Dr Zaynab Essack
Zaynab Essack, PhD, is a research psychologist and senior research specialist at the Centre for Community-Based Research at the Human Sciences Research Council. Zaynab?s current research interests include the sexual and reproductive health and well-being of at-risk populations, especially adolescents and young women, and developing and evaluating interventions to address current social issues in high-poverty and high HIV-prevalence communities. She has a developing interest in using alternative arts-based methodologies in engaging adolescents in research. Underscoring all this work is a focus on research ethics, which was the area of her doctoral research. She is a member of the HSRC Research Ethics Committee,
National Bioethics Committee in South Africa and UNESCO?s School-Related Gender-Based Violence (SRGBV) Working Group. She is an honorary fellow at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and faculty member of the South African Research Ethics Training Initiative (SARETI, UKZN)..
COVID vaccine hesitancy study in Ghana, India and South Africa
Building on our established cross-disciplinary and cross-geographical team of researchers from Ghana, India, South Africa and UK and synergising with ....
Evaluating a walking school bus as a school related gender-based violence intervention in KZN, SA
The study aim to understand community perceptions of learner safety, experiences of gender-based violence and risks associated with particular walking....
A protocol to evaluate the I am intervention aimed at interrupting underage drinking in South Africa
The aim of the current study is to evaluate the I am intervention using a mixed methods approach. For the quantitative component, we will use a non-ex....
South Africa's multilevel 'Shecession'
During the COVID-19 crisis, women shed more jobs and took on more of the additional childcare burden. As South Africa eased out of the stricter levels....
Evaluating an incentivised behaviour change intervention for young women, aged 19-24 years in King Cetshwayo district, KwaZulu-Natal: baseline report
The present report presents findings from the baseline quantitative survey data only. It provides a situational analysis of the two districts (KCD and....
Unpacking the 2-year age-gap provision in relation to the decriminalisation of underage consensual sex in South Africa
Over the past 24 years, the South African criminal justice system has undergone major transformations in relation to sexual offences, including sexual....
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, th....
Speaking through pictures: canvassing adolescent risk behaviours in a semi-rural community in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa
Adolescent risk behaviours, such as substance abuse and unprotected sex, are leading social and health challenges in South Africa (SA. The objective....
Dealing with minority stress: male couples and HIV in southern Africa
Along with many other marginalised groups, men in same sex relationships are at increased risk of contracting HIV. A study conducted by the HSRC and p....
A feminist critique of legal approaches to adolescent sexual and reproductive health rights in eastern and southern Africa: denial and divergence versus facilitation
The adoption of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action (1994), brought sexual and reproductive health r....
A nuanced approach to adolescent sexual and reproductive health services legislation: is it enough?
South Africa has progressive legislation enabling adolescents to access various sexual and reproductive health services independently, without consent....
Facilitating access to adolescent sexual and reproductive health services through legislative reform: lessons from the South African experience
South Africa (SA) has progressive legislation enabling adolescents to access various sexual- and reproductive-health services (SRH) independently, wit....
Amendments to the sexual offences act dealing with consensual underage sex: implications for doctors and researchers
In terms of the Sexual Offences and Related Matters Amendment Act, consensual sex or sexual activity with children aged 12 - 15 was a crime, and as s....
The mandatory reporting of consensual, underage sex: knowledge, practices and perspectives of social workers in KwaZulu-Natal
Until recently, any sex or sexual activity with a person under the age of 16 was criminalised, regardless of consent. All such incidents were consider....
Taking HIV testing to families: designing a family-based intervention to facilitate HIV testing, disclosure, and intergenerational communication
Facility-based HIV testing does not capture many adults and children who are at risk of HIV in South Africa. This underscores the need to provide targ....
Reflecting on adolescents' evolving sexual and reproductive health rights: canvassing the opinion of social workers in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
In South Africa children under the age of 18 are legal minors and considered not fully capable of acting independently. However, in certain defined ci....
Putting the T in LGBT: trans and gender-diverse (in)visibility and activism in South Africa
The aim of the chapter is to engage with historic and contemporary forms of trans resistance and activism and to understand the ways in which the tran....
An evaluation of the 'It starts today' intervention: baseline results
The aim of this study is to evaluate whether the pilot intervention (It Starts Today) contributes to changes in attitudes, behaviours and practices re....
A qualitative report on learners' experiences and perceptions of the 'It starts today' intervention
Adolescent alcohol use has emerged as a significant health problem in South Africa. Recent surveillance statistics in South Africa show that between 1....
