Gender, romantic relationships and sexual health in Mexico: Parents' experiences of discussion with their children

A focus on promoting sexual health and preventing sexual violence remains largely unaddressed in most evidence-based parenting prevention programmes, despite the promise of success in addressing these topics after foundational parenting practices have been strengthened. The primary objective of this study was to understand how Mexican family and gender values shape the way families in Mexico City approach discussion of sexual health and violence with their adolescent children. The goal was to inform the development of a culturally relevant sexual health promotion and violence prevention module to add to an existing parenting intervention. During focus groups with 17 mothers and 3 fathers who had recently completed a parenting intervention, five major themes were identified: mediating messages from the outside world; the view that dads are not part of sex education; the belief that romantic relationships spell trouble; gender differences in responsibility and fear; and comfort talking about condoms. Findings indicate that caregivers adopt different approaches to education about sexual health and the prevention of sexual violence according to whether their adolescent is a boy or a girl. These differential approaches were primarily informed by cultural and contextual influences. Strategies for more overtly addressing gender relations in parenting interventions for sexual health promotion and violence prevention are discussed.