The aim of this study was to identify the ways in which women from Turkish, second-generation Greek and Chilean backgrounds living in Melbourne, Australia, understand risks to their sexual health with a focus on STDs including HIV/AIDS. Data were derived from in-depth qualitative interviews with 20 women from each ethnic group (N = 60). Interviews were guided by a theme list, conducted in the woman's language of preference, tape-recorded and fully transcribed. Transcripts were double coded for key themes and analysed using ethnographic content analysis. The key findings are that for many women, reducing the risk of STDs to protect their physical health introduces risks to their social health and to the well-being of their family and community. Thus, women place priority over the protection of their social health as opposed to their physical health. Despite specific cultural differences in understandings of sexual health risks and illnesses, all women shared gendered commonalities in the ways in which they contextualise STDs within the wider context of social relationships and their everyday life. We conclude by arguing for interventions that specifically take into account social models of risk in STD and HIV/AIDS prevention and we consider the practical implications of this for harm reduction strategies in multicultural societies such as Australia.

The aim of this study was to give an account of the impact of international migration on the health of Brazilian women living in Melbourne, Australia. Based on a descriptive exploratory design, qualitative data was generated through participant observation, in-depth interviews and focus groups with 33 Brazilian women. Data analysis was done using QSR Nvivo. The main emerging themes were related to women's health problems, the lack of social support; and sociopolitical, sociocultural and socioeconomic barriers to access the healthcare services. The results of this study made evident that Brazilian women faced a diversified range of problems in the migration process to Australia. Such results proved to be consistent with those found in the literature.

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.

Cultural beliefs, norms and values regarding sexuality and gender roles forge people's sexual behaviour and understanding of sexual health risk. Acknowledging a person's cultural background is a key challenge for the promotion of sexual health programs and strategies for the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and HIV/AIDS. This challenge acquires larger dimensions when health promotion programs are directed towards migrant communities. This article examines narratives about past and present life experiences of Chilean women living in Australia and Chilean women in Chile. We inquire about social changes and exposure to education women experienced in their own country and in Australia and the ways in which migrant women define and articulate their experiences in relation to sexual health prevention. In comparing these experiences, we raise a number of questions about sexual health promotion and programs, including the prevention of STDs and HIV/AIDS targeted to specific migrant communities in Australia. Very few sexual health policies and strategies in Australia take into account the impact that the social and cultural background of migrants, social changes and the 'settlement process' has on the cultural construction of gender identity of migrants in the new country. We propose that these cultural constructs are key in the formulation of migrants' beliefs and attitudes towards sexuality and sexual health. We suggest that there is a need to build effective and culturally appropriate sexual health promotion and prevention strategies that build upon the social and cultural background and the present and past life experiences of migrant women and men.

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