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"Think, Ask, Act: The Intersectionality of Mental and Reproductive Health for Judicially Involved Girls"
"Think, Ask, Act: The Intersectionality of Mental and Reproductive Health for Judicially Involved Girls"
Thoughts of Article by Emma Barnes
Thoughts of Article by Emma Barnes
Summary of Article
Summary of Article
Mikaela A. Kelly, Elizabeth Barnert, and Eraka Bath begin this article with a brief description of a girl named Danielle, who had many experiences in her past that lead her to be in the juvenile justice system. More and more girls are becoming a part of the juvenile justice population and these girls are more likely to be involved with reproductive diseases, substance use, and mental health issues. Kelly, Barnert, and Bath believe it is important for health officials to consider intersectionality to better help care for these marginalized girls using three steps: think, ask, act, as seen below. It is important to think about how someone's background could have led to their illnesses and to make sure to ask about all the facts. Examples of questions include: Are you currently involved in a sexual relationship? Do you have any sexual concerns you would like to discuss? What is your sexual history? Then Kelly, Barnert, and Bath give recommendations to help medical providers take an intersectional approach to many health issues. These women believe with these steps, medical providers can better understand intersectionality in girls and help meet their health needs.
Thoughts
Thoughts
I found what Kelly, Barnert, and Bath to be interesting. I did not think about juvenile girls having an issue of intersectionality before reading this article. In general, we don't think of girls in the juvenile justice system because of gender stereotypes. Because of these gender stereotypes, this plays an even bigger role in their intersectionality. I'm sure these receive backlash for not behaving ladylike or getting pregnant before their married. This probably adds to the stress these girls are feeling increasing their likelihood of mental illnesses. This is something that a lot of people do not think that would be harming to these young girls because people don't think like that, so I thought it was interesting to learn about this and the inter-role identities of these girls.
I also thought their approach to bring intersectionality to medical professionals would be highly beneficial. When I go to the doctor's, I don't get asked that amount or some of those types of questions, but they seem very important in understanding reproductive health for girls and boys. I really like the idea of providing sexual health education and mental health education in classroom and individualized settings, especially in juvenile detention. If policies like these were enacted in school systems, more teenage girls and boys would be informed about their sexual health, which could help lower the rate of adolescents getting sexually transmitted diseases.
I think it is important to start on these implications sooner rather than later. Do something says 1 in 4 teens contract a sexually transmitted disease every year and people between the ages 15 and 24 account for 50% of STD's even though they only represent 25% of the sexually active population. These numbers are far too high. No one should have to experience a STD, especially teenagers. That's why I believe these policies should be enforced as soon as possible to help lower these numbers, especially for girls in the juvenile justice system because these girls are experiencing this the most.
In conclusion, I agree with these authors in that we need to start considering intersectional identities when thinking about medicine, especially in reproductive health, and I think the think, ask, ask suggestion is the best way to begin.
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