Information and informed consent letters were available in Dutch for the young women and in Dutch and Somali for the mothers. She was cooperating with Yves Saint Laurent, becoming the face of his collection “The African Queen. However, if you have any questions regarding a specific piece of information in our evaluations, you should contact the respective site owners. We recommend you double-check any information you believe is unclear before beginning to use any service. Five girls did not receive an invitation because they were turning 17 in 2009 and at that time did not belong to the target age range of 13–16.

When informed by JS that cervical cancer is a common cancer in women in Somalia, the perceived severity of HPV infection and cervical cancer seemed to increase. Pap smears performed by a male practitioner and FGM have been reported earlier as barriers to participation [ 13, 16, 34]. In hindsight, the results do not show major differences in perceptions towards prevention of cervical cancer between higher educated and lower educated girls.

All mothers who were interviewed individually also participated in group discussions and/or the member check. Based on the HBM and intersectionality, the girls’ and the mothers’ perceptions have been distinguished in the following themes, in which gender and culture play particular roles: (1) Somali women and preventive healthcare; (2) Knowledge, language, and negotiating decisions; and (3) Sexual standards, culture, and religion. Participants were recruited from a wide range of settings, including community gatherings, CHSs, the university, and Facebook.

Mothers are less content with the idea of individual decision making because it restricts their ability to determine their daughters’ health choices. More information that clarifies misperceptions around the prevention of cervical cancer and the Dutch health care system is important. LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL Seriously, I heard the word casually mentioned at work, innocently and I will literally sweat, and sometimes release uncontrolled pee. In the third theme, on sexual standards, and in contrast with Dutch mothers and girls, the perceived susceptibility to HPV is lower among Somali women, because they are expected to abide by the religious and cultural norm of virginity before marriage.In this study, 14 young Somali women aged 18–21 years and six Somali mothers aged 30–46 years were individually interviewed (Table 2). Although the goal for HPV vaccination coverage was set at 70 % [ 4], less than half of invited girls born between 1993–1996 (45 %) showed up to receive all three injections during the campaign of 2009, when the vaccination program started [ 2]. Snowball sampling has been applied and possible participants have been checked to see whether they fulfill the inclusion criteria for this study.