Ethnic Minority Girls Research Articles

Adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights for ethnic minority girls in Vietnam.

There has been significant progress in improved adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights (ASRHR) for girls across low- to- middle-income countries (LMICs). However, progress has been uneven, and disparities persistent across and within countries. For example, Vietnam is one of only nine countries to have achieved the 2015 maternal mortality rate (MMR) target of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as a nation, but for some sub-populations, progress has been much slower, and MMR is more than twice that the national average. Ensuring equity is a current focus of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda that seeks to Leave No One Behind. This paper explores some of these inequities and potential drivers for ethnic minority adolescent girls in Vietnam, with a specific focus on the Tay community, the largest ethnic minority group in Vietnam. This paper highlights the challenges to progress, including areas where there is still limited evidence about the range of socio-cultural factors that may determine sexual and reproductive health outcomes for Tay adolescent girls. In the era of the SDGs, Vietnam's national policy platforms and current aid architecture provide a solid basis on which to build research, policy and practice investments that improve the health of adolescent ethnic minority girls in Vietnam.

Sexual Health and Drug Use Prevention for Black Girls (The Dreamer Girls Project): Protocol for an Intervention Development.

Substance use among adolescent girls is associated with numerous risk characteristics, including engaging in sexual risk behaviors, which can lead to HIV and sexually transmitted infection (STI) diagnoses. This is an important phenomenon to target as there is a significant race-gendered paradox that occurs when Black girls use and misuse drugs. When misuse occurs among this group, they are more likely to face harsher consequences and worse health outcomes than boys and other ethnic-minority girls. Therefore, there is a need to understand the risk and protective factors of drug use and sexual risk behaviors among Black girls and develop a robust intervention that can cater for this group. We propose the development of a strengths-based prevention education intervention for Black girls between the ages of 13 and 18 years to promote protective factors. A sequential, mixed methods study will be conducted, and we will use the first 3 steps of the ADAPT-ITT (assessment, decision, adaptation, production, topical experts, integration, training, testing) framework to begin the development of the intervention. Three aims will be described in this protocol. First, aim 1 is to explore sociocultural risk and protective factors among Black girls between the ages 13 and 18 years in drug use and HIV/STI prevention using focus group methodology and surveys. We will conduct at least 10 focus groups to include up to 75 Black girls or until we reach saturation. Our target sample size for the quantitative portion of the study will be 200 participants. Aim 2 will focus on deciding upon an intervention based on findings from aim 1 and forming a youth advisory board to guide intervention development. Aim 3 will be to conduct a pretest of the intervention with the youth advisory board to determine if the intervention is feasible and will be accepted by Black girls. The study is part of a 2-year research pilot study award from the National Institutes of Mental Health. Data collection for this study began in October 2021. For aim 1, data collection is 95% complete. We expect to complete all data collection for aim 1 on or before May 30, 2023. Study activities for aim 2 are occurring simultaneously as data are being collected and analyzed and will be completed in the summer of 2023. Study activities for aim 3 will begin in the fall of 2023. This study will be one of the few interventions that address both sexual health and drug use together and cater to Black girls. We anticipate that the intervention will be beneficial for Black girls across the nation to work on building culturally appropriate prevention education and building peer social supports, resulting in reduction or delayed substance use and improved sexual health. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05014074; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05014074. DERR1-10.2196/45007.

Ensuring Equality in Education Access: The Dynamics and Challenges for Vietnamese Ethnic Minority Girls

Education access is one of the critical human rights that has been decided for the development of everyone and has been codified in the international and national legal systems. Despite important achievements in ensuring and promoting fundamental human rights in general, with the characteristics of being one of the most vulnerable in society, ethnic minority girls experienced discrimination and double inequality in benefiting their rights, including access to education. Regarding the education right of girls in the ethnic minority in Vietnam today, the following article focuses on the following matters: (i) Analysing the Vietnamese legal framework in ensuring the education right of ethnic minority girls; (ii) Presenting the difficulties and challenges in ensuring this right for ethnic minority girls in Vietnam; (iii) Proposing necessary recommendations for the Government to improve the enjoyment of the right for Vietnamese ethnic minority girls in the upcoming time.
 Keywords: Education Access, Equality, Ethnic Minority Girls, Vietnam, Women's rights

