Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37208121›Full record

ArticleBMJ global health2023

Breaking the silence on gendered harassment and assault of community health workers: an analysis of ethnographic studies.

Svea Closser, Marium Sultan, Roosa Tikkanen, Shalini Singh, Arman Majidulla, Kenneth Maes, Sue Gerber, Anat Rosenthal, Daniel Palazuelos, Yihenew Tesfaye and 4 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ global health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Carrying the Weight of a Broken System: Community Health Worker and Peer Recovery Specialist roles transformed.Progress in community health partnerships : research, education, and action · 2025
    Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors.

Svea ClosserInternational Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA sclosser@jhu.edu.
Marium SultanInternational Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Roosa TikkanenSociology and Political Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Trøndelag, Norway.
Shalini SinghInternational Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Arman MajidullaInternational Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Kenneth MaesAnthropology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, USA.
Sue GerberIndependent Consultant, Truchas, New Mexico, USA.
Anat RosenthalHealth Systems Management, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Southern, Israel.
Daniel PalazuelosBlavatnik Institute of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Yihenew TesfayeSocial Anthropology, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia.
Erin FinleyPsychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, UT Health San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, USA.
Roza AbeshaIndependent Consultant, Gondar, Amhara, Ethiopia.
Ann KeelingWomen in Global Health, Geneva, Switzerland.
Judith JusticeInstitute for Health and Aging, University of California at San Francisco, Berkeley, California, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionAcross a variety of settings, women in tenuous financial circumstances are drawn to community health work as a way to advance themselves in the context of limited employment options. Female Community Health Workers (CHWs) are often preferred because they can more easily access mothers and children; at the same time, gender norms are at the heart of many of the challenges and inequities that these workers encounter. Here, we explore how these gender roles and a lack of formal worker protections leave CHWs vulnerable to violence and sexual harassment, common occurrences that are frequently downplayed or silenced.

methodsWe are a group of researchers who work on CHW programmes in a variety of contexts globally. The examples here are drawn from our ethnographic research (participant observation and in-depth interviews).

resultsCHW work creates job opportunities for women in contexts where such opportunities are extremely rare. These jobs can be a lifeline for women with few other options. Yet the threat of violence can be very real: women may face violence from the community, and some experience harassment from supervisors within health programmes.

conclusionTaking gendered harassment and violence seriously in CHW programmes is critical for research and practice. Fulfilling CHWs' vision of health programmes that value them, support them and give them opportunities may be a way for CHW programmes to lead the way in gender-transformative labour practices.

Indexed as

Anthropology, CulturalCommunity Health WorkersChildEmploymentFemaleHumansMothersQualitative ResearchHealth services researchHealth systemsPublic HealthQualitative study

Identifiers

PMID37208121
PMCPMC10201268

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.