MARICOPA HEALTH FOUNDATION

2910 E Camelback Road, Suite 180
Phoenix AZ 85016
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The Patty Brisben Foundation takes care to follow the progress of all ongoing research we’ve helped fund. For questions about our role in this study, or any other research, please contact us and we’ll do what we can to assist you.

Human Rights Violations and Sexual Health: Addressing the Sexual Health Needs of Refugees with Cultural Sensitivity

Arizona has over 65,000 refugees who have been displaced from war-torn regions around the world. Together with the Maricopa Health Foundation, we’re helping these particularly vulnerable women by developing a culturally informed educational program to promote sexual health and well-being among newly arrived Somali- and Swahili-speaking refugee women.

The refugee women helped by this program will have survived human rights abuses, including traumatic rape and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence. This is in addition to having undergone such traditional cultural practices as Female Genital Mutilation for which the impact on women’s sexual health is poorly understood.

The results of this program will demonstrate enhanced health literacy, and greater women’s empowerment and self-efficacy in seeking care for sexual health concerns.The program will create a safe space for refugee women to have candid discussions often for the very first time in their lives around sexual health concerns of great importance to women in their communities.

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