The Right to Education for Ethnic Minority Women and Girls in Vietnam

The right to education is a fundamental human right that has been widely recognized by the United Nations and in core international human rights instruments. Over the years as an active and responsible member of the international community, Vietnam has always worked on amending its laws to fulfill international commitments that would create an equal legal environment for the enjoyment of fundamental rights, including the right to access education. However, given their unique characteristics, ethnic minority women and girls still face discrimination and dual inequalities in their living environment, including those arising from both their ethnicity and gender. Difficulties in accessing education have led to a low percentage of ethnic minority women working in professional and technical jobs; most do simple jobs with low incomes. Barriers to education or employment generally arise due to gender stereotypes and male chauvinism. With this in mind, this article will focus on the following matters to address and resolve issues related to the right to education for ethnic minority women and girls in Vietnam: (i) an analysis of the international legal framework and Vietnam’s law on topics of gender equality in education for ethnic minority women and girls; (ii) a discussion on the reality of adopting rights to education for ethnic minority women and girls in Vietnam; (iii) identification of barriers and challenges that ethnic minority women and girls face when pursuing their educational rights; and (iv) recommendations for Vietnam to ensure the right to education for ethnic minority women and girls in the future.
 
 Keywords: Human rights, minority’s rights, the right to education, gender equality, women’s rights.

The Right to Political Participation of Ethnic Minority Women in Vietnam

Abstract Political participation is one of the fundamental human rights widely recognised in core United Nations international human rights treaties. As an active and responsible member of the international community, Vietnam has continuously endeavoured to enforce international commitments and create a legal environment for the equal enjoyment of the political rights of all people, particularly women. However, given the gender characteristics and social stereotypes that have existed for many generations, ethnic minority women and girls are always at a disadvantage within the family and outside society. They face discrimination and compound inequality – both on the grounds of ethnicity and gender – in their living environment. It affects their accessibility, participation and enjoyment of their rights, including the right to participate in politics. This article will study the compatibility between international law and Vietnam’s policies in ensuring the political rights of ethnic minority women. It also identifies barriers to the enjoyment of their right to political power and makes recommendations to improve ethnic women’s position and voice in political life.

Improving Reproductive Health Understanding for Ethnic Minority Women and Girls in Viet Nam

Improving Reproductive Health Understanding for Ethnic Minority Women and Girls in Viet Nam

Ethnic Disparity in the Incidence of Scoliosis Among Adolescents in Tianzhu Tibetan Autonomous County, China.

ObjectivesTo determine the influence of ethnic disparities, socioeconomic status (SES) and hukou on the incidence of scoliosis.MethodsWe enrolled 2,445 junior high school students (Han: 1,153; ethnic minorities: 1,292) aged 12–16 years from two schools in Tianzhu Tibetan Autonomous County, Gansu Province from November 2020 to February 2021. We measured the angle of trunk rotation (ATR) using a scoliometer. Two-factor analysis of variance was used to comparatively analyze differences in the ATR according to ethnicity, age, sex, body mass index (BMI), and SES between the groups. Associations between risk factors and scoliosis were estimated using odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals with an unconditional multivariate logistic regression model for the two groups.ResultsAdolescents with Han ethnicity were more likely to have scoliosis than their ethnic minority counterparts (10.8% vs. 7.1%, P < 0.05). The ATR value in the Han group decreased with age whereas the minority group showed an upward trend (P < 0.05). The difference between ethnic groups was not significant, only at level 3. In particular, the ATR values among Han girls were significantly higher than those of ethnic minority girls (P < 0.05). Compared with Han adolescents, the BMI of ethnic minorities had a greater impact on the ATR. A statistically significant difference in SES was found between the two ethnic groups (P < 0.05). Hukou and parents' occupation had an important influence on the onset of scoliosis.ConclusionsHan adolescents had higher ATR values and were more likely to have scoliosis than ethnic minority adolescents in our study. Growth and development indicators (height and BMI) and differences in SES between the two groups played an important role.

