Culture, Health & Sexuality最新文献

This qualitative study examines the lived experiences of a small purposively selected sample of women in Israel who had consciously chosen to remain childfree within a strongly pronatalist context. Informed by a constructivist feminist approach, we conducted semi-structured interviews with participants who self-identified as childfree by choice. Thematic analysis yielded three themes. The first of these - redefining femininity and the embodied self - shows how participants challenged assumptions that equated womanhood with motherhood, framing femininity as rooted in autonomy and bodily integrity. The second theme - relationships, sexuality, and navigating social expectations - highlights how participants managed reproductive intentions, relational boundaries, and stigma. The third theme - autonomy, freedom, and the validation of choice - demonstrates how participants described childfreeness as a fulfilling life pathway aligned with personal values and emotional freedom. Interpreted through a social constructionist lens, the findings suggest that voluntary childlessness should be understood not as a lifestyle preference but as a consciously articulated identity shaped by moral reasoning and negotiation with social norms. Study findings offer an in-depth account of meaning-making among women who actively claim a childfree identity within a collectivist society.

This study examined how abortion acompañantes - feminist activists who support self-managed medication abortions outside clinical settings - in northern Mexico enact a feminist ethics of care. Through 13 in-depth interviews with feminist activists in the states of Baja California and Chihuahua, we explored how acompañantes seek to redefine abortion care by centring the needs, emotions and contexts of the people they support. Findings show that they conceptualise feminist care as holistic, horizontal, situated and political. In practice, this includes centring abortion seekers needs; placing feelings at the centre of care; ensuring safety by providing stigma-free information; collaboration with health professionals, while ensuring there is no coercion; and economic support. Drawing on Gilligan's and Brugère's work on a feminist ethics of care, we describe how acompañantes challenge patriarchal paradigms through the use of person-centred models of care. These practices subvert medical and state control, offering an alternative paradigm rooted in social solidarity. The study contributes to the growing literature on feminist abortion accompaniment by demonstrating how care functions as both a form of resistance and a means of political transformation, while also shaping new understandings of safety and quality.

Working women face unique challenges in managing menstruation in male-dominated workplaces. This study explored menstrual hygiene management (MHM) practices among women ticket collectors with the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) in India. The research aims were to understand awareness, experiences and practices related to MHM and health among women working in the transport sector, while also identifying barriers and associated health issues. Using a qualitative approach, we conducted in-depth interviews with 36 female ticket collectors. The interviews focused on MHM and health-related knowledge, attitudes and practices and associated infrastructural and societal challenges. Thematic analysis was used to develop insights from the data. Findings indicated serious difficulties in maintaining menstrual hygiene, including lack of toilets/restrooms, limited break time and stigma surrounding menstruation. Health concerns such as urinary tract infections (UTIs) and dermatitis were commonly reported, linked to the prolonged use of sanitary products at work. Cultural taboos and restrictions during menstruation remain widespread. Awareness of government schemes such as She-Pad was notably low. The study highlights the urgent need for systemic changes, including better workplace sanitation, menstrual leave policies and awareness programmes. Collaborative action between the government and employers can help create a more inclusive and supportive work environment.

COVID-19 greatly affected vulnerable groups such as migrants and sex workers. This study explored the impact of COVID-19 on migrant sex workers in a Portuguese setting, focusing on understanding their experiences and the solutions they have found to cope with the pandemic. Using a qualitative approach, we conducted in-depth semi-structured individual interviews with 27 cisgender female migrant sex workers, aged between 24 and 60 years, working in Portugal during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants were recruited from the Northern Regional Health Administration's Autoestima Programme. The interviews addressed topics related to the perceived risks associated with COVID-19 and the solutions developed to address them. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. The results evidenced multiple layers of vulnerabilities experienced by sex workers, including economic hardships, physical and mental health risks, safety and client-related risks, as well as the lack of response by the Portuguese state. Despite these vulnerabilities, sex workers demonstrated resilience and created ways of coping with the pandemic. COVID-19 heightened sex workers' awareness of their vulnerabilities, occupational health risks, and lack of protection, which increased their political consciousness and led to calls for the legalisation of sex work as a way to address precarity and stigma.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) starts at a young age. In Tanzania, 32% of adolescent girls and young women report lifetime experience of physical or sexual IPV. Adolescence is a critical developmental period when young people are establishing beliefs around gender equity and violence and when programmes and interventions may be most influential. This study explored adolescent and young adult perspectives on gender equity and gender roles, and their links to IPV to inform the adaptation and implementation of an evidence-based gender empowerment curriculum for young people in Tanzania. We conducted 24 focus group discussions among young people ages 14-24, adult community members, and community and religious leaders. Five major themes were developed: social acceptance of traditional gender roles and male dominated families; generational divide on support for gender equity; a religious lens on gender equity and the tolerance of violence; the normalisation of violence; and recommendations to promote gender equity. Our findings suggest young people, particularly girls and young women, support gender equity concepts. However, pervasive social norms about traditional gender roles, perpetuated by adults and community leaders, inhibit gender equity. Recommen-dations included involving peers, family, and wider community in gender empowerment education; and engaging religious leaders.

