Journal of Advanced Research in Women’s Studies

Fostering Youth Leadership to Address Gender-Based Violence in Papua New Guinea: Insights from Emerging Champions for Change

Sabira Kaphle — 2025-05-08

Gender-based violence is a critical public health issue impacting individuals, families, and communities across the world. This paper shares insights gathered from action research aimed at harnessing the aspirations of young people in Papua New Guinea (PNG) to initiate community-based actions against gender-based violence (GBV). The intervention model, co-designed and implemented with 25 university students who were engaged in a series of leadership sessions, was evaluated over six months in 2023. These ‘champions for change’ cultivated the confidence to leverage their influence for social transformation and to empower others in their communities. The findings highlight the significance of education and awareness initiatives and reveal gaps in resourcing and support to enable access to information, services, and opportunities among young people across the country. Achieving sustainable development and enhanced gender equality necessitates concerted efforts to upgrade educational infrastructure, augment teacher training, and advocate for inclusive curricula that respect the diverse cultural and linguistic contexts of PNG. This should be complemented by broader structural reforms, legal enforcement, and policy interventions in order to address chronic systemic inequalities.

Stemming the Weaponry of Poverty and Patriarchy, and Dis-affirming Feminist Standpoints in Select Literary Texts

Ngozi Ulogu — 2025-05-08

The weaponization of poverty and patriarchal over-lord-ship have combined to constitute factors of domination and marginalization of the female gender. Even the United Nations Organization Sustainable Development Goals, SDGS 1, 8 and 10, have identified these two issues as endemic factors of oppression against the girl-child and women. In addition, culture and social construct significantly uphold subjugation over women and affirming male supremacy. On the other hand, feminist critics and activists are constantly canvassing a shift from these patronizing perspectives. Literary texts such as Kaine Agary’s Yellow Yellow, (2006), Chika Unigwe’s On the Black Sister’s Street,(2010), and Abdulrazak Gurna’s Gravel Heart (2017), document poverty in financial standing; increasing inequalities, lack of decent work and material resources among women as factors predisposing them to intimidating transactional male-female sexual relationships, identifying incidences from different parts of Africa. Cursory reading of these texts portray varied forms of female abuse, whereas critical studies on the texts reveal gender violence, female objectification, patriarchal domination, bad leadership, This paper makes a qualitative analysis of the effect of poverty and intimidation on the selected female characters, using a social theoretical framework of Feminist Standpoint which is examined as a feminist epistemology that describes the master-slave dialectic of the genders. Specifically, the paper dismantles certain feminist agitations that throw up women as the vulnerable gender, and argues for the eradication of poverty and provision of decent work and economic growth to guarantee stronger self-affirmation on the side of the women.

Electra in the 1990s: The Electra Complex in 1990s Cinema

Emma S Paulley — 2025-05-08

This article considers existing scholarship that applies Jung’s Electra complex within 1990s’ American cinema. The Electra complex was coined by Jung in 1913 as the female equivalent of Freud’s Oedipus complex (1899). The primary focus will be a cycle of 1990s Hollywood films that represents a teenage girl (teen fatale) and her relationship with an older man, either her own father or a father figure. The central argument of this article is that most male filmmakers unconsciously employ Oedipal anxieties within Electran narratives and use techniques such as a male gaze to sexualise the teen fatale. The research methodology used for this article include, contextual analysis, dialogue analysis and psychoanalysis to examine the subjectivity of the characters from a sociocultural and theoretical position. Ancillary methods have been used to examine the filmmaker’s conscious/unconscious motivations by reviewing interviews given at the time of release and on the film’s anniversaries.

Communicating Diagnostic Preferences for a Chronic Urinary Tract Infection Among the Adult Female Population

Linda Collins — 2025-05-08

Background: Patient stories regarding their experiences of a urinary tract infection, and the language used in dialogue, details the severity and long-lasting consequences of their infection. The aim of this study was to understand the language and dialogue that patients use when discussing diagnosis and management processes that should be embedded as standard practice for their diagnostic bladder journey among the adult female population. Methods: This study adopted a descriptive-interpretive qualitative research approach. Thirty semi-structured interviews were conducted as part of a wider study which focused on diagnosis and management of a urinary tract infection. Data were analyzed using NVivoTM software to identify thematic insight. Results: The main concept that emerged from language expressed through dialogue, was that the patients used collective words and phrases that demonstrated their need for effective diagnosis and management of their urinary tract infection. Diagnostic screening processes that would be straightforward and accurate was their main priority, and having a true record of infection from the urine specimen they produced was frequently articulated in the language they used. Conclusion: Understanding language expressed through dialogue when discussing diagnosis and management of a urinary tract infection are important aspects that should be embedded as standard practice among the adult female population diagnosed with a urinary tract infection.

Unveiling the Sociolinguistic Significance of Feminine Personal Names in Ukrainian Culture: Exploring Grammatical, Historical, and Cultural Perspectives

Maksym Vakulenko — 2025-05-08

This study explores the grammatical, historical, cultural, semantic, and social dimensions of feminine personal names in Ukrainian, employing term theory. The analysis reveals that merely adding feminatives as direct counterparts to “masculine” nouns can result in inconsistencies, leading to violations of grammatical and phonological norms and potentially diminishing the language’s expressive potential. Furthermore, this binary opposition offers little improvement in the visibility of women while failing to accommodate the identification of non-binary individuals or the representation of personified objects. As a potential resolution, we propose adopting a generalized gender, conceptualized as a logical “OR” combining the simple genders. This category, supported by linguistic practice analysis, would involve replacing masculine nouns in their generalizing function with corresponding inclusive lexical units.

The Collapse of Women’s Protection Centres/Shelters and Its Psychological Impact on Gender-Based Violence Survivors in Afghanistan

Mitra Tanomand — 2025-05-08

This study critically examines the psychological impact of the closures of Women’s Protection Centres (WPCs) in Afghanistan following the 2021 Taliban takeover. These shelters had long served as critical safe spaces for survivors of gender-based violence (GBV), providing emotional support, legal aid, and a path to recovery. However, the dismantling of WPCs under the Taliban regime has intensified survivors’ psychological distress, leaving many without access to essential services or protection. Using a feminist theoretical framework and intersectionality as a lens, this study investigates how survivors’ mental health has been affected by the loss of these vital resources. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 participants, including former WPC survivors, shelter staff, and donors, to explore the emotional toll of the closures. Thematic analysis of the data reveals widespread trauma, including anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and a profound sense of hopelessness among survivors. The findings also highlight the intersection of systemic neglect, patriarchal structures, and societal stigma in exacerbating survivors’ mental health challenges. This study emphasizes the urgent need for trauma-informed, survivor-centered care and the rebuilding of safe spaces to address the enduring mental health crisis among Afghan women. By amplifying the voices of survivors, this research calls for international and local stakeholders to take coordinated action to restore essential psychosocial services and uphold the rights of women in Afghanistan.