The Listening Guide: Illustrating an underused voice-centred methodology to foreground underrepresented research populations.

AIM: To highlight the value of utilizing the Listening Guide methodology for nursing research and provide an exemplar applying this methodology to explore a novel concept in an underrepresented group-inner strength in persons newly diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment along with their care partners. DESIGN: Methodology discussion paper. METHODS: The exemplar study used the Listening Guide methods for data elicitation and analysis. Methods included adaptations for the study population and novice qualitative researchers. RESULTS: The Listening Guide methodology with adaptations enabled the research team to centre the voices of persons living with mild cognitive impairment, highlight an abstract phenomenon and attend to the influences of the sociopolitical context. Further, this methodology helped address common challenges emerging qualitative researchers encounter, including understanding methods of application, engaging reflexively and immersing in the data. CONCLUSION: The Listening Guide is a voice-centred qualitative methodology that is well suited to foreground the experiences of groups underrepresented in research and explore emerging phenomena. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING: Nurses are central to striving for health equity. The Listening Guide methodology offers a valuable and accessible research tool to understand the experiences and needs of underrepresented groups and shape healthcare in response. IMPACT: The Listening Guide methodology can be broadly applied to research with persons with mild cognitive impairment, and other underrepresented groups, to explore other phenomena beyond inner strength and move the science forward in representing the perspectives of groups underrepresented by research. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: Persons living with cognitive impairment and their care partners participated in study conceptualization, interview guide development, methods development and dissemination plans.

Social entrepreneurship in sport: a peripheral country perspective.

For the past decade, scholars have been working towards developing a robust theory of social entrepreneurship in sport (SES). However, SES theory remains void of peripheral country perspectives and thus perpetuates the Eurocentric views of entrepreneurship. This paper used a decolonial feminist lens and Whittemore and Knafl's methodology to conduct an integrated review of SES literature written in or about a peripheral country context. The review examined how scholarship from and about this context had considered geographical and culturally specific perspectives in the development of SES theory. A total of n = 1971 papers were retrieved, with only n = 12 providing relevant peripheral country context. This scarcity of literature indicates that the current theory of SES lacks peripheral country perspectives. Many papers in this review (n = 5) are written by authors in or from a peripheral country. Their contributions to SES literature revealed the decolonial feminist approaches that centralize alternative perspectives and added plurality to the definition of SES. The findings revealed the nuanced theoretical approaches to SES and highlighted the gaps in this context. The review shows how, despite the rise in social enterprises that focus on gender equity and the economic inclusion of women, gendered studies were still very scarce.

It's Not Just Me, It's Us, Together: The Embodied of the Wounded Healer in the Role of Sex Trade Survival Mentors-A Critical Mentoring Perspective.

Mentoring is one of the unique forms of rehabilitation used to engage with women in the sex trade. The role creates personal and professional challenges; one concerns the mentors themselves dealing with a past in the sex trade, embodying within it a sign of social disgrace. Echoing the concept of the "wounded healer," the present study examines how mentors who are sex trade survivors perceive their role in supporting the rehabilitation of women in the sex trade and the meanings that they give it. The research is based on a qualitative approach from a critical-feminist point of view. Eight female mentors and sex trade survivors, working in different settings, participated in the study. Data collection was conducted through semi-structured, in-depth interviews. Based on content analysis, the study points to four components of mentoring vis-à-vis the rehabilitation of women in the sex trade: (1) mutual identification and shared destiny; (2) corrective experience; (3) hope; and (4) saving lives. In addition, mentoring serves as a bridge for the mentors, eliciting opportunities for growth transforming out of their pain. The research findings are discussed in the context of the theoretical framework of critical mentoring, and how a relationship and a therapeutic alliance can turn mentoring into a critical healing practice, in relation to four principles: (1) equality; (2) critical empathy; (3) recognition; and (4) solidarity. The paper encourages the use of mentoring-based interventions in the process of rehabilitating women in the sex trade.

Navigating midwifery solidarity: A feminist participatory action research framework.

