Community matters: barriers and opportunities to sexual health and sexuality education of young female migrants in Hong Kong.

Introduction: Female migrant workers form a substantial portion of the global migrant workforce and research indicates they are vulnerable to sexual exploitation and barriers to sexual and reproductive healthcare. This article investigates the perceptions, barriers and opportunities to sexual health and sexuality education experienced by young female migrants in Hong Kong. Methods: The study adopted a rights-based perspective, employing qualitative methods for data collection, including focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews with 22 female migrants working as domestic workers. Results: Results indicate that young migrants' perceptions of sexual health behaviors and access to sexuality education are shaped by various interconnected factors at four distinct levels: individual, interpersonal, social and community, and sociocultural and sociopolitical. Discussions: The present study adds to the existing literature by shedding light on certain perspectives that have not been given due emphasis in comparable studies. First, it highlights the importance of migrant community as barrier as well as opportunity in promoting positive health-seeking behaviors in a culturally acceptable manner. Second, it underscores the interplay between structural forces and individual and group-level vulnerability, emphasizing the need to address structural factors to eliminate young migrants' internalized vulnerability. Third, it draws attention to the positive dimensions of sexual experiences as a motivator for proactive health-seeking and the intricate relationship between cultural practices and positive sexuality. This article recommends a proactive approach of migrant communities to address sexual healthcare issues while public healthcare institutions should proactively provide accessible sexual healthcare information and services.

Chinese Sexual Minority Students Experiencing Microaggressions: Implications for Sexuality Education.

The sexual prejudice faced by sexual minorities or lesbian, gay, bisexual, and questioning/queer (LGBQ) students has been studied extensively around the world in the last two decades; however, it has only recently received attention from Hong Kong Chinese society, specifically in relation to this subtle form of prejudice. In the last decade, there has been an increase in the amount of literature examining the experiences of individuals encountering sexual orientation microaggressions, which are defined as discrimination or sexual prejudices manifested in subtle forms, particularly when directed toward socially marginalized groups, such as sexual minority students. The current study used a qualitative descriptive approach and semi-structured interviews to explore the themes of sexual orientation microaggressions experienced by Chinese sexual minority students. Several contextual themes to categorize microaggressions emerged: (1) the approval of heteronormative culture; (2) the use of heterosexist languages; (3) the assumption of sexual abnormality; and (4) the allowing of institutionally endorsed microaggressions. The results suggest that sexual minority students in Hong Kong experience diverse forms of microaggression in schools. The implications for the need to support LGBQ students are discussed, especially in addressing sexuality education in schools and the training of school professionals.

Navigating Stigma and Discrimination: Experiences of Migrant Children with Special Needs and Their Families in Accessing Education and Healthcare in Hong Kong.

This paper explores the barriers to supporting South Asian (Pakistani, Nepalese and Indian) migrant children with special needs and their families encountered navigating Hong Kong's special needs system and accessing education and healthcare services. It adopts concepts of stigma and disability rights. It draws on semi-structured interviews with fifteen South Asian children and young people with special needs (age 5-21; M = 10; F = 5) and their families, and seven professional practitioners based on the qualitative descriptive method. Informants experienced intersecting stigmatization that included (1) institutional exclusion, (2) daily life microaggressions, and (3) misunderstandings and a lack of awareness education. Simultaneously, some were empowered through (4) support and accommodation, and (5) spiritual support from religion. This paper reveals a paradox embodied by Hong Kong; it is an Asian multicultural city committed to embracing the vision of disability inclusion while failing to ensure necessary support to reduce the stigma experienced by culturally diverse children with a disability. It makes recommendations based on a socioecological framework and concludes that concerted efforts by relevant authorities and organizations should be made to reduce stigma by taking into consideration the intersecting stigmas, specific resources unique to migrant communities, disability rights and cultural sensitivity.

Childhood emotional abuse and adolescent flourishing: A moderated mediation model of self-compassion and curiosity.

BACKGROUND: Resilience and positive mental health may be negatively influenced by childhood maltreatment. While many scholars have noted that adolescents exposed to childhood emotional abuse could meet the criteria for flourishing, little research has investigated the mediating effect of self-compassion and the moderating effect of curiosity on the relationship between childhood emotional abuse and adolescent flourishing. OBJECTIVE: This study proposed and tested a moderated mediation model that attempted to explain the pathway from childhood emotional abuse to adolescent flourishing. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: The sample consisted of 315 female students (mean age 12.81 years, range 12-14 years) in a girls' secondary school in Hong Kong, China. METHODS: We conducted a three-wave study with six-month intervals. The participants completed self-administered questionnaires at school under the guidance of trained research assistants. RESULTS: Self-compassion at Time 2 mediated the relationship between childhood emotional abuse at Time 1 and adolescent flourishing at Time 3. Furthermore, the mediating effect was moderated by adolescent curiosity at Time 1 and Time 2. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study suggested that although childhood emotional abuse may hinder the development of self-compassion, reduced levels of self-compassion and curiosity (especially the stretch dimension of curiosity) could work together to promote flourishing in adolescents with a history of childhood emotional abuse. The results lent further support to the developmental psychopathology and resilience perspectives in explaining the relationship between childhood trauma and positive developmental outcomes.

A genetic screen identifies an LKB1-MARK signalling axis controlling the Hippo-YAP pathway.

The Hippo-YAP pathway is an emerging signalling cascade involved in the regulation of stem cell activity and organ size. To identify components of this pathway, we performed an RNAi-based kinome screen in human cells. Our screen identified several kinases not previously associated with Hippo signalling that control multiple cellular processes. One of the hits, LKB1, is a common tumour suppressor whose mechanism of action is only partially understood. We demonstrate that LKB1 acts through its substrates of the microtubule affinity-regulating kinase family to regulate the localization of the polarity determinant Scribble and the activity of the core Hippo kinases. Our data also indicate that YAP is functionally important for the tumour suppressive effects of LKB1. Our results identify a signalling axis that links YAP activation with LKB1 mutations, and have implications for the treatment of LKB1-mutant human malignancies. In addition, our findings provide insight into upstream signals of the Hippo-YAP signalling cascade.