‘If they see you bleeding they will quarantine you’: Women’s help-seeking for violence during the Ebola and COVID-19 outbreaks in Sierra Leone
There is increased awareness of the gendered impacts of outbreaks, including an exacerbation of violence against women and disruptions to essential health service delivery for women. However, there is limited understanding of women’s own experiences of deciding to use the health system after experie...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Global Public Health |
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| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/17441692.2024.2411572 |
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| author | Rose Burns Neha Singh Maseray Fofanah Tehsie Momoh Shelley Lees Janet Seeley Manuela Colombini |
| author_facet | Rose Burns Neha Singh Maseray Fofanah Tehsie Momoh Shelley Lees Janet Seeley Manuela Colombini |
| author_sort | Rose Burns |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | There is increased awareness of the gendered impacts of outbreaks, including an exacerbation of violence against women and disruptions to essential health service delivery for women. However, there is limited understanding of women’s own experiences of deciding to use the health system after experiencing violence in settings affected by major emergent outbreaks like Ebola and COVID-19. Drawing on data from 37 in-depth interviews and 4 focus group discussions conducted in Sierra Leone we described survivors’ help-seeking pathways and interactions with the health system. Deciding to seek help and selecting a source of support was dependant on how ‘unacceptable’ the type of violence was, women’s needs (be they for physical, psychological or social trauma) and the risk versus benefit anticipated in accessing support. Informal providers such as local mediators were often the first place that survivors sought help. Pre-existing challenges around access and poor-quality service provision were exacerbated by the outbreaks. Fear of infection, quarantine and widespread distrust of the Ebola response shaped women’s help-seeking especially if symptoms like bleeding could resemble the virus. Our findings support the need to re-orientate towards survivor-defined interventions that are flexible in providing a wider range of support choices. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-5cec25c9cb404070a8a7cdaa59afa72f |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1744-1692 1744-1706 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Global Public Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-5cec25c9cb404070a8a7cdaa59afa72f2024-12-03T19:27:47ZengTaylor & Francis GroupGlobal Public Health1744-16921744-17062024-12-0119110.1080/17441692.2024.2411572‘If they see you bleeding they will quarantine you’: Women’s help-seeking for violence during the Ebola and COVID-19 outbreaks in Sierra LeoneRose Burns0Neha Singh1Maseray Fofanah2Tehsie Momoh3Shelley Lees4Janet Seeley5Manuela Colombini6Department of Global Health and Development, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UKDepartment of Global Health and Development, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UKCollege of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra LeoneRainbo Initiative Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra LeoneDepartment of Global Health and Development, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UKDepartment of Global Health and Development, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UKDepartment of Global Health and Development, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UKThere is increased awareness of the gendered impacts of outbreaks, including an exacerbation of violence against women and disruptions to essential health service delivery for women. However, there is limited understanding of women’s own experiences of deciding to use the health system after experiencing violence in settings affected by major emergent outbreaks like Ebola and COVID-19. Drawing on data from 37 in-depth interviews and 4 focus group discussions conducted in Sierra Leone we described survivors’ help-seeking pathways and interactions with the health system. Deciding to seek help and selecting a source of support was dependant on how ‘unacceptable’ the type of violence was, women’s needs (be they for physical, psychological or social trauma) and the risk versus benefit anticipated in accessing support. Informal providers such as local mediators were often the first place that survivors sought help. Pre-existing challenges around access and poor-quality service provision were exacerbated by the outbreaks. Fear of infection, quarantine and widespread distrust of the Ebola response shaped women’s help-seeking especially if symptoms like bleeding could resemble the virus. Our findings support the need to re-orientate towards survivor-defined interventions that are flexible in providing a wider range of support choices.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/17441692.2024.2411572Violence against womenoutbreaksCOVID-19EbolaSierra LeoneSDG 5: Gender equality |
| spellingShingle | Rose Burns Neha Singh Maseray Fofanah Tehsie Momoh Shelley Lees Janet Seeley Manuela Colombini ‘If they see you bleeding they will quarantine you’: Women’s help-seeking for violence during the Ebola and COVID-19 outbreaks in Sierra Leone Global Public Health Violence against women outbreaks COVID-19 Ebola Sierra Leone SDG 5: Gender equality |
| title | ‘If they see you bleeding they will quarantine you’: Women’s help-seeking for violence during the Ebola and COVID-19 outbreaks in Sierra Leone |
| title_full | ‘If they see you bleeding they will quarantine you’: Women’s help-seeking for violence during the Ebola and COVID-19 outbreaks in Sierra Leone |
| title_fullStr | ‘If they see you bleeding they will quarantine you’: Women’s help-seeking for violence during the Ebola and COVID-19 outbreaks in Sierra Leone |
| title_full_unstemmed | ‘If they see you bleeding they will quarantine you’: Women’s help-seeking for violence during the Ebola and COVID-19 outbreaks in Sierra Leone |
| title_short | ‘If they see you bleeding they will quarantine you’: Women’s help-seeking for violence during the Ebola and COVID-19 outbreaks in Sierra Leone |
| title_sort | if they see you bleeding they will quarantine you women s help seeking for violence during the ebola and covid 19 outbreaks in sierra leone |
| topic | Violence against women outbreaks COVID-19 Ebola Sierra Leone SDG 5: Gender equality |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/17441692.2024.2411572 |
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