Sexuality education in an age of resistance: Reflections at the nexus of education, health and rights

In July last year, Katrina Marson, Giselle Woodley, Jordina Quain, Hanna Saltis, and I hosted a panel discussion at the World Association for Sexual Health Congress exploring the resistances and challenges facing comprehensive sexuality education (CSE). We kept these conversations going after the panel and decided to write a collaborative reflective piece.

In this paper, published in Health Education Journal as part of a special issue titled Health Education for Social Justice, we reflect on:

✏️ How constructions of ‘childhood innocence’ can limit access to knowledge. 


✏️ Ongoing backlash against gender and sexuality diversity. 


✏️ The persistent failure to recognise CSE as a human right.

Importantly, we did not want to write something that focused only on the doom and gloom. Our paper also highlights the long-term benefits of CSE and offers a call to action. It maps the terrain of various forces challenging this work, and invites us to respond collectively.

To access the summary report of the article, please email me at s.vrankovich@latrobe.edu.au