Percepciones sobre la salud sexual y reproductiva de las mujeres indígenas Kichwas y Shuaras. Ecuador, 2016

Abstract

Cervical cancer is a health problem unresolved in developing countries; this disease is the leading cause of death from gynecologic cancer in Ecuador. Coverage of preventive screening is influenced by cultural conceptions of the population, which are based on the perceptions of each ethnic group on the etiologic process health-disease complex. OBJECTIVE: To interpret the perceptions of women of indigenous peoples and nationalities Shuar of Sevilla Don Bosco and Kichwas of Quilloac and Saraguro, about sexual and reproductive health, sexually transmitted infections, cervical cancer and associated conditions. METHODOLOGY: A qualitative, phenomenological study was conducted through 17 focus groups and 13 stories of life study. A total of 102 people interviewed. RESULTS: The stories of women understood as collective constructions of their respective ethnic groups in the context of a Western, patriarchal and maleness hegemonic culture, mainly refer to destructive processes of sexual and reproductive health, manifested as infidelity and male promiscuity and as the lack of protection with condoms, which affects the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections and Cervical Cancer. CONCLUSIONS: Women have awareness of a broad concept of health, including notions of sexual and reproductive health; however, relate obstacles in their full exercise, related to inequalities of class, gender, and generational etnia1 expressed as destructive processes of their health. KEYWORDS: cervical cancer, sexually transmitted infections, perceptions, culture, social determination