BACKGROUND: A core aspect of midwifery philosophy is the optimisation of normal physiology; however, this has been challenged as a radical idea in the medicalisation of birth. Research has demonstrated the benefits of midwifery in improving outcomes for both mothers and babies. The understanding of midwifery benefits fails to reach wider sociocultural contexts as births becomes more medicalised. Midwifery research requires an action arm, to help translate theory to practice and mobilise midwives in solidarity with women towards action and change. AIM: The aim of this article is to describe a Feminist Participatory Action Research (FPAR) by establishing the philosophical underpinnings, theory and methodology with an exemplar. METHODS: FPAR has two distinct yet intertwined parts, a research arm and an action arm. The study was conducted using FPAR, and collaboration with nine women, who led transformative action within their community. The exemplar details the use of the FPAR framework. FINDINGS: A FPAR framework was developed through this research to guide researchers aiming to use the FPAR design. The framework details four steps: 1. Create, 2. Collaborate, 3. Consider, and 4. Change. The iterative FPAR cycles were shown in this study to centre women in the research and guide the community research group towards transformative action. CONCLUSION: FPAR is shown in this project to assist midwifery researchers to realise solidarity and provides support for other midwifery researchers in applying feminist theory and participatory methodologies to bring about transformation within their research.

Woman-centred ethics: A feminist participatory action research.

INTRODUCTION: Contemporary ethical issues in the maternity system are nuanced, complex and layered. Medicalisation and the reported rise in incidence of mistreatment and birth trauma, has been described as unethical. Some authors suggest bioethical principles are limited in terms of guiding everyday care of pregnancy and birth. There is currently no known published research which explores what birthing people say is ethical. AIMS: This study sought to explore women's experience of maternity care from an ethical perspective. METHOD: A Feminist Participatory Action Research (FPAR) was conducted over three years, in two phases. A Community Action Research Group (CARG) was formed of nine participants, and data were captured from five focus groups. A further ten participants were recruited for individual in-depth interviews, the data corpus was combined, and thematic analysis was applied. All 19 participants had experienced a midwifery model of care in Western Australia. RESULTS: A unique ethical perspective was described by the participants. The central theme: 'Radical desires: Individuals values and context' placed the woman at the centre of the care, in determining what is ethical. Two categories captured the care experienced: Woman-centred ethics or Authoritarian ethics. A conceptual model Woman-centred ethics is offered to enhance everyday ethical midwifery care. DISCUSSION: The participants in this study perceived care as either ethical or unethical based on the quality of the relationship, the knowledge that was shared and the manner of the care given. The Woman-centred ethics model may be a starting point for moving the field forward in ethical discussion.

Taking Practical Steps: A Feminist Participatory Approach to Cocreating a Trauma- and Violence-Informed Physical Activity Program for Women.

Trauma- and violence-informed physical activity (TVIPA) is a feasible approach to improve access/engagement in physical activity for pregnant/parenting women with experiences of trauma. Through feminist participatory action research, 56 semistructured interviews were completed to understand TVIPA. Four themes were identified: (1) "I have to be on edge": Trauma and violence pervade women's lives, (2) "It should be mandatory that you feel safe": Emotional safety is essential, (3) "The opportunity to step up and be decision-makers and leaders": Choice, collaboration, and connection create safety, and (4) "It's a good start for healing," strengths-based and capacity building foster individual and community growth.

Feminist research in a female-dominated profession: How can this lens help us to understand ourselves better in speech-language pathology?

Purpose: Feminism is a theoretical position that allows researchers to explore, identify and potentially address issues that negatively impact on women, including on their health and health care. It has been used for many years in health care professions such as nursing.Method: In this paper, we argue that feminist research could underpin innovation in our professional practice as speech-language pathologists. We present research from within and outside of speech pathology that supports this position, and describe how feminism as an epistemology can guide qualitative research and discuss how other health care professions have used this framework to ask questions across broad areas.Conclusion: A feminist lens enables critique of ourselves and our profession to help us to understand how being female-dominated interacts with being portrayed, understood or conceptualised as feminine, and the consequences of this for professional practice. Feminism could also support us to better understand and support our clients, who may experience their disability, health and lives in ways that vary because of gendered experiences, expectations, or limitations.

Whose voices matter? Using participatory, feminist and anthropological approaches to centre power and positionality in research on gender-based violence in emergencies.

An expansive view of 'rigorous' research is needed, particularly when studying complex health and human rights issues in settings where the imbalance of power between research participants, users and producers is heightened. This article examines how applying participatory, feminist and anthropological methods in gender-based violence research can hold researchers accountable to both acknowledging and explicitly addressing these power disparities. Applying these approaches throughout the research process takes time - to build trust and share stories rather than 'extract' data, to engage in collective meaning-making with those whose lived experiences are a form of expertise, and to consider how knowledge is represented and with whom it is shared. We provide examples and reflections from Empowered Aid, participatory action research that examines sexual exploitation and abuse in relation to humanitarian aid distributions, and tests ways for making aid safer. The study is grounded in ethnographic research by Syrian and South Sudanese women and girls living as refugees in Lebanon and Uganda, to safely take an active role in asking and answering questions about their own lives.

