Fistula Politics: Birthing Injuries and the Quest for Continence in Niger (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781978800373)

Obstetric fistula is a birthing injury caused by prolonged obstructed labor that results in urinary and fecal incontinence. It is nearly non-existent in the Global North. In contrast Niger, in West Africa, has one of the highest rates of fistula in the world. In Western humanitarian and media narratives, fistula is presented as deeply stigmatizing, resulting in divorce, abandonment by kin, exile from communities, depression and suicide. In Fistula Politics, Alison Heller illustrates the inaccuracy of these popular narratives and shows how they serve the interests not of the women so affected, but of humanitarian organizations, the media, and local clinics.

Author: Alison Heller
ISBN-10: 1978800371
ISBN-13: 9781978800373
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Language: English
Published: 10/15/2018
Pages: 270
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.10lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.20w x 0.90d