Sexual and reproductive health challenges facing minority ethnic girls in Vietnam: a photovoice study

This paper describes a study that examined the challenges faced by Vietnamese ethnic minority girls regarding their sexual and reproductive health. The study employed photovoice, a research method which treats photographs and the accompanying stories provided by participants as qualitative data. Twenty-six (26) minority ethnic girls took photographs of aspects of their lives as a way of documenting the challenges, difficulties and barriers that they faced in looking after their sexual and reproductive health. Findings indicated limited access to sexual health knowledge, the exclusion of young people from mainly adult-focused sexual and reproductive health services in minority ethnic communities and the prevalence of cultural beliefs and practices that negatively affected young people’s sexual and reproductive health. The intersection of ethnicity, age and gender places Vietnamese ethnic minority girls at risk, as everyday practices informed by culture and tradition curtail their access to the limited sexual and reproductive health information and services available in their communities. Understanding these challenges is needed in developing appropriate policies, programmes and services aimed at enhancing the sexual and reproductive health of this segment of the population.

Marginalized girls’ gendered experiences within a constructivist afterschool program (REACH)

ABSTRACT Gender in physical education (PE) traditionally enacts discourses of hegemonic masculinities where girls are frequently positioned as the ‘problem’ regarding their disengagement. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the experiences of mostly ethnic minority and low-socioeconomic status elementary school girls enrolled in an urban physical activity (PA) and literacy afterschool program, known as REACH. This case study purposefully sampled 12 female participants and data were triangulated through interviews, journals, and field notes. Data were analyzed using constant comparison and open/axial coding. Both school and school PE were conceptualized by the girls as marginalizing, as they regularly disengaged. Further, the girls received implicit messages related to what it means to be a girl in both school and PE contexts. The gendered meanings idealized by participants represent constraining discourses and stereotypes regarding embedded femininities. However, participants were able to reject some gender stereotypes, reflecting a sense of autonomy in their lived experiences from the REACH program. The implications of this study represent the need for research which constructs gendered experiences as fluid, along with the potential importance of afterschool programs in empowering marginalized students.

Tough femininities: ethnic minority girls’ aggressive school opposition

This article addresses school resistance in ethnic minority girls. Girls’ school opposition is mostly described as covert. If described as hostile, it is rarely understood in terms of femininity. Through psychosocial analyses of extensive fieldwork and interviews with students in a Norwegian upper-secondary school, the article describes an affective practice in which young minority girls reject school aggressively. I argue that through their school opposition, the girls are constituting a transgressive femininity that that does not jeopardise their ethnic belonging or their femininity within school. Their aggression is fuelled by the experience of disentitlement from success in a school perceived as being for ethnic Norwegians and not for them. Although the noisy girls at Skogbyen act in a way that is locally accepted, they still act in opposition to the larger gender order – which comes at a cost.

Canadian newcomer children's bone health and vitamin D status.

Adequate calcium intake and supply of vitamin D during childhood play important roles in ensuring adequate bone mass gain to achieve optimal peak bone mass. The Healthy Immigrant Children study employed a mixed-method cross-sectional study design to characterize the health and nutritional status of 300 immigrant and refugee children aged 3-13 years who had been in Canada for less than 5 years. This paper presents bone mineral content and vitamin D status data along with qualitative data that deepen the understanding of newcomer bone health status. A significantly higher percentage of refugee children (72.3%) had insufficient (<50 nmol/L) or deficient (<30 nmol/L) serum vitamin D compared with immigrants (53.2%). Vitamin D deficiency was most common among ethnic minority girls. Newcomer children with higher intakes of vitamin D, younger newcomer children, and those from western Europe or the United States had higher serum vitamin D levels. Immigrants had significantly higher mean total body bone mineral content compared with refugees. Total body fat, serum vitamin D, calcium intake, height, height by calcium intake, total body fat by calcium intake, and total body fat by height predicted total body bone mineral content levels. Vitamin D deficiency among newcomer children may be related to lack of knowledge regarding children's vitamin D requirements in the Canadian environment, dietary habits established in country of origin, low income that limits healthy dietary choices, and lifestyle habits that limit exposure to sunlight. Results suggest a need to screen newcomer children and pregnant women for vitamin D deficiency and support early intervention.