A feminist ethos for caring knowledge production in transdisciplinary sustainability science.

Transdisciplinary Sustainability Science has emerged as a viable answer to current sustainability crises with the aim to strengthen collaborative knowledge production. To expand its transformative potential, we argue that Transdisciplinary Sustainability Science needs to thoroughly engage with questions of unequal power relations and hierarchical scientific constructs. Drawing on the work of the feminist philosopher María Puig de la Bellacasa, we examine a feminist ethos of care which might provide useful guidance for sustainability researchers who are interested in generating critical-emancipatory knowledge. A feminist ethos of care is constituted by three interrelated modes of knowledge production: (1) thinking-with, (2) dissenting-within and (3) thinking-for. These modes of thinking and knowing enrich knowledge co-production in Transdisciplinary Sustainability Science by (i) embracing relational ontologies, (ii) relating to the 'other than human', (iii) cultivating caring academic cultures, (iv) taking care of non-academic research partners, (v) engaging with conflict and difference, (vi) interrogating positionalities and power relations through reflexivity, (vii) building upon marginalised knowledges via feminist standpoints and (viii) countering epistemic violence within and beyond academia. With our paper, we aim to make a specific feminist contribution to the field of Transdisciplinary Sustainability Science and emphasise its potentials to advance this field.

A política e os afetos nas práticas de pesquisas feministas e o encontro com "mulheres negras jovens" / Policy and the affects in feminist research practices and the encounter with "young black women" / Política y los afectos en las prácticas feministas de investigación y el encuentro con las "mujeres negras jovenes"

Esse artigo discute a intersecção entre as escolhas teóricas, os afetos e as questões políticas implicadas nas práticas de pesquisas feministas em Psicologia. O ato de pesquisar é aqui compreendido como a soma dessas várias escolhas, que, juntas, definem o percurso metodológico que é perpassado por vínculos, (des)encontros, questionamentos, experiências, interesses, problemas e trocas, que acontecem no campo e com as/os sujeitas/os que nele circulam. As propostas epistemológicas do feminismo interseccional e o método do PesquisarCOM, foram as bases teórico-metodológicas que orientaram este estudo, a partir de um lugar situado, parcial e localizado. No entanto, foi por meio do encontro com as "mulheres negras jovens feministas" e suas trajetórias de militância - naquilo que as aproximam e as distanciam, em decorrência das suas experiências de vida perpassadas pelos marcadores sociais de gênero, geração e raça -, que o diálogo com esses modos de fazer pesquisa se concretizou.

This paper discusses the intersection between theoretical choices, affects, and political issues implicated in feminist research practices in psychology. The act of research is understood here as the sum of these various choices that together define the methodological path that is permeated by bonds, (dis) encounters, questions, experiences, interests, problems and exchanges that happen in the field and with the subjects who circulate in it. The epistemological proposals of intersectional feminism and the PesquisarCOM method were the theoretical and methodological bases that guided this study from a situated, partial and localized place. However, it was through the encounter with 'young black feminist women' and their trajectories of militancy - as they approach and distance them, as a result of their life experiences crossed by social markers of gender, generation and race - that the dialogue with these ways of doing research materialized.

Este artículo discute la intersección entre elecciones teóricas, afectos y cuestiones políticas implicadas en las prácticas de investigación feminista en psicología. El acto de investigación se entiende aquí como la suma de estas diversas opciones que juntas definen el camino metodológico que está permeado por enlaces, (dis) encuentros, preguntas, experiencias, intereses, problemas e intercambios que suceden en el campo y con los sujetos que circulan en él. Las propuestas epistemológicas del feminismo interseccional y el método PesquisarCOM, fueron las bases teóricas y metodológicas que guiaron este estudio desde un lugar situado, parcial y localizado. Sin embargo, fue a través de conocer a las 'mujeres negras jóvenes feministas' y sus trayectorias de militancia - a medida que se acercan y los distancian, como resultado de sus experiencias de vida cruzadas por marcadores sociales de género, generación y raza - que se materializó el diálogo con estas formas de hacer investigación.

Vulnerability in birth: A negative capability.

