It is essential for researchers and health service providers to understand socio-cultural constraints which may impede SRH knowledge and behaviour of recent migrant and refugee women, in order to provide culturally safe SRH education and services that are accessible to all women at resettlement irrespective of ethnicity or migration category.

In Australia and Canada, the sexual health needs of migrant and refugee women have been of increasing concern, because of their underutilization of sexual health services and higher rate of sexual health problems. Previous research on migrant women’s sexual health has focused on their higher risk of difficulties, or barriers to service use, rather than their construction or understanding of sexuality and sexual health, which may influence service use and outcomes. Further, few studies of migrant and refugee women pay attention to the overlapping role of culture, gender, class, and ethnicity in women’s understanding of sexual health. This qualitative study used an intersectional framework to explore experiences and constructions of sexual embodiment among 169 migrant and refugee women recently resettled in Sydney, Australia and Vancouver, Canada, from Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Sri Lanka, India, and South America, utilizing a combination of individual interviews and focus groups. Across all of the cultural groups, participants described a discourse of shame, associated with silence and secrecy, as the dominant cultural and religious construction of women’s sexual embodiment. This was evident in constructions of menarche and menstruation, the embodied experience that signifies the transformation of a girl into a sexual woman; constructions of sexuality, including sexual knowledge and communication, premarital virginity, sexual pain, desire, and consent; and absence of agency in fertility control and sexual health. Women were not passive in relation to a discourse of sexual shame; a number demonstrated active resistance and negotiation in order to achieve a degree of sexual agency, yet also maintain cultural and religious identity. Identifying migrant and refugee women’s experiences and constructions of sexual embodiment are essential for understanding sexual subjectivity, and provision of culturally safe sexual health information in order to improve well-being and facilitate sexual agency.

The present study replicated Esses et al. (2006) study on the role of prejudice in discounting of immigrant skills in the Australian context. It examined the effects of subtle prejudice on discounting of migrants' foreign acquired credentials. Eighty-one students at an Australian university participated in the study. Design incorporated three experimental conditions, manipulating location, and birth of prospective job applicants. The independent variables were modern prejudice score, place of birth, and location of training (Australia, UK, and Lebanon). Participants rated resumes of hypothetical applicants on the dependent variables (person-job and person-organization fit). Results partially supported the hypotheses, with the Lebanese applicant rated significantly less favorable than both the UK and the Australian applicant. Findings imply that foreign skills and credentials were used as an ostensibly legitimate basis for the discounting of the visible minority applicant supporting the theory of aversive racism. Results also provide evidence for suitability of the justification-suppression model as a framework for comprehending contemporary issues in Western society such discounting migrant skills.Résumé A l'instar de l'étude d' Esses, Dietz, et Bhardwaj (2006) sur le rôle préjudiciable que peut avoir le fait de ne pas tenir compte des compétences des immigrants, cette étude a examiné les effets du préjudice imperceptible dans la négligence des qualifications acquises à l'étranger par les migrants, dans le contexte australien. Quatre-vingt-un étudiants d'une université australienne ont participé à cette étude. Le plan incluait la modification du lieu de stage (Australie, Royaume-Uni et Liban) et du lieu de naissance des candidats potentiels à l'emploi. Les participants ont noté les curriculum vitae des candidats hypothétiques, en adéquation avec leurs rapports personne-travail et personne-organisation. Les résultats confirment en partie ces hypothèses, le candidat Libanais étant noté beaucoup moins favorablement que les

The current longitudinal study sought to identify predictors of professional help seeking for mental health problems amongst Afghan and Iraqi refugees five years post-settlement utilising the Building a New Life in Australia dataset (BNLA). Data were collected via face-to-face or phone interviews across five waves from October 2013 to March 2018. Afghan and Iraqi born refugees numbering 1180 and over 18 years of age with a permanent humanitarian visa were included in this study. The results suggest differences in help-seeking behaviors amongst the two ethnic groups. Amongst the Afghan sample, older adults with high psychological distress were more likely to seek help, while living in regional Australia, not requiring interpreters, and knowing how to find out information about government services were related to lower likelihood of help-seeking. Within the Iraqi sample, poor overall health and knowing how to find out about services were related to a greater likelihood of help-seeking, while fewer financial hardships decreased the likelihood of help-seeking. Amongst those with probable PTSD, disability was associated with an increased likelihood of help-seeking while experiencing fewer financial hardships and living in regional Australia resulted in a lower likelihood of help-seeking in this group. These results have implications for promotional material and mental health interventions, suggesting that more integrated services tailored to specific characteristics of ethnic groups are needed.

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