Help or hindrance? Minority versus majority cross-ethnic friendships altering discrimination experiences

We examined the interplay between perceived ethnic discrimination (PED) as a risk factor, and cross-ethnic friendships as a protective factor in culturally diverse classrooms, and how they relate to the socioemotional adjustment of ethnic minority boys and girls. We conducted multi-level analyses of 327 Turkish-heritage ethnic minority early-adolescents in Germany (62 classrooms; Mage = 11.59 years, SDage = 0.76). Higher rates of PED were associated with more depressive symptoms and disruptive behaviors and lower general life satisfaction—though these effects differed by gender. Unexpectedly, cross-ethnic friendships with ethnic majority peers exacerbated the negative effects of PED on socioemotional adjustment. This effect was decreased, though, when adolescents perceived the classroom climate to be supportive of intergroup contact toward majority-minority cross-ethnic friendships. Supportive classroom climate also buffered the effects of PED for youth with minority cross-ethnic friends. Results indicate the need to differentiate types of cross-ethnic relationships and account for the intergroup climate.

Working on Womanhood (WOW): A participatory formative evaluation of a community-developed intervention

The well-documented disparities in availability, accessibility, and quality of behavioral health services suggest the need for innovative programs to address the needs of ethnic minority youth. The current study aimed to conduct a participatory, formative evaluation of “Working on Womanhood” (WOW), a community-developed, multifaceted, school-based intervention serving primarily ethnic minority girls living in underserved urban communities. Specifically, the current study aimed to examine the feasibility, acceptability, and initial promise of WOW using community-based participatory research (CBPR) and represented the third phase of a community-academic partnership. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected from 960 WOW participants in 21 urban public schools, as well as WOW counselors, parents, and school staff over the course of one academic year. Results demonstrated evidence of acceptability of WOW and noteworthy improvements for WOW participants in targeted outcomes, including mental health, emotion regulation, and academic engagement. Findings also indicated several challenges to implementation feasibility and acceptability, including screening and enrollment processes and curriculum length. Additionally, we discuss how, consistent with participatory and formative research, findings were used by program implementers to inform program improvements, including modifications to screening processes, timelines, curriculum, and trainings – all in preparation for a rigorous effectiveness evaluation.

Attempted suicide of ethnic minority girls with a Caribbean and Cape Verdean background: rates and risk factors

BackgroundWHO data shows that female immigrants in Europe attempt suicide at higher rates than ‘native’ women and ‘native’ and immigrant men. Empirical studies addressing attempted suicide of female immigrants of Caribbean (Antillean-Dutch and Creole-Surinamese-Dutch) as well as Cape Verdean descent in Europe are however scarce. We aim to increase knowledge about rates and risk factors of girls of Caribbean and Cape Verdean descent living in the Netherlands.MethodsWe conducted logistic regression on a dataset that consisted of self-reported health and well-being surveys filled out by 5611 female students, age 14–16, in Rotterdam, the Netherlands (Antillean Dutch N = 357, Creole-Surinamese-Dutch N = 130, and Cape Verdean-Dutch N = 402, and Dutch ‘natives’ N = 4691). We studied if girls of these minority groups had elevated risk for attempted suicide. Risk indicators that were suspected to play a role were investigated i.e. household composition, socio-economic class, externalizing problems, emotional problems and sexual abuse.ResultsWe found that rates of attempted suicide among Antillean (14%), Creole-Surinamese young women (15.4%) were higher than of ‘native’ Dutch girls (9.1%), while rates of Cape-Verdean girls (8.3%) were rather similar to those of ‘native’ girls. Not living with two biological parents was a risk factor for ‘native’ girls, but not for girls of Caribbean and Cape Verdean descent. Emotional problems and sexual abuse seems to be a risk indicator for suicidality across all ethnicities. Aggressive behaviour was a risk factor for Antillean Dutch and ‘native’ girls.ConclusionsOur findings underscore the need for developing suicide prevention programs for minority girls in multicultural cities in western Europe, in particular those of Caribbean descent. Results suggest the importance of addressing socio-economic class and educational background for suicide prevention, which bear particular relevance for Caribbean populations. Referral in the case of sexual trauma and low psychological wellbeing seems critical for reducing suicidal behaviour in girls, regardless of ethnicity.

