This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Dawson, M. T. Articles by Gifford, S. M. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Dawson, M. T. Articles by Gifford, S. M. Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Narratives, Culture and Sexual Health: Personal Life Experiences of Salvadorean and Chilean Women Living in Melbourne, Australia

Deakin University, Australiadawson{at}deakin.edu.au

Sandra M. Gifford

Deakin University, Australiasgifford{at}deakin.edu.au

This article examines narratives about culture, gender, identity and sexual health amongst Chilean and Salvadorean women living in Melbourne, Australia. We compare women’s narratives about gender roles in their home country to make sense of their experiences of migration, the tensions that arise in renegotiating their gender identities and roles in a new country and the ways these changes are experienced in terms of sexual health and well being. In comparing these past and present narratives of Chilean and Salvadorean born women, we raise a number of questions about the assumptions underpinning many of the sexual health promotion and STD prevention programmes targeted at women in migrant communities in Australia. Many of these programmes have targeted specific ‘language groups’ or ‘geographical regions’ with little attention paid to variations of cultural or socio-economic contexts within people’s home countries or the specific ways in which these impact on gender roles. Additionally, very few sexual health policies and strategies in Australia take into account the impact of the‘migration and settlement process’ and the ways these experiences influence cultural and gender identity of migrants in Australia. We propose that there is a need to build effective and flexible sexual health promotion and STDs, including HIV/AIDS, prevention strategies that build upon a dual strategy which includes men and women.

Key Words: culture • gender • sexuality • women’s health

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?