There were few women who requested a PAP smear on their own; generally they followed recommendations from their physicians and sometimes from their daughters, neighbors or friends. When they decided on their own, previous experience with cervical cancer, especially within the family, played an important motivating role. Cancer is an event that nearly always a women experiences in solitude. They seldomly shared their experience with their family, either because they had a poor communication with their partner or because they just wanted to spare their children from suffering. Most women did not know wich other women from their own family had had PAP smears. When they wanted to share their feelings regarding their diagnosis, they usually did so with acquaintances or people of similar religious beliefs. When sharing with acquaintances, the purpose seemed to be to offer advice to other women and motivate them to undergo cancer screening. When sharing feelings with people of similar religious beliefs, women were looking for spiritual support.

For these reasons it is quite difficult to identify the kind of family support received by women, even when they declared that their relatives helped them as much as they could.

Facing this experience mostly on their own, women recognized an increased desire for moral support from their partners, but sometimes their reaction was to abandon them. The reason for this rupture was that a woman who was going to lose her womb, also lost the possibility of having children and becames "useless as a woman". Women expressed that they needed moral support more than anything else, and to feel protected and not alone. Women who had separated from their partners prior to the diagnosis usually received support from their children. Gender (see Table 2)

This category took into consideration the perceptions, ideas and actions that reflect the social construction of the sexes as well as current socio-cultural values. Women's partners' reactions and the support they give are discussed as well as the reasons of women for avoiding cervical cancer screening. For most women, the examination itself was regarded as a particularly uncomfortable experience. The notion of submissiveness appeared when women explained that men "must" have intercourse, and if they are not satisfied, they will look for the company of other women. Most women assumed that this behavior is completely natural and legitimate.

When faced with a confirmed diagnosis of cervical cancer, women feared abandonment by their partners. The belief standing here is that a woman ought to provide pleasure to her partner even at her own expense, and asking the physician whether it is possible to have intercourse, is a cause for embarrassment. Even among the health care staff, the sexual behavior of woman is questioned before that of her partner, as shown by some testimonies. Another situation that is noticeable in this context is the role of women in the family's health. They look after the different family members, neglecting their own health or placing it in last place, frequently until their own health problems have become unmanageable. The invaluable compensation that these women receive is, undoubtedly, their children's love.

Motherhood is a characteristic that defines the condition of being a female. Therefore, the failure to procreate is a cause for abandonment. As with pregnancy and child care, health care is another responsibility assumed by women as part of their social role. This assumption is confirmed by the fact that they do not inform their husband about their cervical cancer so as not to worry him – which reflects the woman's belief that she is the only one responsible for her own health. This assumption is also held by the male partner who delegates to the woman the responsibility of following the appropriate treatment. Occasionally, women themselves justify the absence of their partners, saying that they must work in order to pay for food and for their treatment-related expenses. The interviewed women justified their partners' behavior in two ways. Firs, at the time of the PAP smear, because they pointed out that a man does not have to be involved because health maintenance is the woman's exclusive responsibility; and second, when the diagnosis was positive for cervical cancer, women felt thaeir the partner had to become aware of the situation but his support was not an obligation given the severity of the problem. Tolerance towards their partners, despite the lack of affection and communication in the relationship, seems to be accepted as a woman's obligation.

Sometimes, the partner's lack of affection is the reason for the woman's poor disposition, yet she does not dare admit it. Faced with the possibility of a diagnosis, women expressed a double social burden: the disclosure of a socially unacceptable behavior in the couple (promiscuity) and the ressponsability of being a women (gender role), which results in a sense of duty even if they are reproached by the others.

Health services The category included information about the quality of health care services received by women. Women graded the attention received as good and expressed the same opinion about the information received from the physicians and health workers, yet these answers appear to be very limited and women remain with many doubts.

Some women stated that the doctor skipped examination (while this is the kind of action expected by them) during the first consultation, and neither told them what they had, but simply prescribed some medication.

Controls

Subjectivity (see Table 3)

In spite of not having a positive diagnosis, women in the control group developed a certain fear, which is fostered by the experience of having someone close to them with cervical cancer. Guilt is a feeling the controls share with the cases, generally because, their loved ones have to go through such an unpleasant experience.

The controls talked about the need for the cases' husbands to support their wives instead of keeping distant or, even worse to abandon them.

The cases close to them, especially when they were relatives, fostered feelings of sadness, pain and depression. This pain turns to fear when accompanied by the frequently mentioned notion of death.

Women in the control group often left the issue of survival up to God. Yet along with this idea, there was also the notion that scientific advances can prevent death, even though cervical cancer is seen as an incurable disease. Underlying both notions is the concept of a miracle, mixed with a form of denial.

Despite their fear, these women still perceived themselves as being at low risk of cervical cancer, a perception unaffected by living in close contact with cervical cancer cases and expressed as not taking preventive actions. These women used health care services for family consultations, but did not undergo cervical screening on their own. Family (see Table 3)

Daughters are the family members that play the most important role in recommending and encouraging their mothers to participate in cervical screening. Women in the control group admitted to have problems and misunderstandings with their husbands, besides the issue of whether or not they should seek a PAP smear. For example, men accepted more openly to have extramarital intercourses that occasionally caused them to feel guilty, and they reckoned on palliatives, such as bringing medication to their wives to cure infections that they believed were caused by their extramarital behavior. Gender (see Table 3)

In general, women expressed a feeling of abandonement, they perceived they partners as estranged and not at all concerned about them. As in the cases, the controls were also embarrased by the fact that their bodies would be seen during the examination, thus revealing the prejudice that female integrity is closely linked to a sense of shame.