Interview with Sara, 16-17, Asian/Indian, working class, Muslim. Women, Risk and AIDS Project, London. Original version. (Ref: LJH14)

This interview is part of the Women, Risk and Aids Project (1989-90) archive which was created as part of the Reanimating Data Project (2018-20).Original transcript of an interview with Sara, who would like some sort of career in psychology or as a children's author. Sara has had quite a difficult time lately dealing with the pressures of being a teenager, finishing school and juggling different friendships. Friendship is quite important to her, and she goes into a fair amount of detail about this. She seems to have difficulty trusting other people and this has crept into they way that she thinks about friendships and romantic relationships. Sex education at Sara's school has been very basic and functional and she would have liked more on the emotional aspects and for it to be taught by younger teachers. She has learnt more through the media. Her parents do not allow any sort of talk about sex in the house, whether on the TV or in romantic novels, and her mother has some homophobic views. Sara has tried not to let this influence her, but does reflect on her Muslim upbringing - she will have an arranged marriage, for instance. She is adamant on using condoms in the future, but understands that it can be difficult for young women to navigate this in heterosexual relationships. Her and her friends seem to have lots of open conversations around things like pleasure and consent, and Sara comes across as fairly confident in her understanding of sex and relationships.