AIM: This article explores the literature on women's expectations for birth, the sociocultural context from which these expectations originate and their impact on the interpretation of birth experience. BACKGROUND: Childbirth is associated with specific expectations from women with the potential for dissatisfaction if these expectations are not met. DESIGN: This paper presents a systematic analysis of the concept of vulnerability in childbirth. FINDINGS: A framework was extracted from the literature that linked the themes of a discourse of control, construction of inadequacy and shame of exposure to explain the sociocultural origin of dominant childbirth expectations in the literature. The experience of vulnerability unique to the birthing event is suggested as exposing the woman to this underlying contextual framework and impacting the interpretation of her birth. CONCLUSION: This synthesis has exposed the transient experience of vulnerability during birth as a significant contributor to the birthing woman's interpretation of the birth and her place within it. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: An explanatory framework is offered to clinicians that could increase their awareness of sociocultural and historical factors impacting a woman's expectations for birth. Appreciation of the woman's vulnerability in birth, exposing her to the influence of this framework, can assist clinicians to facilitate a quality birth experience for women. Furthermore, supporting women and midwives to accept this experience of birth vulnerability as a "negative capability," can facilitate an empowering birth experience.

A narrative analysis of women's experiences of planning a vaginal birth after caesarean (VBAC) in Australia using critical feminist theory.

BACKGROUND: Most women who have a caesarean can safely have a vaginal birth after caesarean (VBAC) for their next birth, but more women have an elective repeat caesarean than a VBAC. METHODS: The aim of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of women planning a vaginal birth after caesarean (VBAC) in Australia, the interactions with their health care providers and their thoughts, feelings and experiences after an antenatal appointment and following the birth. The study explored the effect of different models of care on women's relationships with their health care provider using a feminist theoretical lens. Eleven women who had previously experienced a caesarean section and were planning a VBAC in their current pregnancy used the 'myVBACapp' to record their thoughts after their antenatal appointments and were followed up with in-depth interviews in the postnatal period. RESULTS: Fifty-three antenatal logs and eleven postnatal interviews were obtained over a period of eight months in 2017. Women accessed a variety of models of care. The four contextual factors found to influence whether a woman felt resolved after having a VBAC or repeat caesarean were: 'having confidence in themselves and in their health care providers', 'having control', 'having a supportive relationship with a health care provider' and 'staying active in labour'. CONCLUSIONS: The findings highlight that when women have high feelings of control and confidence; have a supportive continual relationship with a health care provider; and are able to have an active labour; it can result in feelings of resolution, regardless of mode of birth. Women's sense of control and confidence can be undermined through the impact of paternalistic and patriarchal maternity systems by maintaining women's subordination and lack of control within the system. Women planning a VBAC want confident, skilled, care providers who can support them to feel in control and confident throughout the birthing process. Continuity of care (CoC) provides a supportive relationship which some women in this study found beneficial when planning a VBAC.

Maternal health outcomes for incarcerated women: A scoping review.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To inform a systematic synthesis of what is known about the maternal health outcomes of incarcerated women, this scoping review uses a theoretical framework of intersectional feminism. BACKGROUND: Despite rising imprisonment of women, there is a lack of research, from a feminist perspective, on perinatal health outcomes among incarcerated women. DESIGN: Systematic scoping review using the Joanna Briggs Institute scoping review methodology. METHODS: In consultation with a medical research librarian, key databases and journals were searched for English and French-language articles published up to February 2018. Two authors independently screened titles and abstracts to identify articles for full-text review. Study quality was appraised using the McGill Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. The study adheres to PRISMA-EQUATOR guidelines. RESULTS: Forty-five studies met the preset criteria and were reviewed in full text. In addition, 13 studies met consensus for inclusion. Method, setting, participants, sample, relevant outcomes and relevant findings were extracted from each study for synthesis. Included studies had varied methods and were published from 1989-2014. Participants included women imprisoned during the perinatal period up to six months postpartum. All studies were conducted in carceral contexts, with 12 based in the USA and one in Australia. Outcomes of interest included breastfeeding, operative deliveries, gestational complications, depression, stress, experiences, bonding and sterilisation. CONCLUSION: The research on maternal health outcomes pertaining to incarcerated women is limited. There is a need for in-depth examination of breastfeeding with this population. Researchers need to examine the prevalence and impact of carceral force, such as shackling, solitary confinement, strip-searching and restraints in pregnancy. There is a need for research that asks what health outcomes matter to the women themselves. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Providers must be conscious of intersecting layers of discrimination and trauma incarcerated women experience and its impact on maternal health in the perinatal period and advocate for women.

South Asian immigrant women's suggestions for culturally-tailored HIV education and prevention programs.

