Oral

Gender-based disparities and health inequities persist globally, necessitating universal acknowledgment of women’s health as a human right in order to facilitate change and progress. Taking action to ensure that this right is respected and upheld demands innovative, radical and forward-thinking initiatives that serve as models for women’s health advocacy. In this session, we will start with a description of the University of South Florida’s development and implementation of a model interdisciplinary, graduate-level, experiential learning course aimed at ensuring that the future workforce is properly equipped to address critical women’s health issues in a human rights context. Then, we will present the findings from an ingenious program in Kenya that incentivized participation of young women in sexual and reproductive health education programs through the distribution of reusable sanitary napkins. Other topics include: the promotion of HIV/AIDS risk awareness and pre- and post-exposure treatment options for women in Prague to maintain their low HIV/AIDS incidence and the effectiveness of Egypt’s national media campaign in altering females’ attitudes, beliefs and behavioral intent regarding female genital mutilation (FGM).

Session Objectives: Identify the benefits of developing and implementing an interdisciplinary, experiential, international women’s health course grounded in a human rights context, Discuss the effectiveness of a community-based collaboration’s utilization of a highly sought-after commodity in exchange for young Kenyan women’s participation in critical health education programs to reduce gender disparities, Describe the relationship of HIV/AIDS risk awareness and the availability of pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis to maintaining low HIV/AIDS incidence among the women of Prague, and Explain the impact of culturally-embedded behaviors on the effectiveness of media campaigns designed to affect attitudes, beliefs and behavioral intent regarding female genital mutilation (FGM) among Egyptian women.