Scavengers are continuously exposed to several health hazards which affect their quality of life. The phenomenon of scavenging in Pakistan is on the rise but literature on scavengers’ health and illness is limited. Hence, this study intends to add to the knowledge by exploring the health status and illness experiences of refugee scavengers using phenomenology approach. Thirty-one adult male Afghan refugee scavengers (with at least 5 years of work experience) were recruited in this qualitative study through purposive sampling. To collect the lived experiences, this study predominantly relied on open-ended, face-to-face, semistructured, and in-depth interviews by using an interview protocol. The qualitative data analyzed with Max van Manen’s hermeneutic phenomenological reflection revealed that all the scavengers were experiencing multiple health problems ranging from minor to chronic illnesses. These health issues were frequent in nature and had affected their overall life mostly daily activities, job, and earnings. The study concludes with the need to increase literacy among scavengers, raise their health awareness and usage of personal protective equipment at work.

Scavengers are prone to various health problems, hence seeking healthcare is inevitable. Despite the importance of the help-seeking behavior of scavengers, it has not been addressed explicitly in the existing literature. Addressing this gap, this study intends to explore the help-seeking behavior of scavengers and to identify the factors that influence healthcare utilization among them. This qualitative study conducted thirty-one in-depth interviews through a semi-structured interview guide and analyzed them using thematic analysis. Andersen’s Behavioral Model of Health Service Use was employed to explore the findings. The findings showed that the scavengers utilized multiple healthcare options depending on the severity and reoccurrence of the illness. The process of help-seeking and health services utilization was largely influenced by the cost of the health service, long distance to the health facility, traveling cost and waiting time. The study highlights the need for scavengers’ enrolment in micro health insurance schemes. The initiative would facilitate scavengers’ access to medical care. Health awareness campaigns and the provision of free mobile medical services, especially at the landfill sites, would also improve curative treatment among scavengers.

Inheritance plays a pivotal role in women’s economic empowerment. Following 2011′s criminal law amendment that sought to curb the denial of women’s inheritance rights in Pakistan, a trend of wilful surrender in favor of male kin, especially in south Punjab, is now becoming apparent. The study explores this trend by conceptualizing the social engineering of women’s inheritance choices through Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman’s theory of manufactured consent. The study explores the patriarchal forces which make women’s surrender an inevitable and, in many cases, an honorable choice. Through purposive sampling technique, 20 women were recruited as participants from Bahawalpur and were then interviewed following Heideggerian phenomenology. Thematic analysis was conducted to draw the findings. The findings of the study reveal that family, religion, folktales, traditional songs, school curriculum, and mainstream media play a crucial role in women’s lives and are highly influential in shaping their choices. All these variables guide women to opt for surrender as an honorable choice. The study recommends that women’s economic empowerment is needed at the grassroots level, for which the role of agents of socialization needs to be restructured rather than only law-making and awareness creation in isolation.