Reproductive justice in the Colombian armed conflict

Svallfors, Signe

doi:10.1111/disa.12618

Disasters

2024

DOI: 10.1111/disa.12618

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Reproductive justice in the Colombian armed conflict

Signe Svallfors

Abstract: This study explores the impacts of armed conflict on women's sexual and reproductive health in Colombia, building on a reproductive justice perspective on original interviews with stakeholders in healthcare, women's rights, and peacebuilding. The analysis reveals a threefold impact of war on women's sexual and reproductive health, through violent politicization, collateral damage, and intersectional dimensions. Multiple armed actors have used women's health as an instrument in politically motivated strategies … Show more

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2024

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Cited by 3 publications

References 66 publications

(135 reference statements)

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Giving Birth While Facing Death: Cesarean Sections and Community Violence in Latin America

Svallfors

2024

Popul Res Policy Rev

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Armed conflict and organized crime are known to be linked to numerous negative maternal and neonatal health outcomes, such as stillbirth, low birth weight, and neonatal mortality. This study investigates how exposure to lethal community violence during pregnancy correlates with Cesarean births in Latin America, a region characterized by high rates of both C-sections and violence. The analysis combines micro-level survey data, covering 123,503 births, with subnational homicide statistics from Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, and Mexico. Region-fixed effects linear probability models were used to eliminate geographically varying omitted factors that could potentially confound exposure to violence and health conditions. The findings suggest that the high rates of C-sections in Latin America can partially be attributed to the high levels of violence, due to an increase in both medically unnecessary and emergency procedures. The relationship between exposure to community violence and C-section delivery varied by country, women’s socio-demographic characteristics, and the number of antenatal care visits. Exposure to violence during all trimesters correlated with the uptake of C-sections, indicating that violence negatively affects maternal and child health throughout pregnancy. This study enriches our understanding of the social determinants of maternal and child health. The findings can serve to inform comprehensive interventions aimed at reducing excess C-section rates and improving the health of women and newborns in areas affected by violence.

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Giving Birth While Facing Death: Cesarean Sections and Community Violence in Latin America

Svallfors

2024

Popul Res Policy Rev

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Territorial control by non-state armed groups and gendered access to healthcare in conflict using a new complex adaptive systems framework

Lilja,

Ferrari,

Alvarado

et al. 2024

Humanit Soc Sci Commun

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The growing prevalence and influence of non-state armed groups (NSAGs) in armed conflict requires a deeper understanding of how their territorial control and contestation affect sub-national healthcare availability and outcomes, particularly with regards to gender dynamics. However, there are gaps in existing research in understanding how NSAG governance influences health care outcomes. Furthermore, a disconnect exists between the literature on international humanitarian interventions, NSAG governance and national health systems. Each perspective tends to prioritise a specific health service provider—whether NSAGs, State actors, or international humanitarian organisations—and often treats populations as homogenous. To address these gaps, we propose a complex adaptive system framework centred on the influence of territorial control for health services in intra-state conflict settings, with a gender lens. This systems framework accounts for the influence of all parties significant for health service delivery. It recognises that those governing the localised health system may differ from those physically delivering health services. Our framework enables empirical examination of health service delivery and outcomes. We apply the framework to three conflict-affected settings (Colombia, Iraq, Mali) using publicly available data and offer recommendations for policymakers and practitioners targeting health service provision in intra-state conflict contexts.

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Milestone Moments: Community Violence and Women's Life‐Course Transitions in Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and Guatemala

Svallfors

2024

Population & Development Rev

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Deadly violence has drastically increased in Latin America, posing a serious threat to women's sexual and reproductive health. Previous research has documented both increases and declines in youth‐to‐adulthood transitions associated with exposure to violence globally. However, there has been a lack of comparative studies focusing on multiple life‐course transitions. This study investigated the impact of community violence on women's life‐course transitions in Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and Guatemala. Drawing on nationally representative surveys and homicide statistics, fixed effects models are employed to estimate the correlation between women's exposure to community violence and the intensity, timing, and sequencing of their critical life events: first cohabitation and childbirth. The results revealed that exposure to violence was associated with an increase in the quantum and tempo of transitions to first cohabitation and birth in Colombia. Competing risk models showed that community violence correlated with the sequencing of cohabitation and birth in the Dominican Republic, as identified by an increase in precohabiting fertility. There was suggestive but inconclusive evidence of an association between community violence and transitions to first birth in Guatemala. In conclusion, community violence indeed predicts women's youth‐to‐adulthood transitions in Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and potentially Guatemala, with repercussions for the subsequent life experiences of individuals and entire cohorts.

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Reproductive justice in the Colombian armed conflict

Cited by 3 publications

References 66 publications

Giving Birth While Facing Death: Cesarean Sections and Community Violence in Latin America

Giving Birth While Facing Death: Cesarean Sections and Community Violence in Latin America

Territorial control by non-state armed groups and gendered access to healthcare in conflict using a new complex adaptive systems framework

Milestone Moments: Community Violence and Women's Life‐Course Transitions in Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and Guatemala

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