing policies and creating new disability-specific policies focused on the poorest subgroups within this population.

Improving the response of primary care providers to rural First Nation women who experience intimate partner violence: a qualitative study

BackgroundSome legacies of colonialism are that Indigenous women living in Canada experience higher rates of intimate partner violence (IPV) and that violence is often more severe relative to non-Indigenous women. This results in avoidable physical, psychological, emotional, financial, sexual and spiritual harm in the lives of Indigenous women, families, and communities. Trusted primary care providers are well positioned to provide brief interventions and referrals to treatment and services, but little is known about the providers’ preparedness to support Indigenous women. Information on what enables or prevents providers to respond to Indigenous patients who experience IPV is needed in order to ensure this potential lifeline for support is realized.MethodsThe purpose of this community-based participatory study was to elucidate the barriers and facilitators to care for rural Indigenous women who experience IPV from the perspectives of primary care providers and to recommend strategies to improve their preparedness. Using a Grounded Theory approach, we conducted qualitative research with 31 providers to discuss their experiences with patients affected by IPV.ResultsThe results showed providers often feel a degree of unpreparedness to deal with IPV in a clinical setting.Underlying the feelings of unpreparedness were:Recognition of patients’ under disclosure of IPV due to stigma, shame and fearLack of formal provider training on appropriate approaches to IPVLack of referral network due to fragmented, scarce services for IPVLack of understanding of jurisdictional complexity of First Nations and non-First Nations specific services for IPVUncertainty how to negotiate cultural safety around IPVMultiple-role relationship & confidentiality dilemmas characteristic of small communitiesRisk of jeopardizing patient-provider relationshipConclusionsOur recommendations to improve provider preparedness to address IPV include reducing the stigma of IPV; creating effective referral pathways; improving cultural safety within the referral network; developing services for perpetrators; engaging natural helpers in the community, and; developing policies, procedures and continuing education related to patients who experience IPV in the clinical and community setting. We suggest that increasing providers’ comfort to respond to IPV for rural and Indigenous women will ultimately lead to improved safety and health outcomes.

Secular trends in age at menarche in 20th century Mexico: Differences by ethnicity, area of residency, and socioeconomic status.

This study aims to assess the secular trend in age at menarche (AAM) in Mexico over the 20th century, and compare the patterns according to area of residence (rural/urban), socioeconomic status (SES), and ethnicity (indigenous/nonindigenous). Data on AAM from 24 380 women aged ≥20 years born between 1906 and 1986 were obtained from the Mexican National Health and Nutrition Survey 2006. Birth cohorts were compared to test for a secular trend and differences in mean AAM by area of residence, SES, and ethnicity were evaluated using the Welch test for heterogeneous variances followed by Tamhane T2 for post hoc comparisons. Mean AAM declined from 13.3 years among Mexican women born before the 1940s to 12.56 years among those born in the 1980s. Across birth cohorts, urban women had significantly earlier AAM than their rural counterparts. Nonindigenous urban women reached menarche the earliest and rural indigenous women the latest of all groups. Nonindigenous urban residents experienced a comparatively earlier decline, while that for the indigenous rural women occurred last. High SES women reached menarche the earliest and low SES women the latest. The historical decline in AAM for high and medium SES groups occurred relatively early, whereas that for the low SES occurred last. Mean AAM was associated with area of residence, ethnicity, and SES. Our findings indirectly suggest that advances in living conditions experienced in Mexico during the 20th century appear to have been insufficient to overcome the social and biological inequalities accumulated over centuries in some groups.

Severe Maternal Morbidity and Mortality Among Indigenous Women in the United States.