Using a community-based, socialist feminist qualitative study, and an emergent research design, we explored the unique individual experiences of South Asian immigrant women living with HIV in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) of Ontario, Canada. We assessed both the HIV risk context and the strategies for HIV education and prevention as expressed by study participants. Grounded in Connell's social theory of gender, a thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with 12 women yielded six themes related to the power and impact of stigmatization, community's denial of HIV, infidelity, manifested in resistance to discussing sex and condom use, non-disclosure, and lack of HIV knowledge. This study validated the legitimacy of listening to the voices of South Asian immigrant women living with HIV, who communicated 20 recommendations for researchers, educators, community organizations, and service providers to culturally-tailor HIV education programs.

Enhancing cultural safety among undergraduate nursing students through watching documentaries.

The purpose of the study was to develop an understanding of how nursing students gained perspective on nursing care of diverse populations through watching documentaries in a cultural diversity course. The basis of this paper is our analyses of students' written responses and reactions to documentaries viewed in class. The guiding theoretical frameworks for the course content and the study included postcolonial feminism, Foucauldian thought, and cultural safety. Krathwohl's Taxonomy of the Affective Domain was used to identify themes and determine how undergraduate nursing students were progressing in achieving learning outcomes. Our findings suggest that while the use of documentaries serves as a tool for deepening students' understanding of the realities of various populations, this activity, in the absence of critical reflection, may inadvertently promote stereotypes and further marginalize different people groups. Even though nursing students reflected on the importance of cultural safety in nursing, our findings indicate that their actions may not reflect this, especially since these students are in the early stages of the nursing program. Students need to be provided with a space where they can explore implicit biases evoked by exposure to new information about different people groups as a way of enhancing culturally safe care.

eHealth versus equity: Using a feminist poststructural framework to explore the influence of perinatal eHealth resources on health equity.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To explore whether and how eHealth resources targeted to families during the perinatal period effectively reach a diverse population or further oppress marginalised groups. BACKGROUND: eHealth is often intended to reach a broad population, thus health content must be relatively generalised which limits the ability to tailor health education and interventions to individual needs. Generalisation of health information has historically represented a hegemonic depiction of the health consumer, especially within the perinatal period, often disregarding the diversity that exists in the world and perpetuating heteronormative constructs within healthcare systems as a result. DESIGN: A critical review of the literature regarding perinatal eHealth resources was conducted using a feminist poststructuralist approach for analysis. Included literature addresses the development, implementation and/or evaluation of perinatal eHealth resources. DISCUSSION: This approach uncovered hegemonic discourses related to the current state of perinatal eHealth resources. Nurses and midwives have the unique advantage of interacting and understanding diverse populations. Thus, nurses and midwives are integral to the development, implementation and evaluation of eHealth resources to reduce social health inequity. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: This paper acts as an exemplar on how to apply feminist poststructuralism to highlight inequities that exist and identifies strategies for nurses and midwives to become involved in the development of eHealth resources or advocate for greater visibility within current resources.

Reflexões sobre metodologias críticas em pesquisa: interseccionalidade, reflexividade e situacionalidade / Some resources for critical research: reflections on intersectionality, reflexivity and situationality / Reflexiones sobre las metodologías críticas en investigación: interseccionalidad, reflexividad y situacionalidad / Réflexion sur les méthodes en recherches: intersection, réflexivité et situationalité

O objetivo deste artigo é discutir metodologias críticas para pesquisa tomando como eixo de análise contribuições de estudos feministas e pós-coloniais e decoloniais sobre a ciência em relação à violência epistemológica. Esta perspectiva faz com que o entendimento da inclusão e o reconhecimento de relações de poder em pesquisa sejam vistos como fundamentais tanto para epistemologia quanto para metodologias e métodos de pesquisa. Estudos feministas desenvolveram aspectos-chave sobre as reflexões das relações de poder em pesquisa. Neste artigo, focarei nas noções de situacionalidade, interseccionalidade e reflexividade, que serão debatidos com exemplos focados nos dilemas e paradoxos deflagrados em pesquisas críticas. Os aspectos levantados neste artigo apontam para elementos que permitem considerar grupos tradicionalmente excluídos, mal representados ou sub-representados em pesquisas.

This article aims to provide a debate on critical methodologies for research. For this debate I centre on contributions from feminist research and post-colonial and decolonial studies on science concerning epistemological violence. In this sense, the understanding of inclusion and the acknowledgement of power relations in research are seen as key for epistemology, methodology and methods for research. Feminist studies developed key-aspects on power relations. In this article I will focus on the notions of situationality, interseccionality and reflexivity, which will be seen alongside dilemmas and paradoxes seen in examples of critical research. These aspects bring aspects regarding the inclusion of traditionally excluded, mis-represented or under-represented groups in research.