Community members' perspectives of two interactive events aimed at interrupting underage drinking: a rapid assessment
In response to the problem of underage drinking, the Association for Alcohol Responsibility and Education (AwARE.org) piloted an early intervention pr....
Learners' perceptions of the 'It starts today' underage drinking pilot life orientation programme: endline report
The aim of the programme was to educate learners on the harms associated with alcohol use and to change adolescents' behaviours and perceptions pertai....
"I started that day and continued for 2 years": a case report on adolescent 'whoonga' addiction
'Whoonga' is a new craze drug that young people in South Africa are increasingly using. It consists of a cocktail of drugs and is considered to be hig....
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 con....
In home passive sensor data collection and its implications for social media research: perspectives of community women in rural South Africa
There has been a recent increase in debates on the ethics of social media research, passive sensor data collection, and big data analytics. However, l....
Refining interventions through formative research: a focus on ethical considerations in a family-based home-based counseling and testing (FBCT) intervention in KwaZulu-Natal
Conducting formative research is a scientific, ethical, and community engagement imperative. This article describes how formative research refined eth....
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 th....
Adolescent barriers to HIV prevention research: are parental consent requirements the biggest obstacle?
One third of people newly living with HIV/AIDS are adolescents. Research on adolescent HIV prevention is critical owing to differences between adolesc....
"The power of the poem": using poetic inquiry to explore trans-identities in Namibia
Researchers exploring sensitive topics need to identify appropriate methodologies to encourage open expression. We used poetic inquiry to explore the ....
Intimate partner violence in older South African women: an analysis of the 2016 Demographic and Health Survey
South Africa (SA) has one of the highest rates of intimate partner violence (IPV) in the world. It is also in the midst of a demographic transition in....
'It's like making your own alcohol at home': factors influencing adolescent use of over-the counter cough syrup
Adolescents are increasingly experimenting with new 'craze drugs', including over-the-counter cough medicine (OTCCM). However, there is limited empiri....
Intimate partner violence among male couples in South Africa and Namibia
Despite the growing body of evidence demonstrating the high prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) among male couples and the unique antecedent....
Be legally wise: when is parental consent required for adolescents' access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)?
South African adolescents (12-17 years) need an array of prevention tools to address their risk of acquiring the life-long, stigmatized condition that....
HIV testing, knowledge and willingness to use PReP among partnered men who have sex with men in South Africa and Namibia
There is strong evidence that gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) in African countries experience high prevalence of HIV. Howeve....
Critiquing the ethics review process in the 2019 Nieuwoudt et al. study on the impact of age and education on cognitive functioning among coloured South African women
In April 2019, Nieuwoudt et al. published an article on the impact of age and education on cognitive functioning among coloured women in the Western C....
Understanding constraints and enablers of turnaround time for ethics review: the case of institutional review boards in Tanzania
Independent ethics review of research is required prior to the implementation of all health research involving human participants. However, ethics rev....
"They abduct us and rape us": adolescents' participatory visual reflections of their vulnerability to sexual violence in South African townships
The abduction and sexual violation of adolescents, especially in township contexts, has increasingly made headlines in South Africa. These incidents a....
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
Despite having some of the world's highest rates of HIV, there is a lack of knowledge on correlates of transmission risk among gay, bisexual and other....
Access to Justice for women in Eswatini: HIV-positive women as a vulnerable population
Violence against women (VAW) is a global problem and is regarded as one of the most widespread violations of women's rights. Literature shows that wom....
Predictors of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in South African local communities: the VaxScenes study
South Africa launched a mass COVID-19 vaccination campaign in May 2021, targeting 40 million adults. Understanding predictors of COVID-19 vaccine inte....
'Known youth' and the Covid-19 pandemic: exploring COVID-19 knowledge, mental health impacts and COVID-19 vaccine acceptability: study report 2
The current report forms part of a larger study that investigates South African youth's experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of the....
"It's like making your own alcohol": factors influencing adolescent use of codeine-based cough syrup
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The socio-economic, health and gender impact of Covid-19 on youth (16-35 years old) beneficiaries of DSD programmes
The current report is the first of three and focuses on youth???s experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic over the period April 2020 to July 2021. We spe....
Lives versus livelihoods: South African adults' perspectives on the alcohol ban during the COVID-19 lockdown
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, South Africa implemented a national lockdown including a ban on the sale of alcohol. This paper describes adults....