Zaynab Essack
Datos Biográficos
| ID | 1446239 |
|---|---|
| NOMBRE | Zaynab Essack |
| NOMBRES | Zaynab |
| APELLIDO | Essack |
| FIRMA | ESSACK Z |
| AFILIACIONES | Human Sciences Research Council |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8867-3415 |
| VERIFICADO | Sí |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 31 |
| TOTAL DE CITAS | 33 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 31 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMER AÑO DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2010 |
| AÑO MÁS RECIENTE DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2026 |
| ÍNDICE H | 4 |
Exploring factors affecting the decision-making process among adolescents and youth in KwaZulu-Natal in accessing and utilising sexual reproductive health services
Despite improved access to sexual and reproductive health services, uptake among adolescents and young people remains low. Supporting their decision-making and addressing barriers to service use is critical to improving HIV prevention, reducing sexually transmitted infections, improving treatment outcomes, and preventing early pregnancies. This analysis explored factors influencing participants sexual and reproductive health service use decisions…
Reflective masculinities
This article introduces the concept of reflective masculinities to explore how Black adolescent boys in a peri-urban South African community make meaning of masculinity in ways that defy dominant, deficit-based representations. Drawing on a critical African masculinities framework and participatory visual methodologies, the study engaged 15 teenage boys through photo-elicitation and focus group discussions to examine how they navigate gender in r…
Applying the nominal group technique to determine emerging stressors related to youth mental health
There was a high level of consensus in terms of the stressors that were identified in relation to youth mental health, suggesting that use of NGT provides an effective tool to generate pertinent data from a single session with important research and policy implications. These findings underscore the need for more empirical research focused on knowledge gaps associated with the identified stressors-in terms of youth mental health-which can then be…
Health Research Ethics in Southern Africa
The health research landscape in southern Africa is becoming increasingly complex as research efforts intensify to address the region's significant disease burden. The increasing volume and complexity of health research in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) highlights the ongoing need for enhanced research ethics capacity. To supplement a review published in 2014, this paper provides an overview of research ethics capacity-building initiati…
Policymaking in Favour of Women
Realisation of women’s full participation in all spheres of society remains inconsistent and progress towards gender equality is slow. The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare existing and deeply entrenched gender inequalities. In this article, we draw on multiple HSRC-led studies conducted between 2020 and 2022 that explored the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown on the psychosocial and economic wellbeing of women and their families. We show th…
Experiences of alcohol use during pregnancy
In South Africa, alcohol use during pregnancy is prevalent and associated with increased HIV risk. Developing locally sensitive and contextually appropriate evidence-based interventions to address alcohol use among pregnant and breastfeeding women in South Africa requires comprehensive understanding of the context of perinatal alcohol use and how relationships and lived environments may serve as barriers or supports for alcohol reduction. We cond…
Exploring upbringing styles of highly resilient students in South Africa
Parents play a critical role in supporting the development of resilience in childhood and early adolescence. Research into and commitment to resilience is of great importance, as most South Africans lack basic resources. This study investigated the styles of parenting experienced by highly resilient South African students. Participants were 136 South African university students aged 18 to 23 (female = 44.9%, black = 66.9%). They completed the Chi…
Heterogeneity in Covid-19 infection among older persons in South Africa
Background: The 2021 World Health Organization study on the impact of COVID-19 on older people (≥60 years) in the African region highlighted the difficulties they faced as the virus spread across borders and dominated the way of life. These difficulties included disruptions to both essential health care services and social support, as well as disconnections from family and friends. Among those who contracted COVID-19, the risks of severe illness,…
A difficult conversation’
Adolescence and young adulthood are important periods of transition and therefore for action and intervention to ensure future sexual and reproductive health (SRH). Caregiver-adolescent communication about sex and sexuality is a protective factor for SRH, but there are often barriers to this. Adults' perspectives are limited within the literature but important as they should lead this process. This paper uses exploratory qualitative data from in-…
