Parents have the primary role of educating their children about their sexuality. But cultural beliefs and taboos about sex can work strongly against their efforts.
Sex education
Politics and Society Tanzanian girls need support, not threats, to avoid pregnancy
Tanzania’s government must focus on the drivers of teenage pregnancy, which are entirely overlooked in current punitive policies, instead of expelling and arresting schoolgirls.
Sport, Arts and Culture Zambian teens can’t talk about sex or contraception, even with their friends
There isn’t much space in Zambia’s rural areas for open, judgement-free communication with friends and parents about sexual matters.
Lifestyle Dark Juices and Aphrodisiacs: A glimpse into the sensual lives of queer Africa
Seeking to mainstream the often othered narratives of queer women and non-binary persons “Dark Juices and Aphrodisiacs” is an anthology that explores the sensual lives of queer Africa. Using some well-known and some new voices from across the continent, the anthology opens up a new outlook on pleasure.
African identities Black conservativism and the everyday pleasure aesthetic
Black women across gender lines are pushing back against the gaze of patriarchy, policing and respectability by owning their bodies and exploring pleasure on their own terms. Ntombizikhona Valela explores how women are defining for themselves a pleasure aesthetic that centres on their humanity and reclaiming ownership of their bodies.
African identities The limits of imagining pleasure: Writing the history of African sex
Is kissing unAfrican? Is foreplay unAfrican? These questions speak to ideas which view certain aspects of pleasure and sexuality as foreign. Through fiction, Rafeeat Aliyu says African writers can challenge stereotypes and assumptions of the place of both romance and pleasure in history by creating stories that push at imposed boundaries.
Lifestyle This Is Africa Presents: Flame, Fever and Fantasy – A collection of African desire and pleasure
Let’s Talk About Sex, Pleasure and Desire: In the series, This is Africa explores the expansive topics of sex, sexual pleasure, sexual satisfaction, and intimacy in the African context of cultural and religious conservatism, and gendered power inequality.
Lifestyle Arresting girls for being pregnant will not put an end to teenage pregnancy
We are failing our girls by denying them information about sex, says Kagure Mugo.
Lifestyle Healthier sex lives for young persons with disabilities
About 80 per cent of all persons with disabilities live in developing countries, with 15 per cent of Africans estimated to have moderate to severe disabilities. Young persons with disabilities are three times more likely than non-disabled people to suffer physical, sexual and emotional violence.