{"id":497,"date":"2023-01-31T10:34:57","date_gmt":"2023-01-31T10:34:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.privategirlsinbrisbane.com.au\/blog\/its-always-fear-based-why-sexual-health-projects-should-switch-the-focus-to-pleasure-global-development\/"},"modified":"2023-02-01T06:45:17","modified_gmt":"2023-02-01T06:45:17","slug":"its-always-fear-based-why-sexual-health-projects-should-switch-the-focus-to-pleasure-global-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.privategirlsinbrisbane.com.au\/blog\/its-always-fear-based-why-sexual-health-projects-should-switch-the-focus-to-pleasure-global-development\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s always fear-based\u2019: why sexual health projects should switch the focus to pleasure | Global development"},"content":{"rendered":"

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In the village in Kenya where Swiry Nyar Kano (not her real name) grew up, sex and diversity weren\u2019t talked about much.<\/p>\n

The topics didn\u2019t come up in conversation with her parents, and at school she was taught about human anatomy and \u201csexual immorality\u201d, and told that homosexuality was a sin.<\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up in society where sex was about having babies and that was about it,\u201d says the social media influencer. \u201cSexuality was never mentioned. Nobody ever talked about it so I started seeking answers for myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Swiry<\/picture>
Swiry Nyar Kano, writer and social media influencer.\u00a0Photograph: Ayimba Rogers\/Courtesy of Swiry Nyar Kano<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

She read books, and researched sexual traditions in Africa, and then made three TikTok videos about what she had learned for her 1m followers, as well as\u00a0an Instagram post<\/a>. Together, these have been viewed more than 130,000 times and generated hundreds of comments.<\/p>\n

Swiry\u2019s work was part of a wider campaign to introduce the concept of pleasure into sexual and reproductive health and rights in\u00a0Africa<\/a>, run by the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), one of the biggest providers of sex education globally.<\/p>\n

Its digital campaign Treasure Your Pleasure was aimed at young adults and ran in three languages (French, Portuguese and English) from March to November over TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. It featured videos from influencers from all over Africa, Twitter chats, and pop art-style graphics with sex-positive messaging posted on\u00a0its Instagram<\/a>\u00a0page.<\/p>\n

As well as\u00a0Swiry\u2019s video<\/a>\u00a0and subsequent\u00a0blog<\/a>, there was a post about a\u00a0South African influencer\u2019s top lesbian sex acts<\/a>; another about the\u00a0physical and mental benefits of having sex<\/a>; several about\u00a0consent<\/a>; and\u00a0one about penis hygiene<\/a>, among other topics.<\/p>\n

The campaign reached 9 million people and added 40,000 new followers to IPPF Africa digital platforms. It drove 330,000 people to the\u00a0campaign\u2019s landing page on the IPPF website<\/a>, which features a quiz, downloadable stickers for use on social media and evidence-based research. The IPPF regional office in Asia now hopes to run a similar campaign.<\/p>\n

It was a marked departure from the usual narratives deployed in sexual health programmes. Mahmoud Garga, who led the campaign, says: \u201cWe talk about sexually transmitted infections, mortality, morbidity. We talk about HIV and unwanted pregnancies. It\u2019s always fear-based.\u201d<\/p>\n

He adds: \u201cPeople are always left with guilt and shame and feeling [sex] is something bad they shouldn\u2019t be doing. It\u2019s a taboo. We wanted to shift the narrative and do a sex positive campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/picture>
Including pleasure in sexual health teaching has a positive effect on condom use.\u00a0Photograph: Courtesy of IPPF<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

IPPF is one of a wave of organisations introducing the concept of pleasure to sexual and reproductive health and rights. It collaborated with the\u00a0Pleasure Project<\/a>, a group of activists who, on Valentine\u2019s Day published, with the World Health Organization,\u00a0a review about the added value of incorporating pleasure into sexual health interventions<\/a>. The review showed there was a significant positive effect on condom use and more people were encouraged to access health services.<\/p>\n

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