Changing attitudes towards female genital mutilation. From conflicts of loyalty to reconciliation with self and the community: The role of emotion regulation.

The practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) is a social norm embedded in the patriarchal system and is resistant to change due to its roots in the tradition of the practising communities. Despite this difficulty in change, some women succeed in changing their attitudes towards the practice. In trying to understand what makes these women change their attitudes, we identified in a previous study, the critical life events at which change occurs (turning point). These turning points were described with emotions and conflicting feelings based on which we hypothesised that emotion regulation and the resolution of conflicts of loyalty might be possible mechanisms that explain the change of attitudes by the women. In this article, we sought to investigate how the mechanisms interact and how they were at play to explain the change. We, therefore, triangulated our previous data, fifteen women interviewed twice, with the published life stories and public testimonies of 10 women with FGM, and interviews of six experts chosen for their complementary fields of expertise to discuss the emerging concepts and theory, generated by our study. The data were analysed using framework analysis and an element of the grounded theory approach (constant comparison). As a result of our theorisation process, we propose a model of change in five stages (Emotion suppression, The awakening, The clash, Re-appropriation of self, and Reconciliation). This describes the process of a woman's journey from compliance with FGM and community norms to non-compliance. Our study reveals how the women whose stories were analysed, moved from being full members of their community at the cost of suppressing their emotions and denying their selves, to becoming their whole selves while symbolically remaining members of their communities through the forgiveness of their mothers.

COVID 19: Ethical dilemmas in human lives.

On 7 May 2020, Columbia University Global Centers hosted an online international symposium on ethical dilemmas during the COVID-19 pandemic. This interdisciplinary engagement between philosophers and Covid medical professionals reports the challenges as well as the discrepancies between ethical guidelines and reality. This collection of presentations identifies four key ethical dilemmas regarding responsibility, fairness, dignity and honouring death. In looking into accountability and consistency in medical humanities, it examines whether the contextuality of coronavirus across countries and cultures affected the ethical decision-making processes. This work aims to provide a seminal resource for the development of a high-quality roadmap in medical ethics for future health crises.

Fostering responsible research with genome editing technologies: a European perspective.

In this consensus paper resulting from a meeting that involved representatives from more than 20 European partners, we recommend the foundation of an expert group (European Steering Committee) to assess the potential benefits and draw-backs of genome editing (off-targets, mosaicisms, etc.), and to design risk matrices and scenarios for a responsible use of this promising technology. In addition, this European steering committee will contribute in promoting an open debate on societal aspects prior to a translation into national and international legislation.

Chapitre 2. Care beyond autonomy: The recognition of our vulnerable capabilities.

The use of the category of vulnerability has been multiplied in moral philosophy social sciences and bioethics. Being vulnerable can refer rhetorically to all mortal agents, but also to those lacking agency which makes of it a very ambiguous notion. The notion of vulnerability is part of everyday language and is mostly perceived as a determination which limits our aspirations to autonomy. Why has it become a notion a bioethical principle or concept per se? Historically, anthropology of the vulnerable subject is needed and can be found in the work of Nussbaum and Honneth which could be used in bioethical discourse. The link between care theory and capability of recognition theories developed by Sen and Nussbaum, enrich the picture. Vulnerability we will argue does not have to be from an anthropological point of view, exposition to dependence and exploitation.

Chapitre 6. Addressing Vector Borne Diseases in traditional Communities in Colombia.

Vector Borne Diseases are a recurrent public health problem, especially in developing tropical countries where they restrict the normal development of both individuals and communities. Traditional control measures of these diseases are limited, which make necessary their synergy with more acute health interventions. This paper proposes the transformation of factors recognized generally as contextual vulnerabilities into enhancers of social changes by means of their articulation within the framework of the Capability Approach. The intention is to lead the vulnerable subjects towards the development of capabilities and the empowerment of communities, aiming to reduce the transmission of Vector Borne Diseases in a sustainable way, mainly in what is perceived as disadvantaged populations. The Capability Approach defined as an overcoming of functional vulnerabilities, constitutes an opportunity to enhance people's agency by enlarging their freedom to choose a healthy lifestyle, lead by fostering a process of self-recognition and empowerment. The main hypothesis is that once individuals reach an awareness level about their own health needs, they can interact with the different actors involved in healthcare programs, as providers and authorities, giving place to a Shared Governance process, rather than a passive obedience or compliance to external rules. Our second hypothesis is that we have to be aware of an unrecognized agency of women in the communities health decisions, which will lead us to develop a participatory process to improve women's inclusion as health agents of the community by sharing new skills and prevention information and practices, which will as a consequence have a gender recognition leadership effect in their community, and for future generations of women's social roles.

[Chapter 1. Beyond the reification of vulnerability, thinking vulnerability as the subject capability]

In this introduction I will draw an overview of theories associated with the notion of care from feminist studies to clinical theory by articulating the concept of vulnerability to that of capability in Amartya Sen and showing the roots of capability theory in Aristotle and anti-utilitarian theories.

[THE DECLARATION OF HELSINKI IN 2015 AND THE ETHICS OF RESEARCH IN FRENCH-SPEAKING AFRICA]. / Chapitre 4 LA DÉCLARATION D'HELSINKI EN 2015 ET L'ÉTHIQUE DE LA RECHERCHE EN AFRIQUE FRANCOPHONE.

This article follows my book "Bioéthique pour les pays du Sud" [Bioethics for the South] that was intended to show the need for an African bioethics to regulate international research, especially in the context of AIDS which is neither experienced nor cured the same way in the North and in the South. Many debates occurred since the publication of this book, debates that, at first glance, sided with those who claimed, in the name of rationality and pragmatism, double standards of care between both hemispheres. Despite a discourse based on respect for others, the Helsinki Declaration, in its 2000 version, supported justifications based on double standards of care. It replaces the debate on the legitimacy of research sponsored by the North, with participants from populations of emerging countries, as well as the debate on the best bioethics approach to respond to this problematic situated at the intersection of the universal, ethical principles and local situations. This text is the result of a reflection inspired by the conditions of legitimacy of bioethics teaching in French-speaking Africa countries, where the lack of regulation leads to exploitation and human experimentation in the name of care.