Abstract
Sex and relationships education (SRE) curricula and provision are being discussed, debated and problematised with an increasing sense of urgency in many countries around the world. Existing research has investigated ongoing areas of consideration, including youth perspectives on SRE, the organisation and delivery of SRE and the shifting emphasis from sexual health to sexual rights within SRE curricula. These are valuable and important advances which have contributed to a discursive shift away from understanding SRE or comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) solely as a public health issue. Increasingly, there are calls to focus more explicitly on gender, sexuality, plurality and power within SRE. A number of sociocultural, political and legal shi_s have taken place in a range of contexts which have, arguably, created a conducive environment for discussing issues of gender and sexual equality and plurality within education. Specifically, these include:
-
▸ an increased political recognition of gender and sexual violence among teenagers, encompassing debates about understandings of consent (Coy et al., 2010; Beckett et al., 2013; Sundaram, 2014);
-
▸ expanded knowledge about homophobia in schools juxtaposed with the recent legal shifts, such as the sanctioning of same-sex marriage in a number of countries (Martino and Pallotta-Chiarolli, 2005; Rasmussen, 2006; Guasp, 2012; Marriage (Same Sex-Couples) Act, 2013);
-
▸ a renewed debate about ‘plurality’ in SRE in the context of increasingly multicultural communities (Tasker, 2004; Todd, 2011; Allen et al., 2014);
-
▸ political and social concerns about children and young people’s access to pornography and sexualised imagery (Papadopoulos, 2010; Brook, 2013; Ollis, Harrison and Maharaj, 2013);
-
▸ public and political concerns about the sexualisation of young girls and women in a range of print and online media (Rush and La Nauze, 2006; Bailey, 2011; Renold and Ringrose, 2011);
-
▸ proposed changes to the professional remit of teachers in relation to child protection and safeguarding (Department for Education (South Africa), 2002; Department for Education (UK), 2014).
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
American Psychological Association (APA) (2007) Report of the APA Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls. (http://www.apa.org/pi/women/programs/girls/report.aspx)
Barad, K. (2007) Meeting the Universe Halfway: Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of Matter and Meaning. Durhman, NC: Duke University Press.
Bailey, R. (2011) Letting Children Be Children: The Report of an Independent Review of the Commercialisation and Sexualisation of Childhood. London: Stationery Office.
Barter, C., McCarry, M., Berridge, D. and Evans, K. (2009) Partner Exploitation and Violence in Teenage Intimate Relationships. Bristol and London: University of Bristol and NSCPCC.
Beckett, H., Brodie, I., Factor, F., Melrose, M., Pearce, J., Pitts, J., et al. (2013). It’s Wrong but You Get Used to It: A Qualitative Study of Gang-Associated Sexual Violence towards, and Sexual Exploitation of, Young People in England. London: Office of the Children’s Commissioner.
Brook (2013) Brook and FPA Briefing on Sex and Relationships Education. (http://www.fpa.org.uk/sites/default/files/sre-briefing-brook-fpa-march-2013.pdf
Buckingham, D. (2011) The Material Child. London: Polity.
Buckingham, D. and Bragg, S. (2004) Young People, Sex and the Media: The Facts of Life? Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Burton, S., Kelly, L., Kitzinger, J. and Regan, L. (1998) Young People’s Attitudes towards Violence, Sex and Relationships: A Survey and Focus Groups Study. Zero Tolerance Charitable Trust, Research Report 002.
Coy, M., Lee, K., Roach, C. and Kelly, L. (2010) A Missing Link? An Exploratory Study of Connections between Teenage Pregnancy and Non-Consensual Sex. London: CWASU, London Metropolitan University.
Coy, M., Kelly, L., Elvines, F., Garner, M. and Kanyeredzi, A. (2013) Sex without Consent, I Suppose That Is Rape: How Young People in England Understand Sexual Consent. London: Office of the Children’s Commissioner.
Department of Education. (2002) Revised National Curriculum Statement Grades R-9. South Africa: Government Press.
Dustin, H. (2013) Sex Education Can Help to Tackle the Abuse of Girls. So Will the Tories Commit to It? (http://www.theguardian.com).
End Violence Against Women Coalition (2010) Preventing Violence Against Women. (http://www.endviolenceagainstwomen.org.u
End Violence Against Women Coalition (2013) ‘Better Sex Education campaign. (http://www.endviolenceagainstwomen.org.uk/news/111/ evaw-others-sex-education-letter-featured-in-daily-telegraph-campaign
Flood, M. (2009) ‘The harms of pornography exposure among children and young people’. Child Abuse Review 18, 384–400.
Francis, D. and Msibi, T. (2011) ‘Teaching about heterosexism: challenging homophobia in South Africa’. Journal of LGBT Youth. 8(2), 157–173.