South African Rural Girls’ Safety Strategies on the School Journey
In this article, we use data generated through photovoice and focus group discussions to examine how primary school girls from two resource-poor and high-risk rural communities in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, negotiate their safety on the dangerous journey to and from school. Our findings show that girls actively identify and apply specific safe-seeking strategies by drawing on available community and interpersonal resources as they navigate thei…
Correlates of Substance Misuse, Transactional Sex, and Depressive Symptomatology Among Partnered Gay, Bisexual and Other Men Who Have Sex with Men in South Africa and Namibia
Sexual Risk among Pregnant Women at Risk of HIV Infection in Cape Town, South Africa
Mapping the unsafe school journey
HIV Testing, Knowledge and Willingness to Use PrEP Among Partnered Men Who Have Sex With Men in South Africa and Namibia
Understanding Constraints and Enablers of Turnaround Time for Ethics Review
Background . Independent ethics review of research is required prior to the implementation of all health research involving human participants. However, ethics review processes are challenged by protracted turnaround times, which may negatively impact the implementation of socially valuable research. Previous research has documented delays in ethics review in developed and developing countries. This study aimed to determine the extent of variabil…
They abduct us and rape us
Power relations in sexual agreements among male couples in Southern Africa
Sexual agreements between same-sex practising men facilitate communication about health promotion activities, including HIV prevention. In African contexts, male couples negotiate their sexual agreements in relation to rigid cultural prescriptions about male power and privilege, intense hostility towards same-sex sexualities and persistent heterogendered socio-cultural norms. Yet the impact of such norms on relationship practices and HIV risk amo…
The power of the poem”
Researchers exploring sensitive topics need to identify appropriate methodologies to encourage open expression. We used poetic inquiry to explore the lived realities of transwomen in Namibia, a socially marginalised group globally. We conducted two focus group discussions with 15 transwomen and developed found poems. The poems captured issues of identity and belonging and illustrated the transwomen's journeys of self-acceptance, experiences of vi…
Exploring queerphobic geographies in Southern Africa
Space in Southern African countries is continuously constructed as heterosexual, putting queer individuals at risk of violence. This paper explores the experiences of queer men and transwomen in spaces that they have identified as queerphobic and violent in South Africa and Namibia. In an effort to locate geographies of queerphobic violence, the paper focuses on how queer men and transwomen are prone to both implicit and explicit violence in thes…
Intimate Partner Violence among Male Couples in South Africa and Namibia
Refining Interventions Through Formative Research
Conducting formative research is a scientific, ethical, and community engagement imperative. This article describes how formative research refined ethical processes for a family-based home-based counseling and testing (FBCT) intervention in KwaZulu-Natal. In-depth interviews were conducted to explore community ( n = 20) and key stakeholders' ( n = 20) needs, concerns, and perspectives on the FBCT model, including ethical issues for working with c…
In-Home Passive Sensor Data Collection and Its Implications for Social Media Research
There has been a recent increase in debates on the ethics of social media research, passive sensor data collection, and big data analytics. However, little evidence exists to describe how people experience and understand these applications of technology. This study aimed to passively collect data from mobile phone sensors, lapel cameras, and Bluetooth beacons to assess people's understanding and acceptance of these technologies. Seven households …
Putting the T in LGBT
South Africa presents a paradox for sexual and gender-minority civil society. While there is an enabling legal and policy environment, the lived realities for trans and gender-diverse citizens do not necessarily reflect this progressive ideal. This chapter explores the historic and contemporary forms of trans resistance and activism, unpacking how the trans movement in South Africa intersects with other social movements (e.g. #FeesMustFall). It d…
South African Research Ethics Committee Review of Standards of Prevention in HIV Vaccine Trial Protocols
HIV prevention trials provide a prevention package to participants to help prevent HIV acquisition. As new prevention methods are proven effective, this raises ethical and scientific design complexities regarding the prevention package or standard of prevention. Given its high HIV incidence and prevalence, South Africa has become a hub for HIV prevention research. For this reason, it is critical to study the implementation of relevant ethical-leg…
A feminist critique of legal approaches to adolescent sexual and reproductive health rights in Eastern and Southern Africa
