Aboriginal women’s stories of sexually transmissible infection transmission and condom use in remote central Australia
Astrid M. Stark A C and Alex Hope BA Centre for International Health, Curtin University of Technology, Bentley, WA 6102, Australia.
B General Practitioner, Alice Springs, NT, Australia.
C Corresponding author. Email: astridmstark@gmail.com
Sexual Health 4(4) 237-242 https://doi.org/10.1071/SH07009
Submitted: 6 February 2007 Accepted: 31 August 2007 Published: 8 November 2007
Abstract
Background: Sexually transmissible infection (STI) rates are persistently high in central Australia, creating conditions for a potential HIV pandemic in the area. There is a shortage of qualitative research examining the underlying factors affecting STI transmission in this region. The present study investigates Aboriginal women’s current levels of knowledge regarding STI and their transmission, perception of risk for STI, patterns of condom use, access to condoms and experiences of condom negotiation with their partners. It also explores the sociocultural context of their sexual health. Methods: The present study used qualitative methods with a semistructured questionnaire. Twenty-four women aged 18–35 years from one remote central-Australian Aboriginal community were recruited. Results: The results revealed poor understandings of STI transmission, limited access to condoms and low levels of condom use despite a high perception of risk to STI. They also identified specific issues facing these women regarding the sociocultural context of their condom use, their access to condoms and the transmission of STI. The perceived effects of alcohol abuse, infidelity, sexual assault and shame on the acquisition of STI were significant issues for the women. Conclusion: This research has identified an urgent need for further qualitative research into the sociocultural factors that facilitate the spread of STI among Aboriginal people of remote central Australia. Implications include the need to increase their knowledge regarding STI and STI transmission, to increase women’s access to condoms and to incorporate the teaching of skills to deal with sexual assault and violence into sexual-health education.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to the 24 study participants and the Health Committee of the studied Aboriginal community, Maryanne Amu, clinic staff at the studied community, Kirsty Smith, Dr Ahmed Latif and Dr Mohammed Ali. This project was supported by a bursary from the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing through the Primary Health Care Research, Evaluation and Development Strategy. The Centre for Remote Health, a joint Centre of Flinders University and Charles Darwin University, awarded and administered the bursary.
[1]
[2]
[3] Wright MR, Giele CM, Dance PR, Thompson SC. Fulfilling prophecy? Sexually transmitted infections and HIV in Indigenous people in Western Australia. Med J Aust 2005; 183 124–8.
| PubMed | [verified 13 December 2006].
[5] Bowden FJ. Controlling HIV in Indigenous Australians. Med J Aust 2005; 183 116–7.
| PubMed | [verified 8 July 2006].
[9] Willis J. Condoms are for whitefellas: barriers to Pitjantjatjara men’s use of safe sex technologies. Cult Health Sex 2003; 5 203–17.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
[10] MacPhail C, Campbell C. ‘I think condoms are good but, aai, I hate those things’: condom use among adolescents and young people in a Southern African township. Soc Sci Med 2001; 52 1613–27.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
[11] Davila YR. Influence of abuse on condom negotiation among Mexican-American women involved in abusive relationships. J Assoc Nurses AIDS Care 2002; 13 46–56.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
[12] Morgan DL, Slade MD, Morgan CMA. Aboriginal philosophy and its impact on health care outcomes. Aust NZ J Public Health 1997; 21 597–601.
[13] Crosby RA, DiClemente RJ, Wingwood GM, Salazar LF, Harrington K, Davies SL, et al. Identification of strategies for promoting condom use: a prospective analysis of high-risk African-American female teens. Prev Sci 2003; 4 263–70.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
[14] Gökengin D, Yamazhan T, Özkaya D, Aytuğ S, Ertem E, Arda B, et al. Sexual knowledge, attitudes and risk behaviours of students in Turkey. J Sch Health 2003; 73 258–63.
| PubMed |
[15] Pettifor AE, Measham DM, Rees HV, Padian NS. Sexual power and HIV risk, South Africa. Emerg Infect Dis 2004; 10 1996–2004.
| PubMed |
[16] Richens J, Imrie J, Copas A. Condoms and seat belts: the parallels and the lessons. Lancet 2000; 355 400–3.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
[17] Roberts K. Attitudes to using condoms in a group of Darwin women. Aust J Rural Health 1999; 7 166–71.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
[18] Roberts KL, Cahill S. Condom use in a group of Aboriginal women. Aust J Rural Health 1997; 5 43–7.
| PubMed |
[19] Kline A, Kline E, Oken E. Minority women and sexual choice in the age of AIDS. Soc Sci Med 1992; 34 447–57.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
[20] Wingood GM, DiClemente RJ. Partner influences and gender-related factors associated with noncondom use among young adult African American women. Am J Commun Psychol 1998; 26 29–51.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
[21] Genuis SJ, Genuis SK. Primary prevention of sexually transmitted disease: applying the ABC strategy. Postgrad Med J 2005; 81 299–301.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
