The Social and Cultural Significance of Women's Sexual Identities Should Guide Health Promotion

Abstract

Findings demonstrate that meaningful sexual behavior is irrelevant for the majority of health disparities affecting sexual minority women. Meaningful engagement with contemporary sexual identities and their local social and cultural significance is essential for the development of appropriate and effective targeted public health interventions.

Associations with drug use and sexualised drug use among women who have sex with women (WSW) in the UK: Findings from the LGBT Sex and Lifestyles Survey

“…Similar to previous research, identifying as queer was found to be associated with drug use (Germanos et al, 2015). Previous research has also found that bisexual men and women were more likely to engage in drug use (Booker et al, 2017).…”

“…In univariate analyses, WSW engaging in sexualised drug use were more likely to report experiencing sexual assault compared to those engaging in non-sexualised drug use, but this was not significant in multivariate analyses, possibly because the majority of women experiencing sexual assault were bisexual, similar to previous research (Germanos et al, 2015). It is not clear whether the sexual assault related to male or female partners, and due to the sensitive nature of the topic, it is ethically challenging to collect event-level detail regarding sexual assault.…”

“…However, data were not available by gender and specific to women who have sex with women (WSW). Among lesbian, bisexual and queer women in Australia, women who identified as queer or bisexual reported a higher proportion of recent illicit drug use, and higher proportions of sexual coercion since 16 years old compared to women who identified as lesbian/gay (Germanos, Deacon, & Mooney-Somers, 2015).…”

Do lesbians overestimate alcohol use norms? Exploring the potential utility of personalized normative feedback interventions to reduce high-risk drinking in Southern California lesbian communities

“…In line with recent recommendations for efficacious health promotion efforts targeting specific subgroups of sexual minority women (Germanos, Deacon, & Mooney-Somers, 2015), these interventions should be carefully crafted to appeal to the demographic and lifestyle characteristics of local lesbians. This is particularly important in the case of PNF interventions where capturing participants’ attention and having participants accept PNF norm data as believable and credible are requirements for success (Berkowitz, 2004; Perkins, 2003).…”

Smoking prevalence among lesbian, bisexual and queer women in Sydney remains high: Analysis of trends and correlates

“…[22,37,38] Tailored interventions need to articulate a nuanced understanding of cultures, communities and identities. [39] Interventions that engage directly with the meaning of smoking in LGBT culture and venue-based socialising, as one social-branding program in the US did [40] or disrupting its place as a marker of identity, may be more salient. [41] Our findings also suggest value in developing ways for younger LBQ women to connect with peers without smoking as an aid to connection.…”