Global sexual health must embrace African and Indigenous perspectives, say experts
Global sexual health efforts have traditionally flowed from the global north to the south, often overlooking local knowledge about pleasure and wellbeing. Researchers from Columbia University argue that African and Indigenous perspectives offer valuable insights that can improve sexual health outcomes. They recommend co-creating approaches with communities to better address sexual health challenges.
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Researchers emphasize the importance of valuing African and Indigenous knowledge in global sexual health initiatives. Traditionally, programs and policies have been designed and exported from the global north to the global south, focusing on issues like contraception, HIV prevention, and maternal health, while neglecting local perspectives on sexual pleasure and wellbeing.
According to researchers from Columbia University, who have conducted extensive work in African countries such as Kenya and Mozambique, as well as with Indigenous communities in Aotearoa New Zealand, current global frameworks often fail to empower communities or address their defined needs. They highlight that over one billion people live with sexually transmitted infections worldwide, and 225 million women wishing to avoid pregnancy are not using effective contraception, indicating persistent challenges.
The researchers argue that global south communities are too often seen merely as recipients of interventions rather than sources of innovative ideas. Drawing on examples from Māori, Somali, and West African traditions, they show how local cultural understandings of bodies, sexuality, and wellbeing can enrich and expand global sexual health approaches.
They recommend that researchers, practitioners, and funders move beyond exporting interventions and instead collaborate with communities to co-create new strategies that respect and incorporate local knowledge and cultural traditions. This shift could lead to more effective and empowering sexual health outcomes worldwide.