Sexual+Education?+‘Who?+What?+Where?+When?’+What+is+culturally+acceptable?.

STUDENT NUMBER: N8101370 NAME: AIMEE FULLER TUTOR: COLLEEN



SourceURL:file://localhost/Users/aimee/Desktop/PRESENT%20ARTEFACT.doc// // (Retrieved from []) //

//SourceURL:file://localhost/Users/aimee/Desktop/PRESENT%20ARTEFACT.doc **PRESENT ARTEFACT**- The artefact I have chosen to present for this analysis is an image of a group of Muslim youths being guided around the ‘ Red Light District’ by a dutch teacher as sexual educational program. The ‘Red Light District’ is located in Amsterdam and is heavily involved in the sex industry and is notorious for its prostitutes, sex shops, drag queens and general outrageous sexual culture.

**NAME PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUE CENTRAL TO ANALYSIS-** The major public health issue, which this image represents, is the importance culturally appropriate sexual health education in regards to different cultures. Major questions that arise from that statement are; Who’s responsibility should this be? What aspects of sexual health should be discussed? Where is an appropriate place for this education to take place? And When should these educational program’s take place?. These questions arise due to the fact that different cultures do not share the same social norms, attitudes and beliefs in regards to sexual health. This is why there is a high importance of be vigilant in this specific area as failure to act in such a way can lead to clients being ‘scared off’ from receiving necessary primary and future healthcare. Lack of this imperative primary healthcare can lead to extreme public health issues in the future.

**LIT REVIEW/ CULTURAL SOCIAL ANALYSIS**

Debates around different cultural assimilations are highly publicised in Australian media. There are several memorable examples of this. In Victoria, the state government spent $45 000 for screening around a public pool, in order for a group of Muslim woman to be able to take swimming lessons due to cultural sensitivities. This approach created a social outcry amongst rate payers in the area in regards to the apparently ‘exorbitant’ expenditure. The Cronulla riots of 2005 were a particularly black part of Australia’s history. Violence spilled on to the streets of Sydney when an unruly mob of approximately 5000 people retaliated against people of middle eastern and ‘ethnic’ decent as a result of an altercation between volunteer life savers and some middle eastern men. These events once again sparked the multiculturalism debate in Australia. One of the key points of difference is whether immigrants of different cultures and backgrounds need to adopt the lifestyle and social standpoints of their new nation. It is a topic that is hotly contested without a resolute outcome. This analysis will be purely focusing on informing you of the tremendous importance of cultural awareness and sensitivity in regards to the education of sexual health. WHO (World Health Organization) defines sexual health as a state of physical, mental and social wellbeing in relation to sexuality (World Health Organization. n.d). If sexual health awareness is the goal, What factors must be considered? On analysis’ of case studies and statistics in regards to sexual health I believe three of the main factors that must be considered on the topic of sexual health in Australia are: Sex before marriage, contraception and cultural attitudes towards healthcare primarily woman and healthcare being provided by a male physician. To begin with Australia is a country where the norms in, regards to sex and the attitudes and beliefs that Australians have towards them are sometimes the complete opposite to that of other members of the international community. Firstly, an example of a contemporary issue in Australia is **sex before marriage**. Sex before marriage is forbidden in the Islamic faith. Casual sex amongst Australians is to some extent regarded as a social norm, often with numerous partners. The Islamic community is a large part of Australian society. How can education and sexual health be approached in Australia in a manner which is culturally sensitive and ideally universally appropriate? Another key issue associated with sexual health is the use of **contraception**. From culture to culture, attitudes and beliefs regarding contraception are greatly differing. An example of this is Judaism. Jewish men are forbidden to waste seed, therefore methods such as condoms are forbidden. This means the promotion of contraception methods to the majority of the Jewish community would be invalid (BBC. 2009).

Finally, in many cultures it would be seen as unacceptable for a woman to receive sexual healthcare from a male doctor. Recently, statistics have displayed that 70 percent of breast cancer cases in Saudi Arabia are not reported until they are at a very late stage. Breast cancer is the number one cause of death for women in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia (Women’s Islamic Initiative Spirituality and Equality. n.d). This is due to the reluctance of Muslim women to seek out healthcare. One of the reasons for this is the predominance of male physicians in the middle east. This is an example of future public health issues that could occur in Australia. Even though the impact in Australia at the moment is not quite so dramatic as of yet, with the rising rate of immigrants in Australia it is an issue that could be potentially detrimental to the public health system of Australia.

