Refugee Initiative for Enhancing Sexual Health Launches in Italy

Assistant Professor Gamji Rabiu Abu-Ba’are, PhD, MA, recently launched a research initiative to address HIV and sexual health outcomes among refugees in Italy. Within immigrant gateway countries such as Italy, Sub-Saharan African immigrants, especially male and female sex workers, may face intersectional stigma, have low HIV knowledge, and have poor access to HIV testing, prevention, and care services. These groups of individuals face a further challenge of economic and legal vulnerabilities and stigma associated with their characteristics (e.g., poverty, sex work, undocumented status, male-to-male sex, Black race, etc.)

Hence, it’s important to understand their stigma, HIV and sexual health risk factors, and ways to create interventions to enhance their sexual health.

The collaboration, “Refugee Initiative for Enhancing Sexual Health (RIfESH)” aims to understand HIV risk behaviors, experiences of intersectional stigma, and place-based factors that impact HIV and sexual health outcomes among refugees, especially those with increased risk behaviors such as male and female sex workers and people who use drugs. RIfESH will also develop interventions to improve sexual health among the mentioned refugees in Italy.

Read more about the project launch.