To describe delivery-related severe maternal morbidity and mortality among indigenous women compared with non-Hispanic white (white) women, distinguishing rural and urban residents. We used 2012-2015 maternal hospital discharge data from the National Inpatient Sample to conduct a pooled, cross-sectional analysis of indigenous and white patients who gave birth. We used weighted multivariable logistic regression and predictive population margins to measure health conditions and severe maternal morbidity and mortality (identified using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification diagnosis and procedure codes) among indigenous and white patients, to test for differences across both groups, and to test for differences between rural and urban residents within each racial category. We identified an estimated 7,561,729 (unweighted n=1,417,500) childbirth hospitalizations that were included in the analyses. Of those, an estimated 101,493 (unweighted n=19,080) were among indigenous women, and an estimated 7,460,236 (unweighted n=1,398,420) were among white women. The incidence of severe maternal morbidity and mortality was greater among indigenous women compared with white women (2.0% vs 1.1%, respectively; relative risk [RR] 1.8, 95% CI 1.6-2.0). Within each group, incidence was higher among rural compared with urban residents (2.3% for rural indigenous women vs 1.8% for urban indigenous women [RR 1.3, 95% CI 1.0-1.6]; 1.3% for rural white women vs 1.2% for urban white women [RR 1.1, 95% CI 1.1-1.2]). Severe maternal morbidity and mortality is elevated among indigenous women compared with white women. Incidence is highest among rural indigenous residents. Efforts to improve maternal health should focus on populations at greatest risk, including rural indigenous populations.

The Influence of Gender on Rural Honduran Women’s Participation and Leadership in Community Groups

Throughout Latin America, increasing women’s leadership has been part of many development efforts. However, extensive research on this topic, especially with rural indigenous women, is limited in the literature. Barriers and opportunities for women to participate in leadership within their communities and local organizations may be related to economic, psychological, and social factors that influence their personal empowerment. This study used mixed methods to explore multiple perspectives of community participation and leadership of two Lenca villages in the western department of Lempira, Honduras. The findings from this study provide insight into structural constraints on women’s leadership in the community, and how gender affects engagement in agriculture. The importance of this research is its applicability to agricultural extension practitioners working in rural communities where participation in traditional gender roles may create gaps in women’s opportunities to engage in decision-making around agriculture, participate in community development, and be valued as leaders. For communities whose livelihoods rely on agriculture, understanding barriers to women’s participation can aid extension practitioners working to increase food security, as women play key roles in both agriculture and in supporting their families. Keywords: gender, women, agriculture, leadership, participation

Exploring youth development through an environmental education program for rural indigenous women

Youth development (YD) is receiving increased attention in environmental education (EE), yet faces critiques including lack of attention to cultural competency and structural barriers. We explore YD outcomes of the EE program “Women, Agroecology, and Leadership for Conservation,” which engages young Q’eqchi’ Maya women in Guatemala in learning about sustainable agroecology practices, women’s rights to make reproductive and educational choices, and environmental stewardship. Results show participants gain assets, including knowledge related to agriculture and stewardship, agency to pursue their schooling, and the ability to contribute to their communities. These results are examined through the lens of programs occurring in a rural, indigenous context. We explore challenges and opportunities related to the setting, including gender roles, cultural traditions, and land pressure.

Breast cancer management in Australian rural indigenous women: trends and challenges

Cancer patients residing in Australian rural areas have a 7% higher mortality when compared to their counterparts in urban centres. Close to half of the indigenous Australians reside in regional and remote areas. Despite of the lower incidence rates among the indigenous women, and increase in overall breast screen participation indigenous women have lower participation rates when compared to non-indigenous women and the mortality from breast cancer is similar in both groups. Due to their relative the indigenous women with breast cancer living in the rural and regional Australia face several barriers and challenges. Although there is no perfect algorithm to address this problem, government should provide adequate specialist, allied health and support services to the patient’s rural and regional areas and this should not be any different to the services offered to their urban counterparts. A multidisciplinary approach should be taken to the management of breast cancer for all indigenous women in the rural areas. Outreach clinics and Tele-oncology can overcome some of the challenges of access. Health professionals should also be trained in culturally sensitive and effective communication strategies to improve interpersonal relationship, trust, compliance and overall patient outcomes.