El objetivo de este artículo es promover el debate sobre las metodologías críticas para investigación. Para ese debate, el foco será en las contribuciones de estudios feministas y pos-coloniales y decoloniales sobre la ciencia en relación a los aspectos entendidos como violencia epistemológica. Así, los aspectos como inclusión y el reconocimiento de las relaciones de poder en investigación son vistos como fundamentales para la epistemología y metodología y métodos de investigación. Estudios feministas han desarrollado aspectos importantes sobre las reflexiones acerca de las relaciones de poder en investigación. En el artículo el foco será en las nociones de situacionalidad, interseccionalidad y reflexividad, que serán debatidos con ejemplos de dilemas y paradojas vistos en pesquisas críticas. Los aspectos debatidos aquí invitan para un análisis de la inclusión de grupos tradicionalmente excluidos, mal representados o sub-representados en investigaciones.

Le but de cet article est d'attirer le débat sur les methodologies critiques pour la recherché. Pour ce débat, centre de contribution des études féministes, post-coloniales et décoloniales sur la science par rapport à la violence épistomologique. Dans ce sens la compréhension de l'inclusion et la reconnaissance des rapports de pouvoir sont considérés fondamentaux pour l'épistomologie et méthodes de recherches. Les études féministes ont développé des aspects-clés sur les réflexions des rapports de pouvoir en recherches. Dans cet article je me baserai sur les notions de situationnalité, intersection et réflexivité qui seront discutées comme exemple dans les dilemmes et paradoxes déflagrés en recherches critiques. Les aspects suscités dans cet article apportent des éléments visant l'inclusion de groupes traditionnellement exclus, mal représentés ou sous-représentés en recherches.

Violencia urbana y estrategias de protección de mujeres en Cali (Colombia) / Urban violence and protection strategies of women in Cali (Colombia)

Esta investigación reconstruye las estrategias de protección en contextos urbanos desde fragmentos de la historia de vida de dos mujeres víctimas de la violencia social y política, para ello se usó la metodologia feminista en psicologia comunitaria, la cual reconoce en el discurso femenino, la experiencia de vida como fuente de saberes legitimos. (Campbell & Wasco, 2000). Los resultados evidencian que las mujeres utilizan estrategias de protección basadas en los saberes construidos en su experiencia de vida, su sitio de origen y las relaciones de poder. Pone de manifiesto la relevancia de investigar sobre la violencia urbana.

This piece of research reconstructs the protection strategies in urban contexts from fragments of life histories from two women, victims of the social and political violence. For such a purpose, a feminist methodology in community psychology was used, which recognizes, in the feminist discourse, the life experience as a source of legitimate knowledge (Campbell & Wasco, 2000). The results make evident that women use protection strategies based on the knowledge built in their life experience, their place of origin, and the powerrelationships. It reveals the relevance of researching on urban violence.

Barriers to cervical cancer screening experienced by lesbian women: a qualitative study.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To provide deeper insights into the experiences of lesbian women in accessing cervical cancer screening and to inform strategies to increase the uptake of these services for this group of women. BACKGROUND: Lesbian women continue to face significant health disparities and are at increased risk for specific medical conditions. With cervical cancer being largely a preventable disease, early detection through the Papanicolaou test is crucial, as it enables treatment to commence early and limit the progression of the disease. Although the rates of cervical abnormalities among lesbian women are similar to that of the general population, lesbian women are less likely to have regular cervical screening. The reasons for this are largely unknown and there is a paucity of research that explores cervical cancer screening in lesbian women. DESIGN: Qualitative descriptive design. METHODS: Participants (n = 9) were recruited via media release and those living in New South Wales who self-identified as lesbian, meeting the inclusion criteria were recruited for the study. Semi-structured, face to face and telephone interviews were used to obtain narrative data from lesbian women on their experiences of cervical screening. RESULTS: Three main themes emerged from the data: 'Lack of opportunistic screening'; 'Fear of penetration' and 'Encountering heterosexism and discrimination'. CONCLUSIONS: This current study builds on existing knowledge and further, has identified issues that have not been previously raised in the literature. New findings from this study highlight participants' fear of penetration, and stigma associated with accessing information, as substantial barriers to cervical screening. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: This study's findings can guide future research and highlight possibilities for specific strategies to reduce health disparities among lesbian women.