Background: Sexual health is increasingly understood as an integral part of health. In Canada, education for sexual health is delivered predominantly in middle and secondary school. What of adults who immigrate to Canada from countries where sex education is not delivered to youth? This paper explores the needs and experiences of one such group of Canadian immigrants: those from Iran.Method: Ten married male and 10 married female immigrants from Iran living in a midsized Canadian city were recruited using snowball sampling and participated in qualitative interviews. The sample varied in age, education level, duration of marriage, and stay in Canada.Results: Participants addressed three themes: experiences accessing information and health services, necessary content of information, and preferred ways of providing sexual health information and services. Key barriers to accessing and using sexual health services, experienced by all interviewees, regardless of the length of time they were in Canada, included language, cultural misunderstandings, embarrassment, long waits, and limited time that physicians spent with patients. Examples were provided of misunderstandings and inappropriate or even offensive questions or suggestions made by health practitioners who were unfamiliar with patients' cultural norms related to sexuality. Participants believed their needs and questions were different from their Canadian counterparts and wanted a confidential, linguistically and culturally friendly source of information such as a website in the Farsi language.Conclusions: More attention needs to be paid to developing public health and medical services related to sexual health that take account of the cultural diversities represented in the Canadian population.
Despite a comprehensive reproductive health program there is little sex education available in Iran. In this article we present results of a study conducted to identify content area for a proposed sex education program for married Iranian women. Twenty-one married female clients (23-45 years) and 18 reproductive health providers, recruited from urban health clinics in Tehran using non-probability sampling, participated in four focus group discussions. Sexual health information needs related to reproductive tract and sexually transmitted infections, ''acceptability'' of certain sexual practices such as oral and anal intercourse, and the sexual response cycles and physiology of men and women. Women's sexual concerns related to communication, incompatibility of sexual interests and desire, and their ability to maintain a strong marriage. Two themes cut across women's responses to all questions: modesty and maintaining a strong marriage. Results contributed to the design of a sex education program that addressed the specific information needs and concerns of Iranian women.
Immigration presents a major life challenge, especially when the move is both geographical and across wide cultural divides. One of the areas of greatest challenge is in adjustments in gender and marital roles, perhaps because both of these are so close to the core of identity, self esteem, and sense of place in the world. This paper reports on research conducted with immigrants from Iran to Canada that examined how their experiences post-immigration affected their marital roles and relationship. Fifteen men and fifteen women who were born in Iran, immigrated to Canada, and were currently in heterosexual marriage or marriagelike relationships participated in in-depth interviews. Participants were well-educated, with none having less than 12 years of schooling and most having post-secondary training. Three highly imbricated areas of influence on their couple relationships emerged in the interviews: gender role adjustments, labour force difficulties, and changes in family structure. Consistent with the literature on immigrant adjustments, both men and women found each of these 3 posed challenges to their couple relationships. Men had difficulty accepting the freedom their wives had to dress, socialize and make decisions for themselves. Women also identified shortcomings to the “freedoms” they were afforded in Canada. The greatest challenge to men’s identities as “good husbands” was their loss of the breadwinner role. Women and men both faced difficulties integrating into the Canadian labour force, with these difficulties leading some to express a desire to return to Iran. The loss of extended family support and social networking were linked to loneliness and absence of wise mediators to help with couple-conflicts, but were also described as contributing to greater mutuality and closeness in couples. Couples spoke of creating a new, bicultural, identity and lifestyle to counter the stresses and tensions of acculturation.
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