*2.4. Ethical Considerations*

All study participants were provided with an information sheet outlining details of the research and provided written consent to participate in the research. Some focus group members knew each other but not all. The issue of confidentiality was discussed with the focus group participants. Due to the sensitivity of the topic and the possibility of participants becoming distressed as a result of the focus group discussions and interviews, referral procedures were put in place prior to data collection to address the needs of distressed participants. After the data collection procedures were completed, all participants were provided with a list of professional counselling agencies where they could access support. Participants were offered a follow-up, private counselling session to discuss any issues that were raised by the interviews, with costs covered by the African Communities Council of South Australia (ACCSA). Each participant was reimbursed thirty dollars. Ethics approval was provided by the Flinders University Social and Behavioural Research Ethics Committee (SBREC project number 5480).
