1. Raising Sexually Healthy Children
Parenting Support for
Immigrant Families
Promotion of Healthy Sexuality
in Settlement Communities
Ethno-specific Family Sex Education
Peer Parent Leader Coalition
Facilitators: Anda Li, Yiman Ng
OCASI Conference
April 2009

2. Purpose of this workshop
• To raise awareness of the importance of healthy
sexuality within the settlement sector
• To provide resources for immigrants on parenting
issues with the focus on healthy sexuality
• To explore a diversity of cultural values on
sexuality
• To learn how to build community capacity in
dealing with difference of cultural practices in
developing better relationships with their children,
especially teenagers
• Resources to support immigrant families

3. Rationale
• Parents/caregivers and family functioning have seemingly strong
influences on children’s development of self-esteem, adoption of
gender roles and sexual attitude and values.
• The message that children learn in their early years lays the
foundation for them to develop as sexually healthy people that benefit
them for the rest of their lives.
• Research showed that parent-adolescent discussions about sex and
condom use are associated with delayed initiation of sexual
intercourse and increased condom use at first and subsequent sexual
intercourse and encouraged delayed initiation of sexual activities.

4. Goal and Objectives
Goal: To improve communication related to sexuality
between parents/caregivers and their children
Objectives:
To assist parents/caregivers to
communicate more comfortably &
To reinforce the effectively about sexuality &
importance of parents/caregivers gender relations through
as the primary sexuality educators examining their own values
of their own children
To provide support for parents/caregivers
within their cultural context to address
children & teenagers’ sexual issues by
learning more effective communication skills

5. What is in the program ?
20 hours of training and practicum:
Understanding the How to communicate your
sexual growth and values, beliefs and expectations
developmental of to your children
children
Explore the sexuality values of
parents/caregivers
Verify their believes --
positive gender relationship in the context
of their cultural values.

6. Programs
Ethnospecific RSHC RSHC
Peer Parent Leader Program
Training Childcare
Workers 2 hours program
20 -25 hours of training to
become peer leaders
Training for interested
Parents and
individuals
RSHC Workshops One day workshop
with Parents
3 sessions workshop

7. History of the Project
1996 2006 2007
Toronto Talk Sex Ontario Trillium
Campaign Foundation Ontario
3 years funding Victim Services
Secretariat
2004 Community
National Crime Grants
Community
consultation Prevention Fund 2008
Workshop
manual
updated
RSHC Piloted in
RSHC 1999
Training African
Parent piloted in
Manual Communities
Workshop
Chinese 2009
Manual French
Portuguese Gender
Equity Ghanaian
Spanish
project Eritrean
Tamil
Somali
TPH seed grants Vietnamese

8. RSHC – Community participation
Chinese Spanish
Korean
Vietnamese Twi (Ghana)
Ethnospecific
Portuguese Family Sex Education RSHC African Somali
Peer Parent Canadian
Tamil Coalition Coalition Tigrinya
(Eritrean)
Bengali Interested
First Communities Francophone
Nation African
Teen
parents Queer

9. What makes the project work ?
• Program implemented within the cultural context
• Empowerment – a safe and supporting environment to
share and to learn
• The project became self-sustaining when peer leaders
took ownership, developed leadership roles, and
formed their own support groups
• Last but not least: it answers the concern of
parents/caregivers and they FEEL CONFIDENT of their
own capacity.

10. Healthy Sexuality
“Sexuality" refers to our bodies, our feelings
and the perception we have of ourselves
because of cultural and social influences. We
are all sexual persons and healthy sexuality
involves feeling positive about our sexuality.
According to the World Health Organization,
sexual health has many aspects like being able
to enjoy and control sexual and reproductive
behaviour, freedom from shame, fear, guilt, and
freedom from diseases that interfere with
sexual and reproductive function.

11. Human Sexuality
Body
Mind &
Values & Feelings
Beliefs Sexuality
Gender Relationships

12. Family of Origin
Affection
Gender role
Sexual expression
Homosexuality

13. Communication Skill
“I” Message Formula“
I FEEL .................
(personal opinion or feelings)
WHEN YOU ..........
(specify the behaviour, not the person)
BECAUSE / I hope .................
(consequences , impact or expectation)

14. How to deal with…..
Gender Violence
Sexual Expression
…masturbation…
Sexual Abuse
Inappropriate touch

15. Resources
Toronto Public Health Website:
www.toronto.ca/health/sexualhealth/sh_educator_actual_training_4.htm
For language specific manuals and
promotion package
Email Anda Li: ali1@toronto.ca