Abstract
Objective: Closing the gap in Indigenous health and wellbeing in remote settings in the Torres Strait and Northern Peninsula Area of Far North Queensland (FNQ) includes addressing a well-documented sexual health disadvantage among young people. Community mobilization around the underlying risk factors influencing sexual health is required.
Method: Performing-arts-based workshops were conducted in schools and after-school venues in four remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander locations in FNQ in early 2010, to initiate consciousness-raising around the real dimensions of youth sexual health risk. Specific objectives included strengthening operational partnerships at school-level and developing ongoing consultative processes in each location for sexual health reference group development.
Results: Results include a significantly strengthened productive partnership with primary and high schools in each location and sixteen production-ready hip hop songs exploring a range of physical, emotional and sexual health themes authored by the students and recorded on site. Additional outcomes included the willingness of community councils and civil society organizations to support local sexual health reference group activity.
Conclusions: This initiative, the Indigenous Hip Hop Project, although accompanied by opportunity costs including alternative, more core business uses of staff time and program budget, has demonstrated the power of tapping the creative energy of young people at risk and the potential for mobilizing communities to activism around sexual health disadvantage.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to acknowledge the Youth and Relationships Networks in the Northern Peninsula Area and on Thursday Island, the Northern Peninsula Area Family and Community Services ATSI Corporation, relevant community councils and the principals of all participating schools. In addition, the project would not have been possible without the professionalism and artistic excellence of the principals and performers of the Indigenous Hip Hop Project.
DISCLOSURE
No author of this paper has any interest to declare. The IHHP workshops in Far North Queensland were funded by the Indigenous Early Childhood Development National Partnership. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.