Women living with environmental illness

We used a case study approach to explore the experiences of 4 women who live with environmental illness (EI). From the unstructured interviews we found a variety of themes that pointed to the complexity of EI and its severe impact on the lives of these women, their families, and their significant others. The methodology was guided by an ecofeminist approach, which enabled a critical analysis of the data to move beyond the personal to the broader sociopolitical forces shaping society. We identified the following themes from the women's stories: indirect exposure to incitants through people with whom these women come in close physical contact; the phenomenon of burden of proof, meaning that these women are forced to explain and legitimize their illness on a continuous basis; taking refuge from a hostile environment in social isolation to a more controlled environment, not as a matter of choice, but because of the severity of the illness; and, finally, a change in value system was integral to the entire process of living with EI.