Culture, Health & Sexuality最新文献

The aim of this study was to analyse the visibility management strategies used by individuals within the LGBTQ+ community in Poland. Narrative interviews were conducted with ten adults who had experienced minority stress, affecting their family, school, professional and social lives. In the process of coming out, all the interviewees had adopted at least two visibility management strategies. These strategies included avoidance, pretence/fitting in, escape, aggression/defence, and openness. Findings contribute to understanding of the visibility management strategies used by individuals who experience minority stress and illustrate the individual aspects of the visibility management process as influenced by the family and social context. The conclusions reached should be treated as the starting point for further research on visibility management among gender and sexuality minority individuals in Poland.

Research has identified teaching as a high-risk occupation for lateral violence in the form of harmful covert or overt acts of verbal or non-verbal behaviour carried out by one employee against another who holds an equal or lower position of power. The goal of this study was to explore and describe experiences of lateral violence and its impact on the health of sexual minority pre-service teachers in township schools in South Africa. There is a paucity of research on the experiences of sexual minority teachers in South African schools. A phenomenological approach was adopted, in which eight sexual minority pre-service teachers took part in in-depth interviews to capture their day-to-day experiences during teaching practice. Findings from the study revealed that sexual minority pre-service teachers experienced incidents of lateral violence, predominantly from school management and in-service teachers. These actions exist in tension with the Constitution of South Africa, which prohibits discrimination against citizens based on sexual orientation. Pre-service teachers in this study reported negative mental, physical and social health consequences arising from incidents of lateral violence in schools. Professional development for school management and both pre- and in-service teachers on issues of sexuality and gender diversity in South Africa is needed.

Immigrant adolescents in Canada face challenges accessing accurate sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information and services. Many challenges stem from taboos associated with SRH, cultural and religious restrictions, and social beliefs regarding the unnecessity of SRH education for adolescents. We explored the SRH experiences of immigrant adolescents in the context of their cultural and religious perspectives. We engaged adolescents as collaborators and active participants in the research process. With the support of an Adolescent Advisory Group (AAG) and community partners, we conducted qualitative interviews with immigrant adolescents in Edmonton, Toronto, and Vancouver (n = 58). Through thematic analysis, we identified three broad themes: (1) 'What's really happening?' Experiencing body changes from puberty to adulthood; (2) 'It's something that's shameful': Encountering myths, misperceptions, and norms about SRH; and (3) 'I'll be there for you': Navigating family and digital resources for support. Our findings highlight the specific SRH challenges faced by immigrant adolescents in Canada, such as differences between cultural values, and communication barriers within families. Dealing with SRH matters is dependent on education, family readiness, and personal values attached to these topics. Programmes must focus on engaging cultural and religious preferences and tailoring interventions to adolescents' needs.

Young men who have sex with men in Brazil face vulnerability to HIV and display lower PrEP uptake and adherence. Understanding their engagement with digital technologies can better inform mobile health (mHealth) strategies for HIV prevention and care. As part of the Conectad@s study, a HIV status-neutral prevention and care intervention for young men who have sex with men, we conducted semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with 38 participants between January-February 2021. Participants discussed their use of digital technologies and their perceptions of mHealth interventions for HIV prevention and care. Key findings included the high use of digital technologies for social interaction and to meeting sex partners through dating apps; novel uses of communication and social networking apps to meet sex partners; strong acceptance of mHealth strategies to improve HIV prevention and care, with WhatsApp being the preferred platform; preference for receiving short messages containing information about HIV and other sexually transmitted infections in addition to PrEP reminders; and interest in interacting with research team members, especially peers, to discuss combination HIV prevention.

Despite growing international criticism of actions and efforts to change sexual orientation and gender identity, such efforts remain prevalent in Malaysia. Using data from a nationwide community-based survey, this study examined the prevalence of these efforts amongst LGBT+ adults and the association between exposure to them and mental health outcomes. Participants (n = 521) completed an online survey assessing exposure to efforts to change their sexual orientation and/or gender identity, internalised LGBT-phobia, negative future expectations, and several mental health variables. Just under sixty-four percent (n = 333) of participants reported having experienced change efforts, with the most common perpetrators being family members, friends and religious organisations or people. Recent (past year) and past exposure to change efforts (over one year ago) were each associated with significantly higher odds of suicidal ideation, non-suicidal self-injury, and suicide attempts. Participants with recent exposure to change efforts also reported elevated internalised LGBT-phobia and negative future expectations compared to those who lacked such experience. A content analysis of participants' open-ended responses documented the perceived impact of change efforts on proximal stressors and mental health and wellbeing. Recommendations are made for national authorities and healthcare bodies to ban efforts to change sexual orientation and gender identity in Malaysia.