There are many groups that are at risk in regards to this topic – namely specific cultures that represent different attitudes and values in regards to sexual health/education to their adopted countries. The Australia Bureau of Statistics estimated that within the Australian population mid 2004 that 24% of the population were born overseas, furthermore migration is extending to other countries: from Sudan (an average increase of 28% per year), Afghanistan (12%) and Iraq (10%) especially, and 70% of migrants to Australia for the year 2004-5 were aged 15-34 years. Migrants are much younger than the population as a whole, fewer are 65 (School of Psychology, Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine. n.d). With this in mind it is obvious to see importance of implementation of culturally appropriate sexual health education within Australia.

In regards to the rising rates of breast cancer in Saudi Arabia due to the reluctance of woman to seek health care from male physicians, a program aimed to create more widespread awareness has be introduced by one of the leading gynecologists Dr Al Almoudi. Al Amoudi, has opened a breast cancer centre in Jeddah and is pushing for the open discussion of women’s healthcare issues in religious forums (Women’s Islamic Initiative Spirituality and Equality. n.d). Similar styles of awareness strategies could implemented in Australia and would include increasing community awareness and knowledge will via community initiatives, ideally with governmental involvement. It is imperative that this information and culturally sensitive healthcare options are available to Australians of all different cultural backgrounds. These systems create awareness and enable women from different cultures to feel comfortable in seeking and receiving sexual education and healthcare.

Community involvement is regarded as highly effective due to the fact that it targets the older members of the community, who are not only most concerned, but the most influential and respected regarding community matters. (World Health Organization. n.d) The Netherlands is highly regarded in it’s approach to creating cultural awareness in society, regarding sexual practices in different ethnic communities. Ingeborg Beugel is a respected Dutch television producer. She created a 6 part series, which documents the long-standing uncertainties and social taboos surrounding the Islamic community and sex. This series received great coverage in the Netherlands and the documentary has had several positive outcomes accredited to it (Hoebink, M. 2006).Some of these are screenings of the six part series being shown to the police force and other social services (Hoebink, M. 2006). The aim of this is to reduce the barriers in regards to taboos and create awareness regarding laws and attitudes toward the varying attitudes of cultures toward sexual issues. Health professionals must be aware of potential strategies to combat lack of awareness and cultural insensitivities. It is vital to be able to separate personal values and beliefs from the best methods of approaching various sexual issues and those of the people that are being treated. Attempting to enforce personal values and beliefs onto patients can create feelings of exclusion and an attitude of inability to access suitable care. These feelings are very significant in creating positive community attitudes toward healthcare information and access. The statistics associated with these strategies are strikingly vivid. The likelihood of success hinges on the community adapting culturally sensitive methods of education and culturally sensitive healthcare approaches to create a comfortable environment, where people of all cultures feel comfortable seeking assistance.

**ANALYSIS OF ARTEFACT AND YOUR OWN LEARNING REFLECTIONS** I came across this image when I was researching for my Drum presentation and was immediately drawn to it. To me it represents such a futuristic step forward in today’s society, almost an integration of different cultures beliefs and attitudes towards the issue of sexual health. To have a group of Muslim youths walking around and being surrounded by such confronting things that are so different to anything they have ever been brought up to believe in is astounding, even more so to use such an approach as an educational tool. As hopefully future health professional I believe it is imperative to be culturally aware and sensitive to topics such as sexual education and sexual health and implementation of such out of the box programs such as the one that was I have presented in my cultural artefact. To think of similar styles of programs being implemented in Australia really excites me. It is something that I would really love to see. But of course there are many hurdles that need to be conquered before we reach this goal. For now actively practicing cultural awareness and sensitivity should be the first and foremost goal for health professionals.

Finally I would like to point out that in this analysis I have purely focused on the macro level associated with cultural sexual health/ education. Analysis on a micro level would be another 2000 words. The reason I decided to focus on cultural awareness on a macro before trying implement to do so on a micro level is because I believe a macro level focus would be more effective. My basis for this opinion is the evidence from past programs that have been used in different countries.

**References**

BBC. (2009) Judaism and Contraception. Retrieved October 16, 2011 from []

Hoebink, M.(2006) Is Multiculturalism Doomed?. Retrieved October 17, 2011 from []

World Health Organization. (n.d). Sexual Health. Retrieved October 19, 2011 from []

World Health Organization. (n.d). Developing sexual health programmes. Retrieved October 10, 2011 from []

Averting HIV and Aids. (n.d). Sexual Education that works. Retrieved October 11, 2011 from []

Women’s Islamic Initiative Spirituality and Equality. (n.d). Retrieved October 18, 2011 from [] School of Psychology, Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine.

Monash University. (n.d). Manderson, //L. Cultural issues in health services for immigrant women in Australia. Retrieved November 1st, from// **// [] //**