In Their Own Words: Female Adolescent Empowerment Through Participation in Participatory Action Research for Sexual Health: A Qualitative Meta-Synthesis of YPAR Empowerment Outcomes
Abstract
Carolyn Hawes
A qualitative meta-synthesis of Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) on sexual health foregrounds how female adolescents voice and enact their empowerment by their participation. Through the synthesis of six studies, seven themes emerged. The female voices showed a progression of agency beginning with an increased self-awareness and altered lived experiences to supporting, educating others, a keener awareness of others’ experiences, and speaking up or against in-accurate information or authoritarian policies. Female adolescents have the right to be heard, articulate their opinions, the right to practice their culture, and ultimately, the right to influence the constraints on their personal and sexual health development.