The adoption of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action (1994), brought sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR) under the attention of the international community. International law standards recognise the need to create an enabling legal environment that ensures that adolescent sexual and reproductive rights are realised. These standards include, for instance, setting an age at which adolescents…
They abduct us and rape us
Exploring queerphobic geographies in Southern Africa
Space in Southern African countries is continuously constructed as heterosexual, putting queer individuals at risk of violence. This paper explores the experiences of queer men and transwomen in spaces that they have identified as queerphobic and violent in South Africa and Namibia. In an effort to locate geographies of queerphobic violence, the paper focuses on how queer men and transwomen are prone to both implicit and explicit violence in thes…
I feel like half a woman all the time”
HIV-positive women are entitled to sexual and reproductive health rights, including access to contraceptives of their choice. One such option is sterilisation. Given its permanency, a woman's decision to sterilise should be voluntary and fully informed. However, there have been multiple reports that HIV-positive women are being sterilised without their informed consent, and sometimes without their knowledge, in southern Africa and elsewhere. The …
Mapping the unsafe school journey
The power of the poem”
Researchers exploring sensitive topics need to identify appropriate methodologies to encourage open expression. We used poetic inquiry to explore the lived realities of transwomen in Namibia, a socially marginalised group globally. We conducted two focus group discussions with 15 transwomen and developed found poems. The poems captured issues of identity and belonging and illustrated the transwomen's journeys of self-acceptance, experiences of vi…
She made up a choice for me
Since 1998 South African law has provided that adults should have access to sterilization but only with their informed consent. However, the right to sterilization and other sexual and reproductive rights have not been fully realized as women struggle to access limited services, and there are allegations of discrimination and sterilization abuses. This qualitative study explores the experiences of 22 HIV-positive women in two provinces who report…
Understanding Constraints and Enablers of Turnaround Time for Ethics Review
Background . Independent ethics review of research is required prior to the implementation of all health research involving human participants. However, ethics review processes are challenged by protracted turnaround times, which may negatively impact the implementation of socially valuable research. Previous research has documented delays in ethics review in developed and developing countries. This study aimed to determine the extent of variabil…
Intimate Partner Violence among Male Couples in South Africa and Namibia
In-Home Passive Sensor Data Collection and Its Implications for Social Media Research
There has been a recent increase in debates on the ethics of social media research, passive sensor data collection, and big data analytics. However, little evidence exists to describe how people experience and understand these applications of technology. This study aimed to passively collect data from mobile phone sensors, lapel cameras, and Bluetooth beacons to assess people's understanding and acceptance of these technologies. Seven households …
South African Research Ethics Committee Review of Standards of Prevention in HIV Vaccine Trial Protocols
HIV prevention trials provide a prevention package to participants to help prevent HIV acquisition. As new prevention methods are proven effective, this raises ethical and scientific design complexities regarding the prevention package or standard of prevention. Given its high HIV incidence and prevalence, South Africa has become a hub for HIV prevention research. For this reason, it is critical to study the implementation of relevant ethical-leg…
A feminist critique of legal approaches to adolescent sexual and reproductive health rights in Eastern and Southern Africa
The adoption of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action (1994), brought sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR) under the attention of the international community. International law standards recognise the need to create an enabling legal environment that ensures that adolescent sexual and reproductive rights are realised. These standards include, for instance, setting an age at which adolescents…
Reflecting on adolescents' evolving sexual and reproductive health rights
In South Africa children under the age of 18 are legal minors and considered not fully capable of acting independently. However, in certain defined circumstances the law has granted minors the capacity to act independently, including regarding their sexual and reproductive health (SRH). This study explored the perspectives and practices of 17 social workers from KwaZulu-Natal on legislation relevant to adolescents' evolving sexual and reproductiv…
Stakeholder Perspectives on Ethical Challenges in Hiv Vaccine Trials in South Africa