Recent decades have seen an increasing gap occurring between the 'desired' and 'actual' family size of middle-class and professional women. This situation of 'unrealised fertility' and 'incomplete families' carries implications at a population, but also couple and individual level. This paper explores how middle-class professional women make decisions about partnering and parenthood and how these are shaped by a contemporary neoliberal feminist discourse which articulates the possibility of 'having it all' through engagement in careful life planning, appropriate self-investment, and by drawing on new technologies of reproductive biomedicine. Informed by semi-structured interviews with UK and US women conducted at two different points in time, it explores how they approach and experience the process of relationship formation in the face of age-related fertility decline. It also examines how the use of social egg freezing shape their romantic and family building expectations but also their interactions with (potential) partners. In doing so, it explores how gendered cultural dating scripts and unequal gender power relations shape the formation and progression of intimate relationships in a manner which can disempower women as they age. It therefore questions whether egg freezing may be the 'great equaliser' that some have hoped.

Female circumcision (genital cutting) in Malaysia is largely understudied at present. This study unpacks the perceptions of Malay-Muslim women with regards to sunat perempuan (female circumcision) in Malaysia. Through stakeholder engagement discussions organised by a civil society organisation, 17 Malay-Muslim women shared their views in relation to the practice with a particular focus on: (1) their awareness and personal experience of it; (2) their opinions and knowledge about the practice; (3) beliefs related to the practice; and (4) the roles of relevant stakeholders in advocacy work related to the practice. The data were analysed thematically and interpreted based on the grammar of legitimation and social norms theory. The findings reveal several themes, involving the perceived benefits of the practice; tradition and conformity to social norms; conflicting emotions related to religion; and implicit pressure and fear of negative sanctions in relation to the practice. The findings shed light on the concerns faced by Malay-Muslim women in their decision-making process in relation to the practice of female circumcision in Malaysia.

Kerala, the Indian state with the highest reported level of social development, faces a challenge with persistent early marriage, particularly among Muslims in Malappuram. This study explores the sociocultural factors influencing this situation, in which child marriage rates among Muslims are significantly higher than those of Hindus and Christians. Employing a qualitative research strategy within a specific Malappuram mahallu, a Muslim-majority village cluster encompassing three villages, we identify a multifaceted interplay of micro and macro forces perpetuating early marriage. Lack of social networks, stemming from limited higher education options and career opportunities, restricts girls' choices and makes them susceptible to parental pressure to marry early. Parents, on the other hand, often view early marriage as an appropriate solution to their anxieties concerning parental responsibility, dowry and family honour. This pressure is amplified by the narrative promoted by religious leaders who portray early marriage as the ideal path. This narrative, in turn, resonates with a subset of young men, particularly temporary Gulf migrants who prefer to marry adolescent girls, thereby perpetuating the cycle. We also argue that, unlike most regions in India, poverty and illiteracy are not the primary drivers of early marriage among Muslims in Malappuram.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a devastating impact on the health and wellbeing of populations around the world, with vulnerable groups, including sex workers, being disproportionately affected. This study explored the effects of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions on the lives of female sex workers in Pattaya, Thailand. In-depth interviews with ten women were used to explore the ways in which they sought to cope during the crisis using Lazarus and Folkman's transactional model of stress and coping. Findings suggest that those who could, tended to seek economic shelter with their parents in rural parts of the country during the pandemic. However, those who could not relocate to be with family were forced to try to eke out a living in other ways, which could be both challenging and dangerous. None reported receiving any financial support from national or local authorities, to whom they were invisible, and this placed tremendous pressure on both them and their families. The authors conclude that the pandemic further highlights the need for the Thai Government to accept the reality of sex work and seek to both legitimise and protect vulnerable women and their labour.

Men who have sex with men represent a significant portion of new HIV diagnoses in China. Guided by the systemic transactional model and interdependence theory, we examined the mediating role of 'we-ness' between dyadic coping and HIV-specific support among Chinese serodiscordant male couples, and how cultural interdependence shapes this we-ness. We employed a mixed-methods design which included a cross-sectional survey of 234 couples and qualitative interviews with 20 couples. Using the actor-partner interdependence mediation model, our quantitative analysis found that (1) both positive and negative dyadic coping had significant actor effects but nonsignificant partner effects on HIV-specific support, and (2) we-ness mediated both dyadic coping strategies and HIV-specific support, with significant actor-actor effects and partner-actor effects. Our qualitative inquiry identified that we-ness is fundamentally shaped by couples' negotiated pattern of interdependence, characterised by selective independence in HIV care alongside interdependence in HIV prevention. Our findings advance theoretical understanding by demonstrating we-ness as a critical mediating mechanism and reveal how couples' negotiated interdependence extends beyond the traditional continuum between dependence and independence. Findings suggest the need for culturally embedded interventions that recognise couples' shared we-ness and strategic negotiation in HIV management.