Smith Riley
a Gender and Sexuality Studies , Northwestern University , Evanston , USA.
Cult Health Sex. 2015;17(2):180-93. doi: 10.1080/13691058.2014.961033. Epub 2014 Oct 7.
Understanding the health needs and experiences of South African lesbian and bisexual women is imperative for implementing effective and inclusive public health strategies. Such understanding, however, is limited due to the exclusion of these women from most existing research on healthcare access in the region. This paper bridges that gap by investigating the healthcare experiences of lesbian and bisexual women in Cape Town. Data were gathered from 22 interviews with self-identified lesbian and bisexual community members and university students in the Cape Town area. Interviews explored obstacles women face in accessing affirming services, different experiences with public and private healthcare, fear of stigma/discrimination, availability of relevant sexual health information and suggestions to improve existing programmes. Findings suggest that South African lesbians and bisexual women may have a range of both positive and negative experiences in public and private health services, that they use protective strategies when 'coming out' and that they find that sexual health information pertinent to them is largely unavailable. These discussions contribute to a more inclusive understanding of the experiences of lesbian and bisexual women accessing healthcare and other services and help to inform providers, thereby enabling them to deliver more meaningful care to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons in South Africa.
了解南非女同性恋者和双性恋女性的健康需求与经历对于实施有效且包容的公共卫生策略至关重要。然而，由于该地区大多数现有医疗保健获取研究都将这些女性排除在外，这种了解十分有限。本文通过调查开普敦女同性恋者和双性恋女性的医疗保健经历来填补这一空白。数据来自对开普敦地区22名自我认定为女同性恋者和双性恋社区成员及大学生的访谈。访谈探讨了女性在获取支持性服务时面临的障碍、在公共和私人医疗保健方面的不同经历、对耻辱/歧视的恐惧、相关性健康信息的可得性以及对改进现有项目的建议。研究结果表明，南非女同性恋者和双性恋女性在公共和私人卫生服务中可能既有一系列积极经历，也有消极经历，她们在“出柜”时会采用保护策略，并且发现与她们相关的性健康信息基本无法获取。这些讨论有助于更全面地理解女同性恋者和双性恋女性在获取医疗保健及其他服务方面的经历，并为提供者提供信息，从而使他们能够为南非的女同性恋、男同性恋、双性恋和跨性别者提供更有意义的护理。
