The contested global politics of pleasure and danger: Sexuality, gender, health and human rights

Abstract

This special issue of Global Public Health brings together papers examining how sexuality, gender, health and human rights have become increasing visible and highly contested within global health. The papers included here question and explore the often contradictory processes through which global equity-seeking populations negotiate pleasure and danger across multiple arenas (including HIV and AIDS, LGBTQ+ health and rights, intersex rights, sex worker rights, realities of refugee and displaced persons, and gender-based violence) and in diverse geographic contexts

Medicalization of sexuality and sexual health: A perspective review

“…Now more than ever, fields such as education, epidemiology, statistics, economics, and law are being included in the individual clinical approach. Thus, the traditional model of a doctor-patient interaction within the context of clinical treatment has given way to a wide variety of other forms of intervention (Gruskin and Kismödi 2020;Logie et al 2021).…”

“…By focusing on sexual health, we may bring in the health sector and reach out to programmers and legislators who might not be immediately open to the significance of rights and enjoyment. Even in the current politically charged climate, addressing sexual rights and enjoyment is essential if we are to make any progress in improving sexual health (Logie et al 2021). Creating an environment where laws, media, and activism all support sexual health, sexual rights, and sexual pleasure can have a profound impact on people's physical and mental well-being.…”

Uptake and provision of self-care interventions for sexual and reproductive health: findings from a global values and preferences survey

“…Sexual practices, and SRH care in general, are often stigmatised across diverse contexts and populations and this leads to constrained access to information and SRH services. 5 , 6 For instance, stigma toward HIV persists and presents barriers to HIV testing, prevention, and treatment engagement across low- and middle-income contexts 7 as well as high-income contexts. 8 There is also stigma toward sexually transmitted infections (STI) that presents related barriers to testing and treatment.…”

Sexual rights and sexual pleasure: Sustainable Development Goals and the omitted dimensions of the leave no one behind sexual health agenda

“…These examples are not meant to be comprehensive, rather serve as a way to apply a sexual rights framing to the SDG. LGBTQ persons, and sex workers, will be included in the examples below, with the caveats that: all of the SDG are interconnected and could integrate sexual rights; people hold intersectional identities that also constrain the realization of sexual rights, including but not limited to race, dis/ability, im/migration and citizenship status, gender, and socio-economic status; and no one is inherently vulnerable, rather structural forces such as rights violations constrain access to power, agency and opportunity (Katz et al, 2020;Logie, Perez-Brumer, et al, 2021;McLaren et al, 2020).…”

“…Pleasure-focused and sexpositive sexual health education can produce increased and sustained safer sex practices (Ford et al, 2019;Singh et al, 2021). Yet the focus of sexual health research and education, particularly with LGBTQ persons and sex workers, has often focused on HIV risks rather than pleasure (Ford et al, 2019;Gruskin et al, 2019;Logie, Perez-Brumer, et al, 2021;Miedema et al, 2020;Parker, 2007;Singh et al, 2021). As sexual pleasure is a key motivation behind engaging in sexual practices and is also connected with well-being, it can be infused into high quality, sex-positive sexual health education and healthcare provider training and programs (Castellanos-Usigli & Braeken-van Schaik, 2019;Ford et al, 2019;Singh et al, 2021).…”