Risk, resilience and youth sexuality: negotiations of sexual risk among iTaukei women university students in Suva, Fiji

Abstract

This thesis explores youth sexuality, sexual risk and sexual resilience among young iTaukei women attending university in Fiji. An adapted ecological model is developed to enable the theorisation of sexual risk and sexual resilience in these women’s lives. The thesis illustrates how hierarchies of sexual risk are produced through the interaction of local cultures, sex and gender ideologies, global processes, complex sexual subjectivities and sexual desires. It demonstrates the need for a multi-level analysis to inform effective STI/HIV prevention strategies.