THE IC JOURNAL #1

THE GLOBAL NORTH AND THE GLOBAL SOUTH

The death of Sarah Everards is tragic and the world must condole. In South Africa, however, the incident is an everyday occurrence.

The indisputable end to the life of the now famous woman, Sarah Everard, has lit a candle in the dark. People are uniting in movements all over the world, and a synchronous march for womens rights is now growing stronger. In addition to the movement, Sara Everard's death also sparked a debate about gender, security and identity. The gender debate is a classic political battleground that contains the power to make other public conversations seem trivial - even the racism debate may suffer at this expense. Everard's death exemplifies how one public debate can end up completely overshadowing another. While the world's media coverage and attention is entirely directed at the tragic event in England, an average of three women is killed every day in South Africa. We, here in the global north, do not hear about the many tragidies of the global south.

THE GLOBAL NORTH AND THE GLOBAL SOUTH

The global north and south have been thoroughly defined by the social scientist and geographer, Doreen Massey. Massey interprets the global north as a globalized and transnational area of the world that is cohesive, rich and powerful. In contrast, the global south is defined as a generally more unstable and less powerfull transnational area of the world.

In this context, it is important to note that the global south is by definition disqualified, as the rules of the game are continuously defined by the global north. For this reason, the global south lays significantly lower economically and legally than the global north.

In this context, South Africa can exemplify a country in the global south. South Africa is home to one of the highest rates of violence against women in the world. As stated, three women is killed daily as a consequens of intimate relationsship problems. Furthermore, the South African department of Justice estimates that one out of four women in South Africa bears the title; survivor of domestic violence. Yet we still do not hear these news. And if we did, the world would not be taken by the storm.

It is not the purpose of this article to take the breath away from the ongoing women movements seeking more justice. Inner Connect stands with the movements in their search for more just for all women. We condemn the events in England and we mourn for Sara Everards. In reality, the purpose of this article is to emphasize the paradox of the fact that large parts of the world's women do not get the same media coverage when their death becomes reality. When we talk about the women of the world, it means ALL the women of the world. Why do discussions about gender always stem from a tragic event from the global north and never from the more or less normalized events that occur in the global south? As the figures already mentioned indicates, genocide in South Africa is a violent phenomenon that poses a definite societal threat. Yet the attention of the global North is never brought close to these events - perhaps because we have more confidence in the systems and paradigms of the global north than in the global south. Therefore, we are more shoked when Sarah is killed in London than when Lesedi is killed in Johannesburg.

ATTENTION IS THE SOLUTION

As a general rule, negativity will always contain positivity. In the case of Sarah Everards, it is clear. Her death set in motion a movement that cannot be stopped just like that. Her death set in motion a dynamic on social media, which created more attention around Sarah's death, but also around the overall societal problems for women. Why not use these tools and this fighting spirit to also raise awareness around the tragic events of the global south? If we do this, together we can establish a basis for more justice for all the women of the world. Not only for Anna, Ursula, Sarah and Chloe, but also for Aboyo and Lesedi.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND MENTAL HEALTH

Physical activity is beneficial for your mental health. Inner Connect wants to make physical activity an integrated part of their work with the mental health of young women in South Africa.

Physical activity is a big part of the life of a human being. Humans move, gather and

mobilize all the time, and basic bodily movements are a completely irreplaceable feature

of the human being. The human body is directly designed to move, and if we don’t

move we can not perform. Furthermore, the movements of humans are naturally and

socially rooted. From an evolutionary perspective the body has adapted through

hundreds of years to the demands of nature and society. It is therefore fair to say that

physical activity is essential to human beings.

Physical activity can be done with huge variations on intensity, duration, and structure.

According to WHO, the recommended weekly physical activity level is 150 minutes per

week with moderate intensity or 75 minutes of physical activity with high intensity.

WHO define physical activity as “any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles

that requires energy expenditure. Physical activity refers to all movement including

during leisure time, for transport to get to and from places, or as part of a person’s work.

Both moderate- and vigorous-intensity physical activity improve health”.

Despite the recommendations from WHO, the wordly level of physical activity is very

low. In Denmark, statistics from 2017 show that there were 29 percent of the adult population who didn’t meet the recommendations. In South Africa the numbers are also conspicuous. According to a national South African study from 2018, only 57,4% of a total amount of 26.339 informants were proven to be physically active. The study concluded that there was a higher incidence of inactivity by those who were in lower

socioeconomic classes. These numbers is being backed up by the overall numbers

posted by WHO. This is a problematic situation, especially when it is known that

physical activity can have positive effect on both the physical and the mental health of humans. Now take in to account how much the South African government could benefit

from a larger focus on the physical activity of the South African people. There would be

less illnesses (both physical and mental). In addition, the South African people would

grow stronger (again both physically and mentally).

THE PHYSIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

The physiological effects of physical activity are many. Obvious ones are improved

blood flow, heart capacity and lung function. These are great benefits in terms of big

variations of diseases such as hypertension, chronic obstructive lung disease, obesity,

type 2 diabetes mellitus, etc. According to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF)

the prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus in South Africa is 12,8% in the adult

population. In numbers that is approximately 4,5 million people. This is also the cause

of death for approximatly 16% of the South African population.

We know that physical activity can reduce mortality as well as increase the physical

capacity which is beneficial to being able to do daily life activities and keeping a good

functional level. This is especially important to be able to prevent and treat hypertension

and heart diseases as well as chronic obstructive lung disease. In this case physical

activity has a positive effect on the musculature around the lungs, and therefore the heart

become better to pump blood.

THE PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

The benefits of physical activity is not only concerned with psychology. Physical

acitivty also have a lot of great mental health benfits. In a study by Petersen et al. from

2016 the prevalence of mental health disorders in South Africa were on 16.5% of the

population. This included anxiety as well as mood and substance use disorders (e.g.,

depression, stress, and drug abuse). In addition, approximately 30,3% had experienced a

common mental disorder in their lifetime in South Africa. These numbers are high when

compared to international prevalence estimates of the WHO. Furthermore, only one out

of four with a mental disorder receives treatment of any kind and therefore, there is a

big treatment gap in South Africa.

If we exclusively look in to depression, stress, and anxiety, there is a lot of

physical factors involved in the development of these mental illnesses. From

a physiological persepctive, we know that the stress hormones, the heart rate

and the neurobiological balances in the brain are different during anxiety,

depression, and stress. Furthermore, these mental disorders produce

symptoms like increased blood pressure, hyperventilation of the respiratory

system, sweat production, etc., which is perceived as threats and

uncomfortable reactions by the individual with the disorder.

If we take these symptoms into account, physical activity is actually really

beneficial. By being physically active the affected individual can challenge

the assumption that it is dangerous to get the pulse and respiratory system

going. Therefore, physical activity can challenge these negative and

irrational thoughts and give the individuals with the mental disorder a new

perspective on the symptoms. In a clear physiological way physical activity

has a positive effect on lowering cortisol levels, increasing beta endorphin

and serotonin levels and other neurobiological factors, lowering the heart

rate as well as a mood and calmness effect.

CONCLUSION

As described physical activity has a big variation of positive effects, both in

a physological and psychological sense. The mental and physical disorders

in South Africa constitutes big challenges. It is clear that action is needed.

This is where Inner Connect is an obvious and needed contributor. Inner

Connect is currently involved with especially young women in South

Africa. Inner Connect focuses on the mental health of these women, and

wants to contribute to their empowerment and flourishing. The many

positive effects from physical activity towards mental health underlines that

physical activity in any kind can be a good addition to Inner Connects

current mission to better the mental health of young South African women.

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