African Womanhood and Incontinent Bodies: Kenyan Women with Vaginal Fistulas

This book reveals the structures of poverty, power, patriarchy and imperialistic health policies that underpin what the World Health Organization calls the "hidden disease" of vaginal fistulas in Africa. By employing critical feminist and post-colonial perspectives, it shows how "leaking black female bodies" are constructed, ranked, stratified and marginalised in global maternal health care, and explains why women in Africa are at risk of developing vaginal fistulas and then having adequate treatment delayed or denied. Drawing on face-to-face, in-depth interviews with 30 Kenyan women, it paints a rare social portrait of the heartbreaking challenges for Kenyan women living with this most profound gender-related health issue - an experience of shame, taboo and abjection with severe implications for women's wellbeing, health and sexuality. In absolutely groundbreaking depth, this book shows why research on vaginal fistulas must incorporate feminist understandings of bodily experience to inform future practices and knowledge.

Dr. Gatwiri is a Lecturer at Southern Cross University, where she teaches at the School of Arts and Social Sciences. Prior to migrating to Australia, she worked with Family Foundation, a start-up NGO in Kenya where she provided support for women and children living with HIV/AIDS and as a Youth Social Worker for Basic Needs UK in Kenya she provided mental health services, support for carers and coordinated youth wellness and resilience programs. In Australia, she worked in service provision for people living with disabilities at Central Bayside Community Health in Melbourne. Gatwiri holds a Bachelor of Social Work from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa, a Master's in Counselling and Psychotherapy from the Cairnmillar Institute in Melbourne, and a PhD from Flinders University in South Australia. In 2017, Gatwiri was named Young Kenyan of the Year by the Kenya Association of South Australia for her achievements and community service.