Sex education has historically been a topic of contention in many countries. It is crucial for individuals to have a comprehensive understanding of sexual health and wellness to lead healthy lives. Unfortunately, many educational institutions lack proper sexual education, especially at the university level. This blog post will aim to address the goals of our project, the problem of inadequate sexual education for university students, the research we conducted, and the obstacles we faced.
The Problem
The lack of proper and correct sexual education for university students is a widespread problem that needs to be addressed. Comprehensive sexual education is essential because it increases consent, inclusivity, and safe sex, whilst also decreasing sexual violence. It is also crucial to have inclusive sex education that allows people to explore and have a better understanding of themselves, even if they are asexual. Additionally, proper sex education also encompasses the pleasure aspect of sex, which encourages people to learn about their bodies and sexuality. Lastly, it teaches the emotional aspect of sex and how to tell when someone is ready to have sex physically and emotionally.
The Specific Goal of Our Project
Our goal is to create an event that brings experts into the university to discuss sexual education. This event will enable students to have access to proper sexual education. To complement the event, we created posters with fun facts about sex for pleasure and more serious aspects. We also had a panel of students and experts to better engage with students. By taking the questions and experiences of students and peers, we facilitated an educational conversation about sex education and wellness. Being able to have an open conversation about sex will help students learn about consent, pleasure, and basic sexual education.
Research
We conducted research on other schools to see if they had sex education projects and how they were conducted. We also searched for surveys on sexual knowledge that had been conducted at our university. We looked at previous sexual education events to see what worked and what didn’t. Additionally, we researched good techniques to entice people into an event and what information needed to be discussed in the event. Finally, we researched inclusive sex, which includes queer sex, sex with disabled folx, kink/BDSM safety, and more.
Who Might We Enlist to Help with Our Project?
We collaborated with WILL and combined our ideas for the sex education event. WILL provided funding, food, and a room to hold the event. We collaborated with WILL members to create a panel of both students and experts. We brought in a fetal surgeon who is also a lactation consultant to discuss the anatomy of sex, and a sexual health professional to talk about the emotional aspects of sex.
Obstacles and Strategies to Overcome Them
One of the biggest obstacles we faced was getting people interested in the event. Sex education can be a taboo topic and a bit embarrassing for some people. To overcome this, we advertised the event well and made it enticing. We made the event fun for students by playing jeopardy, providing food, and giving away prizes.
Conclusion
Sexual education is a crucial aspect of a healthy lifestyle. At the university level, sexual education is particularly important as individuals may be engaging in sexual activity for the first time. Our project aimed to address the lack of proper sexual education for university students by creating an event that would engage students in an educational conversation about sex education and wellness. We collaborated with WILL, conducted research, and overcame obstacles to make the event a success. Our hope is that by addressing the problem of inadequate sexual education, we can create a more inclusive and healthy environment for all.
Studies in Feminist Activism 