There is little published literature on the ethical concerns of stakeholders in HIV vaccine trials. This study explored the ethical challenges identified by various stakeholders, through an open‐ended, in‐depth approach. While the few previous studies have been largely quantitative, respondents in this study had the opportunity to spontaneously identify the issues that they perceived to be of priority concern in the South African context. Stakeho…
Civil society perspectives on negative biomedical HIV prevention trial results and implications for future trials
Community engagement is crucial to ongoing development and testing of sorely needed new biomedical HIV prevention technologies. Yet, negative trial results raise significant challenges for community engagement in HIV prevention trials, including the early termination of the Cellulose Sulfate microbicide trial and two Phase IIb HIV vaccine trials (STEP and Phambili). The present study aimed to explore the perspectives and experiences of civil soci…
I feel like half a woman all the time”
HIV-positive women are entitled to sexual and reproductive health rights, including access to contraceptives of their choice. One such option is sterilisation. Given its permanency, a woman's decision to sterilise should be voluntary and fully informed. However, there have been multiple reports that HIV-positive women are being sterilised without their informed consent, and sometimes without their knowledge, in southern Africa and elsewhere. The …
She made up a choice for me
Since 1998 South African law has provided that adults should have access to sterilization but only with their informed consent. However, the right to sterilization and other sexual and reproductive rights have not been fully realized as women struggle to access limited services, and there are allegations of discrimination and sterilization abuses. This qualitative study explores the experiences of 22 HIV-positive women in two provinces who report…
‘It Looks Like You Just Want Them When Things Get Rough’
Civil society organizations ( CSO s) have significantly impacted on the politics of health research and the field of bioethics. In the global HIV epidemic, CSO s have served a pivotal stakeholder role. The dire need for development of new prevention technologies has raised critical challenges for the ethical engagement of community stakeholders in HIV research. This study explored the perspectives of CSO representatives involved in HIV prevention…
Reflecting on adolescents' evolving sexual and reproductive health rights
In South Africa children under the age of 18 are legal minors and considered not fully capable of acting independently. However, in certain defined circumstances the law has granted minors the capacity to act independently, including regarding their sexual and reproductive health (SRH). This study explored the perspectives and practices of 17 social workers from KwaZulu-Natal on legislation relevant to adolescents' evolving sexual and reproductiv…
Putting the T in LGBT
South Africa presents a paradox for sexual and gender-minority civil society. While there is an enabling legal and policy environment, the lived realities for trans and gender-diverse citizens do not necessarily reflect this progressive ideal. This chapter explores the historic and contemporary forms of trans resistance and activism, unpacking how the trans movement in South Africa intersects with other social movements (e.g. #FeesMustFall). It d…
South African Research Ethics Committee Review of Standards of Prevention in HIV Vaccine Trial Protocols
HIV prevention trials provide a prevention package to participants to help prevent HIV acquisition. As new prevention methods are proven effective, this raises ethical and scientific design complexities regarding the prevention package or standard of prevention. Given its high HIV incidence and prevalence, South Africa has become a hub for HIV prevention research. For this reason, it is critical to study the implementation of relevant ethical-leg…
A feminist critique of legal approaches to adolescent sexual and reproductive health rights in Eastern and Southern Africa
The adoption of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action (1994), brought sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR) under the attention of the international community. International law standards recognise the need to create an enabling legal environment that ensures that adolescent sexual and reproductive rights are realised. These standards include, for instance, setting an age at which adolescents…
Refining Interventions Through Formative Research
Conducting formative research is a scientific, ethical, and community engagement imperative. This article describes how formative research refined ethical processes for a family-based home-based counseling and testing (FBCT) intervention in KwaZulu-Natal. In-depth interviews were conducted to explore community ( n = 20) and key stakeholders' ( n = 20) needs, concerns, and perspectives on the FBCT model, including ethical issues for working with c…
In-Home Passive Sensor Data Collection and Its Implications for Social Media Research
