‘I tell them that sex is sweet at the right time’ – A qualitative review of ‘pleasure gaps and opportunities’ in sexuality education programmes in Ghana and Kenya

ABSTRACT

Pleasure is a key motivator for sex globally, while unsafe sex is the largest risk factor for young women’s mortality and the second for young men. However, framing of sex education and sexual health programmes continues to be around avoiding danger, death and disease, rather than striving for pleasurable, satisfying, and safe sexual experiences. Omission of pleasure and sex-positivity goes against growing evidence that shows that people with more positive views of sexuality are more likely to practice safer sex, use contraception consistently, have higher sexual self-esteem and be more assertive.

The Pleasure Project and Rutgers, with GH SRHR Alliance (Ghana) and SRHR Alliance (Kenya), conducted a qualitative pilot study of sexuality education under the Get Up Speak Out programme, analysing the extent to which they included sex-positive content, with recommendations to enhance sex-positivity. Data were collected through interviews with facilitators, focus group discussions with learners, observation of sessions, and curricula content analysis. Findings reveal possibilities of sex-positivity in restrictive contexts, illustrating ways for sexuality education to become more sex-positive and pleasure inclusive. This study enables the development of a new tool for a ‘pleasure audit’, with markers of high-quality, sex-positive and pleasure-inclusive sexuality education or sexual health programmes.

KEYWORDS:

• Pleasure
• sex-positive
• Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE)
• qualitative study
• Global South

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their gratitude to the SRHR Alliances of Ghana and Kenya for their interest having their sexuality education programmes with the Get Up Speak Out (GUSO) Project reviewed. In particular, the National Country Coordinators, Kenneth Danuo (Ghana) and Johnstone Kuya (Kenya), the Youth Country Coordinators, Irene Siaw (Ghana) and Judy Amina (Kenya), and the young co-researchers – Martha Anabila, Maxwell Ayamber, and Amanfo Richard in Ghana; Annete Muchendiza and Dambalash Ermiyas in Kenya – worked tirelessly to ensure that the pilot study was conducted well.

Zihui Zhang, an intern for The Pleasure Project, worked on the content analysis of the CSE curricula that were analysed for the pilot study, and conducted a first cut of the literature review for this article. The conceptualisation of the pilot study was done with strategic contributions from Doortje Braeken, Global Advisory Board for Sexual Health and Wellbeing.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Get Up Speak Out (GUSO) is a five-year programme (2016–2020) developed by a consortium consisting of Rutgers, Aidsfonds, CHOICE for Youth and Sexuality, Dance4life, International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and Simavi. The programme is financed by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the SRHR Partnership Fund. The goal of the GUSO programme is that all young people, especially girls and young women, are empowered to realise their SRHR in societies that take a positive stance towards young people’s sexuality. The GUSO programme is implemented in seven countries: Ethiopia, Ghana, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Pakistan and Uganda. In each country well-established SRHR organizations, including youth-led ones, work together in Alliances. Each Alliance has a National Programme Coordinator who works in partnership with a Youth Country Coordinator, a young person, to ensure meaningful youth participation in the programme and to demonstrate to Alliance members the importance of having young people in decision-making capacities.

Additional information

Funding

The funding for the study came from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of the Netherlands (Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken).