'It is good to know now ... before it's too late': promoting sexual health literacy amongst resettled young people with refugee backgrounds

Little is known about access to sexual health information amongst young people with refugee backgrounds living in countries of resettlement. This paper reports on a study of sexual health amongst recently arrived young people from refugee backgrounds in Melbourne, Australia. The study employed qualitative research methods to explore and describe how resettled youth access, interpret and implement sexual health information. Between August and December 2007, data was collected through 23 focus group discussions and 14 in-depth interviews involving 142 young people with refugee backgrounds. Participants were purposively selected to reflect the ethnic composition of humanitarian entrants to Australia over the past 3 years. Their countries of origin included Iraq, Afghanistan, Burma, Sudan, Liberia, and Horn of Africa countries. The findings highlight how young people with refugee backgrounds are disadvantaged in relation to access to sexual health information. Young people had little knowledge of sexual health or STIs apart from HIV/AIDS. While they are aware of potential sources of sexual health information, few of these sources are utilized. Specific barriers to learning about sexual health include concerns about confidentiality, shame and embarrassment when discussing sexual health, and the competing demands of resettlement. The paper argues for sexual health promotion to be an explicit part of early resettlement services for refugee youth, and the implications for the development of appropriate sexual health education programs are discussed