There has been a recent increase in debates on the ethics of social media research, passive sensor data collection, and big data analytics. However, little evidence exists to describe how people experience and understand these applications of technology. This study aimed to passively collect data from mobile phone sensors, lapel cameras, and Bluetooth beacons to assess people's understanding and acceptance of these technologies. Seven households …
Power relations in sexual agreements among male couples in Southern Africa
Sexual agreements between same-sex practising men facilitate communication about health promotion activities, including HIV prevention. In African contexts, male couples negotiate their sexual agreements in relation to rigid cultural prescriptions about male power and privilege, intense hostility towards same-sex sexualities and persistent heterogendered socio-cultural norms. Yet the impact of such norms on relationship practices and HIV risk amo…
The power of the poem”
Researchers exploring sensitive topics need to identify appropriate methodologies to encourage open expression. We used poetic inquiry to explore the lived realities of transwomen in Namibia, a socially marginalised group globally. We conducted two focus group discussions with 15 transwomen and developed found poems. The poems captured issues of identity and belonging and illustrated the transwomen's journeys of self-acceptance, experiences of vi…
Exploring queerphobic geographies in Southern Africa
Space in Southern African countries is continuously constructed as heterosexual, putting queer individuals at risk of violence. This paper explores the experiences of queer men and transwomen in spaces that they have identified as queerphobic and violent in South Africa and Namibia. In an effort to locate geographies of queerphobic violence, the paper focuses on how queer men and transwomen are prone to both implicit and explicit violence in thes…
Intimate Partner Violence among Male Couples in South Africa and Namibia
HIV Testing, Knowledge and Willingness to Use PrEP Among Partnered Men Who Have Sex With Men in South Africa and Namibia
Understanding Constraints and Enablers of Turnaround Time for Ethics Review
Background . Independent ethics review of research is required prior to the implementation of all health research involving human participants. However, ethics review processes are challenged by protracted turnaround times, which may negatively impact the implementation of socially valuable research. Previous research has documented delays in ethics review in developed and developing countries. This study aimed to determine the extent of variabil…
They abduct us and rape us
Correlates of Substance Misuse, Transactional Sex, and Depressive Symptomatology Among Partnered Gay, Bisexual and Other Men Who Have Sex with Men in South Africa and Namibia
Sexual Risk among Pregnant Women at Risk of HIV Infection in Cape Town, South Africa
Mapping the unsafe school journey
Heterogeneity in Covid-19 infection among older persons in South Africa
Background: The 2021 World Health Organization study on the impact of COVID-19 on older people (≥60 years) in the African region highlighted the difficulties they faced as the virus spread across borders and dominated the way of life. These difficulties included disruptions to both essential health care services and social support, as well as disconnections from family and friends. Among those who contracted COVID-19, the risks of severe illness,…
A difficult conversation’
Adolescence and young adulthood are important periods of transition and therefore for action and intervention to ensure future sexual and reproductive health (SRH). Caregiver-adolescent communication about sex and sexuality is a protective factor for SRH, but there are often barriers to this. Adults' perspectives are limited within the literature but important as they should lead this process. This paper uses exploratory qualitative data from in-…
South African Rural Girls’ Safety Strategies on the School Journey
In this article, we use data generated through photovoice and focus group discussions to examine how primary school girls from two resource-poor and high-risk rural communities in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, negotiate their safety on the dangerous journey to and from school. Our findings show that girls actively identify and apply specific safe-seeking strategies by drawing on available community and interpersonal resources as they navigate thei…
Policymaking in Favour of Women
Realisation of women’s full participation in all spheres of society remains inconsistent and progress towards gender equality is slow. The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare existing and deeply entrenched gender inequalities. In this article, we draw on multiple HSRC-led studies conducted between 2020 and 2022 that explored the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown on the psychosocial and economic wellbeing of women and their families. We show th…
Sociology (20 obras) · Medicine (18 obras) · Psychology (18 obras) · Political science (13 obras) · HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions (12 obras) · Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (11 obras) · Family medicine (8 obras) · Gender Studies (8 obras) · Population (8 obras) · Psychiatry (8 obras)