Research Supervisor Connect
The population of migrant and refugee youth in Greater Western Sydney is increasing exponentially each year. Little is understood about these young people's understanding of and ability to exert their sexual and reproductive health and rights. By centering their voices, we can better understand the social ecology of the barriers they encounter and the factors that facilitate informed sexual and reproductive health decision-making. This will result in a youth-determined model for policy and programming aimed at improving migrant and refugee sexual and reproductive health literacy, wellbeing and agency.
Masters
This study explores migrant and refugee youths' (aged 16-24) understandings and experiences of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) - a gap identified in on our interdisciplinary pilot work. Little is known about migrant and refugee youths' knowledge and agency related to SRHR in Greater Western Sydney because youth are rarely asked. Although sexual and reproductive wellbeing cannot be realised without SRHR - a fundamental human right - few studies have considered migrant and refugee youths' knowledge and agency in Greater Western Sydney. The little research conducted in this region (mostly our own) on migrant and refugee youths' sexual and reproductive health has mostly focused on the prevalence of unplanned pregnancy, having STIs, intergenerational issues, cross-cultural clashes and constructions of sexual and reproductive health in relation to culture and/or religion. From this work, and that of others, it became clear that only by centering youth voices and moving away from a deficit model of adolescence, migrancy and sexual and reproductive health could improvements in SRHR agency, decision making and wellbeing outcomes be optimised. It is important to acknowledge and address this epistemological gap in Greater Western Sydney - one of Australia's fasted growing regions.
This project therefore draws on our interdisciplinary pilot work and uses quantitative approach and participatory action research (PAR) to address the following study aims:
1. Investigate migrant and refugee youths' understanding of and experiences with sexual and reproductive health and rights.
2. Identify the barriers and facilitators migrant and refugee youth perceive to sexual and reproductive wellbeing, decision-making and agency.
3. Identify the socioecological factors that characterise youth sexual and reproductive health and rights and their support needs, literacy, service utilisation, availability and accessibility.
4. Develop a human rights-based and youth-determined model for policy and programming aimed at improving youth sexual and reproductive health agency and wellbeing.
This study centres SRHR as a fundamental human rights issue critical to the realisation of other human rights such as equality, autonomy, privacy and non-discrimination. Human rights are at the core of SRHR and PAR with their focus on the relationship between self-determination and health outcomes. This relationship is of great significance to migrant and refugee youth given the range of challenges they encounter which interfere with their ability to make informed and agentic sexual and reproductive health decisions.
This research is one of the core research areas that I have been working on for several years. My research on women in developing countries (in particular Bangladesh), minority women, migrant and refugee women and young people living Sydney and Muslim women in the Middle East have generated five collaborative research projects (including a national competitive grant such as The Australian Research Council Discovery grants, and Al Qasimi Foundation grant, United Arab Emirates), made significant contributions to the health and wellbeing of women and young people in these communities. My research interests are in the areas of women's health, ageing population, migrant and refugees' health, communicable and non-communicable disease and disability and community based rehabilitation. I use mixed methods.
The opportunity ID for this research opportunity is 2862