Sexual health activism: the motivations of near-peer volunteer educators working to promote positive understandings of gender and sexuality in UK secondary schools

Abstract

This paper explores and theorises education-based workshops delivered in secondary schools in support of a relationships and sex education curriculum that aims to bring forth more positive understandings and experiences of gender and sexuality. We cast this work as a form of sexual health activism, with our paper deepening understanding of how the motivations of those engaged in this form of activism interface with the decision to invest time in this work. Based on interviews with 40 workshop facilitators in England and Wales we argue that this form of sexual health activism is motivated by facilitators’ life experiences as well as the desire to make the world a better place. As such, this form of work can function as a means of ‘caring for’ both past selves and future generations, thus functioning simultaneously as a form of self-care and a form of ‘societal care work’. Ultimately, these activities may be understood as a form of ‘extra-clinical’ healthcare practice, with leading gender and sexual health workshops serving as an important means of solidifying health students’ identities as both healthcare providers and activists for social change.

Keywords:

• Relationships and sex education
• health activism
• sexual health
• gender activism
• feminist activism

Acknowledgements

We thank all the participants who so generously gave their time to participate in this study.

Declaration of interests

The authors have no conflicting interests to declare.

Notes

1 The policies also have some differences, with English guidelines placing greater emphasis on ‘the facts and the law’ about sex and sexuality and the ability to differentiate between positive and negative/unacceptable relationships. This is done by highlighting the role of kindness, consent and respect in positive relationships; the importance of boundaries and privacy; and the ability to recognise harmful relationships including abuse, grooming and sexual exploitation. In contrast, Welsh guidelines put more emphasis on relationships and identity; equity and equality; and positive understandings of relationships and sexuality, while emphasising a ‘whole school’ approach to the delivery of RSE (Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education). See https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1090195/Relationships_Education_RSE_and_Health_Education.pdf (accessed on 7 November 2022; Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE): statutory guidance; see https://hwb.gov.wales/curriculum-for-wales/designing-your-curriculum/cross-cutting-themes-for-designing-your-curriculum#relationships-and-sexuality-education-(rse):-statutory-guidance (accessed on 7 November 2022).

2 For a review of healthy relationships education in Wales in 2017, see ‘A review of healthy relationships education’. www.estyn.gov.wales/thematic-report/review-healthy-relationships-education (accessed on 7 November 2022).

3 For a view on sources of information about sex based on the National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles, see Tanton et al. (2015), and for information about young people’s experiences of RSE in the UK see the Sex Education Forum. www.sexeducationforum.org.uk/resources/evidence (accessed on 7 November 2022).

4 Between the facts that this work is nearly all done on a volunteer basis and that new organisations are starting all the time (and others are closing), it is difficult to know the exact number of volunteers delivering RSE workshops in the UK; however, we estimate this number to be between 800 and 1000. This estimate is based on the number of providers registered with the Sex Education Forum. https://www.sexeducationforum.org.uk/about/partners (accessed on 14 August 2022).

5 Since Relationship and Sex Education (RSE) became mandatory in all secondary school students in England, a small number of ‘sole trader’ workshop providers have emerged to deliver classes on a sliding-fee scale to council and fee-paying schools. These individuals typically had previously worked for one of the larger sex-education charities and typically had additional related credentials such as post-graduate degrees in gender studies or allied fields behind them.

6 Because some of the workshops explored here were conducted prior to these legislative changes, the activism we discuss arguably began independently of these policy changes.

7 Other themes evident in the data which it is beyond the scope of this paper to explore include the emotional labour the work involved and the curation of tone or atmosphere within the sessions.

8 Section 28 was a clause in the Local Government Act of 1988.

9 That is to say, awareness of LGBTQI+ -specific mental and physical health issues.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by a seed-corn grant from Cardiff University.