IS AFFIRMATIVE ACTION NECESSARY FOR BOTSWANA

This study sought to find out if affirmative action is necessary in Botswana given the fact that various groups of people are being discriminated against in various ways. These groups of people include: ethnic minority groups, married women, and girls. The study answered various questions and addressed various objectives. The questions were: 1. Should minority languages be used to broadcast certain programmes in the national media such as national radio stations and the national television station? 2. Should minority languages be used in the print media to disseminate information of national importance? 3. Should minority languages be used as media of instruction in Botswana public primary and secondary schools? 4. Should neutral words be used to name land boards and the country Botswana instead of the use of names that promote the languages of the majority ethnic groups as it is currently the case? 5. Should the requirement that married women get the consent of their husbands to obtain loans from banks or when applying for plots (land) be discontinued? 6. Should cultures that promote the education for boys at the expense of education for girls discontinue the practice? 7. Should the number of women both in Parliament (National Assembly) and Councils be increased to ensure that women have more representations in these institutions? 8. Should all senior tribal authorities recognized by their tribes as chiefs be referred to as Paramount Chiefs so that the House of Chiefs become a non-discriminatory institution? 9. Based on the responses, what recommendations can you make that can be implemented to remedy the current situation in which minority languages are marginalized and discriminated against in broadcasting all the programmes on national radio stations and Botswana’s only television station? The objectives were: 1. To find out if the minority languages in Botswana should be used to broadcast certain programmes in the national media such as the national radio stations and the national television station. 2. To find out if minority languages should be used in the print media to disseminate information of national importance.3. To find out if minority languages should be used as media of instruction in Botswana public primary and secondary schools.4. To find out if neutral words should be used to name land boards and the country Botswana instead of the use of names that promote the languages of the majority ethnic groups as it is currently the case.5. To find out if the requirement that married women get the consent of their husbands to obtain loans from banks or when applying for plots (land) should be discontinued. 6. To find out if cultures that promote the education for boys at the expense of girls should discontinue the practice.7. To find out if the number of women both in Parliament (National Assembly) and Councils should be increased to ensure that women have more representations in these institutions/8. To find out if all senior tribal authorities recognized by their tribes as chiefs should be referred to as Paramount Chiefs so that the House of Chiefs becomes a non-discriminatory institution. 9. To determine recommendations that can be implemented to remedy the current situation in which minority languages are marginalized and discriminated against in as far as the national media is used in Botswana. The study intended to sample a reasonable number of students in a class of thirty-five (35). Questionnaires, which were the only data collection instrument used, were distributed to all students in class. Only four (4) students responded to the questionnaire. They therefore, formed the sample for the study. The study found that all the groups identified (ethnic minority groups, married women, and girls) were discriminated against in various ways by various groups of people in Botswana. As a result, affirmative action was found to be a necessary remedy to address the situation and various recommendations were identified to address specific situations. For example, on the issue of exclusion of minority ethnic groups’ languages with respect to their use in the national media, it was recommended that these languages be used in such media so that they are treated with equal dignity visa-a-vis the languages of majority ethnic groups. Article visualizations:

‘You Norwegians think we female Muslims are not free’: enactment of gendered positional identities during transition stages

ABSTRACTThis article describes two young Norwegian ethnic-minority girls in their efforts to involve social networks and to position themselves as learners in the transition between lower and upper secondary school. The article explores how they experience future possibilities represented by education and how they use resources in negotiating their everyday lives. We use the concept of social gendered positional identities to study how educational choices are individually and collectively formed and enacted in these girls’ everyday figured worlds. The study builds on ethnographic data collected by following two classmates across multiple settings over two years. We develop biographical cases to demonstrate how cultural factors relevant to learning emerged in particular contexts. The article concludes that gendered positions and choices made in educational transitions are connected and that meta-reflections on personal identity can help students to make decisions about the future.