GLSEN. (2013) The 2013 National School Climate Survey: The Experiences of lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Youth in Our Nation’s Schools. New York: GLSEN.
Guasp, A. (2012) The School Report: The Experiences of Gay Young People in Britain’s Schools in 2012. London: Stonewall.
Haggis, J. and Mulholland, M. (2014) ‘Rethinking dierence and sex education: from cultural inclusivity to normative diversity’. Sex Education 14(1), 57–66.
Home Office (2014) Safeguarding Children and Young People. HM Government: Home Office.
Limmer, M. (2009) ‘Young men and pornography: meeting the challenge through sex and relationships education’. Education and Health 27(1), 4–9.
Martino, W. and Pallotta-Chiarolli, M. (2005) Being Normal Is the Only Way to Be. Sydney: University of New South Wales Press.
Maxwell, C. (2014) ‘The prevention of sexual violence in schools. Developing some theoretical starting points’. In N. Henry and A. Powell (Eds), Preventing Sexual Violence 105–126. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Maxwell, C., Chase, E., Warwick, I., Aggleton, P. and Wharf, H. (2010) Freedom to Achieve. Preventing Violence, Promoting Equality. London: Womenkind Worldwide.
McCarry, M. (2010) ‘Becoming a “proper man”: young people’s attitudes about interpersonal violence and perceptions of gender’. Gender and Education 22(1), 17–30.
McDermott, E., Roen, K. and Scourfield, J. (2008) Avoiding shame: young lgbt people, homophobia and self-destructive behaviours’. Culture, Health and Sexuality 10(8), 815–829.
Moita Lopes, L.P. (2006) ’storytelling as action: constructing masculinities in a school context’. Pedagogy, Culture and Society 11(1), 31–47.
Msibi, T. (2012) ‘“I’m used to it now”: experiences of homophobia among queer youth in South African township schools’. Gender and Education 24(5), 515–533.
Newby, K., Wallace, L. M., Dunn, O. and Brown, K. E. (2012) ‘a survey of english teens’ sexual experience and preferences for school based sex education’. Sex Education 12(2), 231–251.
Ofsted (2013) Not Good Enough yet: Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education in Schools. Manchester: Ofsted.
Ollis, D., Harrison, L. and Maharaj, C. (2013) Sexuality Education Matters: Preparing Pre-Service Teachers to Teach Sexuality Education. Victoria: Deakin University.
Papadopoulos, L. (2010) Sexualisation of Young People Review. London: Home Office.
Quinlivan, K. Rasmussen, M, Aspin, C., Allen, L. and Sanjakdar, F. (2014) ‘Cradfting the normative sexual citizen: queerying the politics of race in the New Zealand sexuality education curriculum’. Discourse 35(3), 393–404.
Rasmussen, M.L. (2006) Becoming Subjects: Sexualities and Secondary Schooling. London: Routledge.
Renold, E. and Ringrose, J. (2011) ’schizoid subjectivities?: re-theorising teen-girls’ sexual cultures in an era of “sexualisation” ‘, Journal of Sociology 47(4), 389–409.
Rush, E. and La Nauze, A. (2006) Corporate Paedophilia: The Sexualisation of Children in Australia. Behm: The Australia Institute.
Sex Education Forum (2013) Sex Education Forum Response to Welsh Government Consultation on Legislation to End Violence against Women and Domestic Abuse. (http://www.sexeducationforum.org.uk/media.1272/sef_welsh_government_proposals_on_evawg_-_ feb_2013.pd
Sundaram, V. (2013) ‘Violence as understandable, deserved or unacceptable? Listening for gender in teenagers’ talk about violence’. Gender and Education 25(7), 889–906.
Sundaram, V. (2014) Preventing Youth Violence: Rethinking the Role of Gender in Schools. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Tasker, G. (2004) ‘Health Education: Contributing to a Just Society through Curriculum Change’. In A. O’Neill, J. Clark and R. Openshaw (Eds), Reshaping Culture, knowledge and learning? Policy and Content in the New Zealand Curriculum Framework 203–224. Pamerston North: Dunmore.
Todd, S. (2011) ‘Educating beyond cultural diversity: redrawing the boundaries of a democratic plurality’. Studies in the Philosophy of Education 30(2), 101–111.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2016 Vanita Sundaram and Helen Sauntson
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Sundaram, V., Sauntson, H. (2016). Introduction: Global Perspectives and Key Debates in Sex and Relationships Education: Setting the Scene. In: Sundaram, V., Sauntson, H. (eds) Global Perspectives and Key Debates in Sex and Relationships Education: Addressing Issues of Gender, Sexuality, Plurality and Power. Palgrave Pivot, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137500229_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137500229_1
Publisher Name: Palgrave Pivot, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-69878-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-50022-9
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)