Navigating social and epistemic harms: the role of Facebook in women's health activism against essure

Through qualitative methodology, including interviews and netnography, the study investigates how these harms are shaped by institutional and gendered power dynamics within healthcare. The findings reveal significant institutional failures, with healthcare providers often dismissing the women's suffering, resulting in delayed diagnoses and treatment. The research also highlights the potential and limitations of the Essure Facebook group as a site for epistemic resistance, where women could share their experiences and challenge the medical narratives that dismissed their suffering.

However, despite this digital empowerment, systemic healthcare reform is necessary to address the entrenched epistemic hierarchies that continue to marginalise women's voices. The study contributes to the field of Zemiology by offering a novel framework for understanding how knowledge-based injustices intersect with broader social harms, and it provides recommendations for future research and healthcare policy reforms to create more inclusive and just systems for women’s health.