Sexuality and Social Change: Making the Connection

"Attitudes towards sexuality can cripple or free. Battles rage worldwide between repression and freedom; science and religion; feminism and patriarchy. This struggle over sexuality is a profoundly important one - a struggle that determines not only how well societies treat their own people, but how well societies are able to co-exist."

This 40-page report is an effort by the Ford Foundation to stimulate conversation about, and to spur action and investment in, work focusing on the role of human sexuality in healthy human development. It is part of the Foundation's larger effort to respond to the lack of information and theoretical understanding in this field by supporting social science research and training, advocacy, and public education on sexuality, sexual health, and sexual rights. The report is a synthesis and summary of the findings generated by a year-long, worldwide consultative process which involved a diverse set of scholars, advocates, grantees, and Foundation programme officers from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the United States. They together assessed strategic opportunities and challenges in the area of sexuality, and "called for increased attention to sexuality as an important force for social change."

Participants in the consultative process identified the following principles as fundamental in reaching the long-term goal of improving sexual health and promoting
sexual rights:

• Enlarging and strengthening the knowledge base by supporting research and research training, investing in institutional research capacity, strengthening the links between research and action, and increasing the dissemination of knowledge.
• Capacity-building through skills-building and the transfer of skills across national and regional boundaries, as well as strengthening institutional capacity for strategic planning, evaluation, managing organisational growth, and implementing research and action.
• Advocating for policy and social change, which includes promoting informed public debate, educating policymakers, and mobilising support for changes in laws, policies and actions of governmental and nongovernmental institutions.
• Encouraging collaboration, such as by developing mechanisms (meetings, publications, etc.) through which advocates, researchers, practitioners, and community representatives can share information, ideas, strategies and human resources nationally, regionally and globally, and through which they can network across boundaries of
  discipline and issue area.

Other communication-centred themes to emerge from the process were:

• Including the voices and realities of people of all ages in diverse communities to advance the understanding of sexuality and gender equity;
• Promoting a positive approach that encompasses good health, pleasure, desire and respect for one's self and others; and
• Addressing linkages between sexuality and underlying major social issues, including women's and children's health; youth development; population growth; gender discrimination; gender-based violence; women's empowerment; the surge of fundamentalism; human rights; public health; and economic globalisation.

The report also identifies evolving trends, including a shift from focusing on individual behaviour to a comprehensive view of sexuality; an increasing focus on youth; the growth of women's movements; the emergence of gay and lesbian rights movements; the establishment of a comprehensive reproductive health approach; and changing reproductive technologies.

To illustrate and illuminate these approaches, intersections, and trends in context, the report identifies 5 priority areas for further action - highlighting key examples of creative programming from different areas of the world and culling out programming guidelines and action strategies (which "need to be adapted to particular contexts, in consultation with those doing the work and the constituencies and communities affected"). These areas, in sum, include:

1. Providing sexuality education for youth
   
   Programming guidelines:
   • address the positive side of sexuality ("fear-based or purely biological programs that do not incorporate the compelling realities of human desire, physical attraction and sexual pleasure will scare away or lose the interest of participants, especially adolescents")
   • involve young people themselves in their design, implementation and assessment, to ensure that strategies take into account their realities
   • pay attention to gender bias and gender power relations in designing sexuality
     education
   • consider a multi-dimensional/multi-faceted approach that addresses adolescents' diverse needs for resources, employment, recreation, and education, either directly or through a referral system
   • provide information to parents, families, and communities (e.g., written materials, supportive programming in the local and national media)

   Action strategies:

   • carry out advocacy for comprehensive sexuality education; young people, parents, teachers, counsellors, health providers, and other influential people in the community (such as traditional and religious leaders) can be mobilised as advocates and given training and support
   • educate the public through media, keeping in mind that effectiveness of the message increases with frequent repetition and the use of a variety of different media (in addition to modern media, consider traditional and community-based media such as community radio programmes, telephone help lines, posters, newsletters, theatre, dance, myth and story-telling)
   • use the internet as a tool for data collection and information dissemination, keeping in mind the need to promote user access to credible sites and/or support training and equipment to help bridge the digital divide
   • train educators and integrate sexuality into youth programmes
   • conduct research, incorporating strategies for dissemination to key audiences into the research plan
2. Focusing research on policymaking and action
   
   • foster policy-relevant research by formulating research agendas in dialogue with advocates, practitioners and communities (e.g., by creating opportunities - conferences, internet-based communication, formal networks, and so on - for networking and information exchange)
   • build the capacity of Southern institutions to take on the tasks of compiling data and bibliographies, disseminating research findings, and offering research training
   • encourage collaborative and multi-disciplinary approaches
   • incorporate dissemination strategies (e.g., mass or alternative media, the internet, clearinghouses or databases), and plan networking opportunities, from the very beginning
   • commit to present research findings in languages and formats that are accessible and appealing to diverse audiences
   • train researchers to operate in the media milieu
   • systematise training in sexuality research; one key theme is to ensure the participation of advocates and community-based researchers in academic training, which "can contribute significantly to the quality and relevance of research.
3. Influencing public policy
   
   • work directly with policymakers to educate them, convince them of the importance of the issues, and provide them with the information and arguments they need to draft sound legislation and policies
   • build policy capacity in advocacy groups in a variety of areas, such as documenting and sharing successful advocacy experiences
   • work with the mass media for policy change
   • tailor media messages so that positive perspectives and information about sexuality (and counter-attacks on sexual rights) are included
   • encourage collaboration between advocates and policymakers
   • conduct policy-relevant research
4. Integrating sexuality into health services - this involves expanding the skills of health providers, incorporating comprehensive sexuality education into formal training programmes, educating advocates about the health care system, developing community-based outreach programmes, and using health systems research to document successful initiatives.
5. Addressing the impact of religion - this involves: training religious leaders; engaging religious leaders in advocacy; creating sexuality education that employs the vocabulary of specific denominations and faith-based groups; reaching youth through religious institutions and events; promoting both internal and inter-faith dialogues on the intersection of sexuality and religion; encouraging research on sexuality and religion; and taking efforts to make progressive religious voices and views heard in the media.