Rural indigenous women in Bolivia: A development proposal based on cooperativism

Current economic and social conditions in rural Bolivia have relegated some women to a secondary role. The values and principles of the cooperative movement are presented in this paper as an alternative to deal with gender inequality both in family and community contexts. A participatory and comprehensive development proposal based on cooperativism has been designed to cope with problems of structural discrimination. This proposal is an innovative adaptation of traditional strategy maps, introducing cooperative values in order to interconnect and enable the achievement of the varied objectives planned in favor of Bolivian rural indigenous women living in a disadvantaged situation.

Dilemmas of difference: Indigenous women and the limits of postcolonial development policy

In Dilemmas of Difference Sarah A. Radcliffe explores the relationship of rural indigenous women in Ecuador to the development policies and actors that are ostensibly there to help ameliorate social and economic inequality. Radcliffe finds that development policies’s inability to recognize and reckon with the legacies of colonialism reinforces long-standing social hierarchies, thereby reproducing the very poverty and disempowerment they are there to solve. This ineffectiveness results from failures to acknowledge the local population's diversity and a lack of accounting for the complex intersections of gender, race, ethnicity, class, and geography. As a result, projects often fail to match beneficiaries' needs, certain groups are made invisible, and indigenous women become excluded from positions of authority. Drawing from a mix of ethnographic fieldwork and postcolonial and social theory, Radcliffe centers the perspectives of indigenous women to show how they craft practices and epistemologies that critique ineffective development methods, inform their political agendas, and shape their strategic interventions in public policy debates.

Efecto del consumo de una harina de maíz enriquecida con soja en el estado de nutrición de mujeres indígenas de México

The problem of micronutrient deficiency in the diet, in Mexico affects over 28 million people, mainly rural indigenous women. A solution is food supplementation. The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of an enriched corn flour soy protein among indigenous women. The study was conducted with a sample of 308 rural Mexican women, conducted in 2010, longitudinal intervention was double-blind and randomized. The experimental group (n = 155) consumed fortified maize meal (soy protein, iron and vitamin A, folic acid, zinc and niacin). The control group (n = 153) received unfortified flour. The evaluated indicators were: weight, body mass index, and waist circumference and blood hemoglobin levels. The intervention time was four months (intermediate) and six months (final). Statistical analysis was descriptive, bivariate and linear regression models. Changes in hemoglobin levels in the experimental group were 13,1 to 13,3 mg / dL. The improvement of hemoglobine levels was shown by the most marginalized community (from 12,4 to 12,9 mg / dL). In both groups, the weight gain was 900 g. Though BMI of the experimental group (24,2 to 24,9 / kg/m²) with an increase of (0,7 / kg/m²) was equal in both groups, the waist circumference in women who consumed fortified flour was equal at the beginning and end of the study (83,0 cm) but the hip circumference changed (94,3 to 94,9 cm) in women who consumed enriched flour. enriched flour is an ideal food for marginalized women in rural areas who are underweight, are undernourished and have anemia.

Variation in cervical cancer screening by region, socio-economic, migrant and indigenous status in women in New South Wales.

The purpose of this study was to estimate the extent of association of cervical screening in NSW women with socio-economic status (SES), rurality, and proportions of non-English speaking background (NESB) and Indigenous status. Data on women who had at least one Pap test over two years (January 1998-December 1999) were obtained from the NSW Pap test Register. Each local government area (LGA) was allocated to categories of population proportions of NESB and Indigenous status, a rurality classification based on population density and remoteness, and to an SES quintile. The odds ratios (OR) of having a Pap test were estimated and confounding adjusted by multiple logistic regression analysis. Implied Pap test rates in urban NESB and in rural Indigenous women were estimated from the modelled estimates. The adjusted OR for a Pap test in large rural centres (1.14) was significantly higher than those for metropolitan or capital city residents (0.9 and 1.0 respectively). Adjusted OR for a Pap test in other rural centres (0.73) and other remote areas (0.64) were significantly lower than those for metropolitan or capital city residents. In urban populations the lowest OR were in areas with both low SES and high proportion of NESB. The lowest OR for Pap screening in rural populations occurred in the most remote areas with the highest proportion of Indigenous women. For urban NESB women the biennial Pap test rate was estimated as 50%, and for rural Indigenous women 29%, compared with the NSW average of 59%.