Young people from refugee backgrounds face a number of challenges in adjusting to life in a new country. Recently, there have been more studies documenting some of these challenges and experiences, and offering recommendations for the health and education sector to appropriately respond to their needs. This study sought to investigate some of the experiences and challenges faced by female Afghan Hazara refugee adolescents as a precursor to program development occurring within a community health service in the outer southeastern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. This paper reports on a cross-sectional participatory qualitative research study undertaken with young Afghan female adolescents aged 14–17 years of Hazara ethnicity. The results document some of the key contested gender and cultural challenges facing these young women, their aspirations for their lives in Australia, and how this research has informed community health practice. 1. Introduction Individuals from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) backgrounds confront a variety of unique problems when adjusting and resettling to life in a new country. For individuals from refugee backgrounds, difficulties associated with language and cultural differences are frequently compounded by prior experiences of discrimination, stigma, human right violation, and trauma which potentially exacerbate mental health problems. Research conducted with refugee women in South Australia indicated that transitional experiences upon arrival in Australia often did not meet their expectations. Whilst coming to Australia presented the chance of survival, a variety of unexpected challenges contributed towards a sense of hopelessness, often resulting in low self-esteem and depression [1]. Young people from refugee backgrounds in particular face a number of resettlement challenges, and while burgeoning research into how this process unfolds for refugee health is emerging globally [2] there is little information about this transition for Afghan female youth. This study addresses this gap focusing on refugee female adolescents from the Hazara ethnic background. 2. Literature Review A qualitative study of the social and emotional wellbeing of 123 young people from CALD backgrounds living in Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia included 76 people from refugee backgrounds [3]. The interview data of the participants from refugee backgrounds was analysed separately to the other participants, allowing specific exploration of the unique emotional and social issues arising due to the compounding experience of
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