Dr Ngozika Jane Hemuka

PhD –'The continuation of Female Genital Mutilation in Nigeria: a mixed methods study of Igbo men’s views and perpetuating factors' awarded in 2022.

Current role:- Senior Health Protection Officer

In 2014, Jane completed her Master’s in Public Health with Merit in the Faculty of Education Health and Wellbeing. The title of her dissertation was ‘The epidemiology of intimate partner violence among pregnant women in Sub-Sharan Africa’. Following this success, Jane applied for and was successful in an application to study for a PhD in the same faculty. She paid the fees for this herself.

Training and knowledge exchange

During her PhD study, Jane attended many of the workshops delivered by the Doctoral Collage where she learned valuable academic skills and personal development. She also completed the Post Graduate Certificate in Higher Education & Professional Practice. Jane took advantage of every opportunity made available to her in the faculty of Education Health and Wellbeing, accumulated relevant real-world research experience by being employed on two temporary part-time contracts, one as Research Assistant and another as Visiting Lecturer. The project she contributed to was an evaluation of the Phoenix Project, a community initiative in collaboration with The Haven Wolverhampton and The Grand Theatre that served to support adult female victims of domestic violence to gain and develop social skills. In 2017, she also delivered an internal Public Health seminar on her PhD which was very well-attended, and which garnered considerable audience participation and very positive feedback.

In 2018, Jane secured funding from the QR Global Challenges Research Fund to attend the Outcome Mapping Learning Community training in Belgium in 2019, which explored approaches to effective planning, monitoring, and evaluation of programmes in complex change processes in developing countries. It also provided understanding of outcome Mapping and Outcome Harvesting and how to use them appropriately in own contexts and adapt them for use with other research methodologies. This activity was related to Sustainable Development Goal 3, Good health and wellbeing, and Sustainable Development Goal 5, Gender equality. The knowledge and experience gained by attending the OMLC workshop strengthened Jane’s research capacity to enable the completion of her PhD and contribute to recommendations for policy and behavioural change practice in Nigeria.

Awards

Jane was the winner of the University of Wolverhampton Doctoral Depictions Photograph competition in 2018.

Impact and dissemination

Jane has been successful in publishing the quantitative findings from her thesis, the citation being: Hemuka J, Morgan A, Bellingham-Young D and Stonard K (2022) Female genital mutilation: Nigerian Igbo men’s low acceptance of the practice, Journal of Public Health. Accessible at: https://rdcu.be/cEAZ8, and is currently working on publishing the qualitative findings from her thesis and is aiming to submit an article for peer-review in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence.

In 2018, Jane presented findings from her thesis at the 2nd International Meeting on Gynaecology and Obstetrics Pathology, Paris, France. Accessible at: https://gynecology-obstetrics.pathologyconferences.com/abstract/2018/men-s-percep-on-toward-female-genital-mu-la-on-in-nigeria

She is the founder of Women Children and Community Health, in which she plans and organises community events and contributes to local schools, charities and community development through fund-raising activities.

Current role

Jane is committed to improving public health and the health of individuals, which can be seen in all her academic activities in which she works hard to raise awareness of violence against women in all its forms, especially female genital mutilation, a serious and extreme form of violence against girls and women. On completing her PhD, Jane obtained a position with  Birmingham City Council as a Senior Health Protection officer in Covid-19 Test and Trace on  a 12-month contract with an end date of September 2022.