Food insecurity, defined as limited or uncertain access to safe and nutritious food, is a critical yet underexplored issue among gay men in India. This qualitative study, informed by hermeneutic phenomenology, explored how food insecurity is experienced and understood by a small sample of self-identifying gay men living in India. In-depth interviews were conducted online with five participants from different regions of the country. Thematic analysis generated three interconnected themes: 'security beyond survival'; 'coping, compromising, enduring'; and 'without support, you are just alone'. Findings suggest that food insecurity is shaped by overlapping experiences of discrimination, social isolation, economic precarity, and family relationships. These insights contribute to a growing body of work on sexuality and gender minorities' marginalisation and highlight the need for future research and support systems that recognise the complex and relational nature of food insecurity.

There is increased recognition of the need to engage with psychosocial diversity in the psychotherapeutic treatment of sexual violence. Using a decolonial feminist community psychology lens, this paper explores how religious practices shape the trauma experiences of adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse in the Cape Flats region of South Africa. Drawing on data from qualitative semi-structured interviews and integrative trauma-informed care sessions with thirteen women who experienced childhood sexual abuse, this research explores how religion influences adult survivors' efforts to process childhood sexual abuse and seek healing. Characterised by structural inequities, intergenerational trauma and limited mental health services resulting from apartheid, the Cape Flats provides a context in which religion plays a paradoxical role in study participants' lives. Insights from reflexive inductive thematic analysis suggest that religion may provide supportive meaning, but also perpetuates trauma suppression through spiritual bypassing and premature forgiveness. This dynamic occurs where cultural and religious norms discourage trauma disclosure and institutionalised faith practices lack specialised trauma care. Integrative trauma-informed care sessions enable participants to engage with their trauma authentically, while cultivating an empowering connection to their faith. These findings highlight the necessity for trauma recovery approaches that address the intersections of structural inequity, gender and spirituality.

Extensive research on the process of 'coming out' underscores the significance of disclosing one's sexual orientation and gender identity for personal development and self-expression. However, sharing this information with family members can be difficult, particularly in Zimbabwe where broader social and cultural forces pose significant challenges to 'coming out', and gender and/or sexuality diversity is strongly reacted against. This paper explores the experiences of gender and sexuality diverse persons in Harare as they came out to their families, or were 'outed' by others. The study involved semi-structured interviews, informal conversations, and focus group discussions with 31 gender and sexuality diverse individuals aged between 18-31 years. The participants revealed the different ways in which their families became aware of their sexual orientation. These pathways included planned disclosure, outing through extortion, blackmail, and other incidents. The narratives shared by participants varied significantly, encompassing a spectrum from overtly negative or positive responses to more complex reactions from families regarding their child or siblings' gender and sexuality diversity.

Relationship dynamics can influence sexual health outcomes and may affect engagement with HIV prevention strategies. This qualitative study explored how women's perceived relationship dynamics impacted their HIV prevention strategies, including condom and Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) use, and HIV testing. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 34 women at higher risk of HIV acquisition and 40 women living with HIV in the USA, recruited through social media and health clinics. Interviews were audio recorded, professionally transcribed, and analysed using content analysis to identify themes. Participants identified trust, infidelity, and communication as the most salient aspects of their relationships that impacted HIV prevention. Trust fostered emotional security, while infidelity heightened uncertainty about partners' HIV status. Barriers to open communication with partners hindered women from prioritising their health. Participants recommended routine HIV testing with partners, open discussions about sexual health history, and PrEP to protect their health within relationships. The study offers valuable insights to inform the design of tailored HIV prevention strategies for women.

In this paper, we present data about how young adult writers respond to the criteria for, and examples of, healthy pornography. Data derive from a textual analysis prepared by four young adult writers aged 18-25 years, who were the majority of authors of this paper. They were recruited by the first author who circulated a call for expressions of interest on what was then called Twitter. The co-authors were paid A$500 to prepare 500 words of textual analysis on criteria for healthy pornography and four websites that were suggested by an expert panel as possibly supporting healthy sexual development for young adults. We then subjected these data to a meta-textual analysis to draw out key insights. Our perspectives on healthy pornography included poetry, activist writing and academic writing. The findings make clear the diversity of ideas and thoughts about this topic among 18-25-year-olds. This demonstrates the creativity of human interpretation, and how this informs the ways in which we engage with, make sense of and make use of pornography.