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Colombia has been one of the main cocaine producing countries. The state’s response has been a repressive approach against the primary levels of the coca economy, such as cultivators and consumers. Although recent literature has documented the gendered impacts of drug policy, that is not the case for women who grow illicit crops. This chapter examines the ways drug policy has impacted women coca growers, cocaleras, in Putumayo, Colombia. Cocalero or cocalera is the term referred to rural workers dedicated to the cultivation and harvest of coca leaf. The term is a vindication from these communities, dignifying the rural activities they perform. In this chapter, we will use the term cocalera to refer to women coca growers.

From an intersectional gender perspective, the chapter explores the implications of rural life, gender, armed conflict and illegality over the trajectories of cocaleras in Putumayo, southern Colombia, a region where non-state armed actors, poverty and a precarious state presence converge. In this context, cultivating coca has become the main livelihood for rural families. It has transformed women’s roles within their communities, providing them with economic autonomy they previously did not have, but also located them in vulnerable positions. This chapter – which is an adaption from some chapters of the book ‘Voices from the coca fields: Women Building Rural Communities’ (Dejusticia, 2018 ) – is the outcome of research undertaken through in-depth interviews and social mapping exercises.

This chapter presents a broad introduction to women’s varied interactions with drugs and drug markets. It provides a brief overview of the international framework of drug control and the ways in which drug policy enforcement differently impacts women and men. It highlights the negative and disproportionate impacts on women of criminalisation-based approaches and how drug policy serves to reinforce existing problems of structural discrimination. This provides context for the contributions to this edited collection, which are summarised in the introduction. The book situates drug policy reform as a crucial and underlooked feminist issue.

The purpose of this article is to explore the future of democracy, given the transition the countries of the world are experiencing.

The paper draws on literature concerning democracy, ICT and artificial intelligence. A framework for understanding the working of democracy is developed. This framework or model is tested in 20 countries, and conclusions are presented.

Globally, there is a shift taking place away from representative democracy toward less democratic forms of government.

Most studies are implicitly dogmatic in assuming that representative democracy is a superior form of government. The influences of corporations, media and the elite are moving representative democracy away from the ideal of democracy.

The future of democracy is uncertain. It is not likely that representative democracy will become the universal form of government. Global government is possible, but it is not likely to be a representative democracy.

Hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) patients can suffer from long-term transplant-related complications that affect their quality of life and daily activities. This study, a narrative review, aims to report the impact of HCT complications, the benefits of rehabilitation intervention, the need for long-term care and highlights the research gap in clinical trials involving rehabilitation.

A comprehensive search strategy was performed on several databases to look for relevant articles published from 1998 to 2018. Articles published in English with the following terms were used: hematopoietic stem cell transplant, chronic graft-versus-host disease, rehabilitation, exercise, physical therapy, occupational therapy. A patient/population, intervention, comparison, and outcomes (PICO) framework was employed to ensure that the search strategies were structured and precise. Study year, design, outcome, intervention, sample demographics, setting and study results were extracted.

Of the 1,411 records identified, 51 studies underwent title/abstract screening for appropriateness, 30 were reviewed in full, and 19 studies were included in the review. The review found that, for the majority of patients who underwent HSCT and developed treatment-related complications, rehabilitation exercises had a positive impact on their overall quality of life. However, exercise prescription in this patient group has not always reflected the scientific approach; there is a lack of high-quality clinical trials in general. The review also highlights the need to educate healthcare policymakers and insurance companies responsible for rationing services to recognise the importance of offering long-term follow-up care for this patient group, including rehabilitation services.

A large number of HSCT patients require long-term follow-up from a multidisciplinary team, including rehabilitation specialists. It is important for healthcare policymakers and insurance companies to recognise this need and take the necessary steps to ensure that HSCT patients receive adequate long-term care. This paper also highlights the urgent need for high-quality rehabilitation trials to demonstrate the feasibility and importance of rehabilitation teams.

Healthcare policymakers and insurance companies need to recognise that transplant patients need ongoing physiotherapy for early identification of any functional impairments and appropriate timely intervention.