Changing School – Changing Self. Ethnic Minority Girls’ Active Struggles for Educational Success

Changing School – Changing Self. Ethnic Minority Girls’ Active Struggles for Educational Success

The Broader Impact of Friend to Friend (F2F): Effects on Teacher-Student Relationships, Prosocial Behaviors, and Relationally and Physically Aggressive Behaviors.

Girls often harm others' social standing by starting rumors about peers or by excluding others from peer group activities, which is called relational aggression. Although relational aggression is not a new phenomenon, there have been relatively few interventions designed to address this, especially for urban ethnic minority girls. The Friend to Friend (F2F) program, developed through an iterative participatory action research process, has proven to be effective in improving targeted relationally aggressive urban girls' social problem-solving knowledge and decreasing levels of relational aggression, with effects being maintained 1 year after treatment. In the current article, we examine the broader effects of the F2F program. Findings suggest that the indicated F2F program has broader effects such as increasing prosocial behaviors, decreasing relational and physical aggression, and improving teacher-student relationships among non-targeted boys. In addition, the program demonstrated some effects for non-targeted girls including an increase in prosocial behaviors and improved teacher-student relationships. Implications for examining the cost-effectiveness of indicated interventions such as F2F are discussed.

The Role of Agent Age and Gender for Middle-Grade Girls

ABSTRACTCompared to boys, many girls are more aware of a social context in the learning process and perform better when the environment supports frequent interactions and social relationships. For these girls, embodied agents (animated on-screen characters acting as tutors) could afford simulated social interactions in computer-based learning and thereby supply a girl-friendly instructional context. This study examined the effects of the age and gender of an agent on ninth-grade Caucasian and ethnic-minority girls' perceptions of the agent, mathematics attitudes, and learning in a computer-based algebra-learning environment. In general, the findings support that a virtual agent plays both social and instructional roles that favor teenage girls and could be a viable tool to create a favorable context for girls learning challenging topics.

Secular trends in age at menarche among Chinese girls from 24 ethnic minorities, 1985 to 2010

BackgroundDeclining age at menarche has been observed in many countries. In China, a decrease of 4.5 months per decade in the average age at menarche among the majority Han girls has recently been reported. However, the trends in age at menarche among ethnic minority girls over the past 25 years remain unknown.ObjectivesTo compare the differences in median age at menarche among girls aged 9–18 years across 24 ethnic minorities in 2010 and to estimate the trends in age at menarche in different ethnic minorities from 1985 to 2010.DesignWe used data from six cross-sectional Chinese National Surveys on Students’ Constitution and Health (1985, 1991, 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2010). The median age at menarche was estimated by using probit analysis.ResultsIn 2010, the ethnic minorities with the earliest age at menarche were the Koreans (11.79 years), Mongolians (12.44 years), and Zhuang (12.52 years). The three ethnic minorities with the latest age at menarche were the Sala (14.32 years), Yi (13.74 years), and Uighurs (13.67 years). From 1985 to 2010, the age at menarche declined in all 24 minority groups. The Lisu, Kazakh, and Korean minorities showed the largest reductions in age at menarche by 1.79 (p<0.05), 1.69 (p<0.05), and 1.57 (p<0.05) years, respectively, from 1985 to 2010. The Yi, Sala, and Li minorities showed the smallest reductions, with age at menarche declining by only 0.06 (p>0.05), 0.15 (p>0.05), and 0.15 (p>0.05) years, respectively, in the same period.ConclusionA large variation in age at menarche was observed among different ethnic minorities, with the earliest age at menarche found among Korean girls. A reduction in the average age at menarche appeared among most of the ethnic minorities over time, and the largest decrease was observed in Lisu, Kazakh, and Korean girls. Thus, health education should focus on targeting the specific needs of each ethnic minority group.