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In this paper, we draw from elements of a study that sought to examine how teenage South African girls, both white and black African, articulate their relationship with online sexually explicit materials (SEM). The study contributes to the literature by resisting the dominant discursive practices underlined by the construction of sexuality as an exclusive realm of danger for teenage girls. Challenging this static version of femininity, we focus on the ways in which teenage girls, aged between 13 and 18 years old in two elite private schools, use online SEM to expand their sexual knowledge and engage in pleasurable forms of sexuality. By drawing on individual interviews, focus group discussions and open-ended visual elicitation research methods, we show how girls embrace online SEM in ways that expand the definition of femininity beyond fearing sexuality whilst demonstrating the entanglement with gender inequalities. Girls' relationship with online SEM, whilst tenuous, disrupts normative assumptions around femininity. However, an ambiguous relationship with online SEM is evident as their challenges to dominant femininity are mediated by concerns about respect and innocence, as well as by persistent evidence of male power within online SEM. Implications for school-based sexuality education concludes the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores students', preservice teachers' and inservice teachers' perceptions of the contributions and challenges of using participatory visual methodologies (PVM) to enhance HIV education in rural schools. Drawing on findings from three research projects conducted in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, four positive contributions are identified: 1) novelty, fun and engagement; 2) amplifying youth voices; 3) the facilitation of teachers' reflexive learning; and 4) the production of local resources in under-resourced schools. Challenges include: 1) limited technology access; 2) teacher discomfort; and 3) resistance to PVM integration. Teachers and young people, especially in under resourced rural settings, can benefit from integrating such methodologies into their responses to HIV and AIDS. However, sustainable integration must rely on choosing the most appropriate participatory visual methodologies given the technological resources available in school. The paper concludes with recommendations to optimise participatory visual methodologies integration into rural school-based HIV responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the views of male and female learners regarding how Life Orientation (LO) sexuality education is taught at their schools. Learners in the study were selected from five former 'Black' schools in the Eastern and Western Cape Provinces of South Africa. Focus groups were used to identify what learners could recall about their LO sexuality education classes. The strong trend in the data speaks to how LO sexuality education implies a gendered, heteronormative and moralistic approach to youth sexuality which silences and negates same sex relationships and girls' accounts of sexuality. Although LO sexuality curricula are, as crafted on paper, often sophisticated learning programmes, participants point to a disjuncture between the official LO sexuality education curriculum and how LO sexuality education is taught in the studied schools. The paper concludes with some specific recommendations for teachers to promote a non-judgemental approach to sexuality education that challenges heteronormativity and other gendered injustices as part of the teaching of LO sexuality education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite public outcry, South Africa has decided to roll out comprehensive sexuality education in schools. Currently, however, there are no scripted lesson plans for teachers of learners with visual impairment. Local literature suggests that the current sexuality education curriculum fails to engage with sexuality diversity and is imbued with notions of compulsory heterosexuality and able-bodiedness, perpetuating homophobia, transphobia and ableism in schools and broader communities. The paper sought guidance from disability professionals on how to best address lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and other sexualities' (LGBT+) issues as part of comprehensive sexuality education for learners with visual impairment. Bourdieu's work on doxa, orthodoxy and heterodoxy underpinned the study. Three professionals working with learners with visual impairment were interviewed in a focus group, and one school principal working in a school for learners with visual impairment was interviewed individually. Data were thematically analysed. Pre- and in-service teachers are encouraged not to see comprehensive sexuality education offered to learners with visual impairment as different from that provided to their sighted peers. Professionals urged teachers to accept LGBT+ learners with visual impairment in their dress, expression and embodiment. However, teachers need to be aware of learners' cultural and religious differences. Current lesson plans need to be revisited to safeguard against compulsory heterosexuality and able-bodiedness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various health promotion strategies have been implemented in South Africa aiming to encourage young people to talk about issues of sexuality and HIV with their parents/caregivers. Although parent/caregiver sexual communication may be an effective method of influencing sexual behaviour and curbing the incidence of HIV, very little is known about how young people with disabilities in South Africa communicate about these traditionally difficult subjects with their parents/caregivers. Based on findings from a participatory study conducted amongst 15–20-year-old Zulu-speaking youth with physical and visual disabilities, this paper explores how they perceive youth–parent/caregiver communication about sexuality and HIV. Using Foucauldian discourse analysis, the paper outlines how disabled youth–parent/caregiver sexual communication is governed by cultural customs, sexual secrecy and constructs of innocence. It also argues that the experiences and perceptions of young people with disabilities are critical to the development of future interventions to assist parents/caregivers develop communication strategies that help disabled young people make sense of sexual behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper details findings from an evaluation of a gendertransformative sexual and reproductive health and rights group education programme facilitated with young men aged 15-24 years in South Africa. A total of 475 young men participated in the group education programme. A self-administered pre- and postquestionnaire survey was conducted with a sample of the participants, and focus group discussions were facilitated. A total of 265 young men completed both the pre and post-questionnaires. Findings from the surveys as well as the focus group discussions showed positive changes in gender equitable attitudes, contraception and condom use. Results indicate that the young men who participated in the group education learned to identify harmful gender norms and actively questioned these constructs both within their personal lives and in the broader community. The intervention enabled some participants to envision alternative versions of masculinity and femininity, thus enabling them to adopt a new way of being, with transformed attitudes concerning household and gender roles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comprehending praxis is a critical step in developing interventions that can have a real-world impact on people's lives. In this paper, we reflect on the lessons learned in the development of a curriculum for young people living in informal settlements in eThekwini, who are exposed to numerous vulnerabilities, including HIV-related risks associated with precarious urban livelihoods. Behavioural interventions have not led to commensurate reductions in HIV incidence, and the impact of these approaches remains regulated by numerous contextual conditions affecting those participating. Our collaborative project tested the impact of implementing a combination of the well-tested gender transformation intervention, Stepping Stones, with a new livelihood transformation curriculum, Creating Futures, among young people in eThekwini's informal settlements. Creating Futures was grounded in the theory and practice of sustainable livelihoods, but equally in the experience of the multi-disciplinary project team members who have conducted both research and development work among youth in the eThekwini area. Our approach was founded on the work of Doug Kirby, and we are indebted to him for his inputs. His logical model approach ensured that the team remained orientated to specific curriculum outcomes. Analysis of the results at 12 months post-baseline indicates positive livelihood outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School-based sexuality education remains a key response to the HIV epidemic. Drawing on findings from an ethnographic study, this study explores how young people engage with sexuality and HIV- and AIDS-related education as it is delivered through the Life Orientation (LO) learning area in South Africa, in order to understand the dynamics that support or hinder engagement. Focus group discussions were held with Grade 9 and 11 learners (aged 14–18 years) from 16 randomly selected public secondary schools across three provincial districts. Results show that enjoyment of LO education was related to perceived relevance and distinctiveness, informal lesson delivery, subjective assessment standards and seemingly minimal effort. However, the perception of reduced effort tarnished the status of LO and young people’s motivation to participate. Learner engagement is influenced by a variety of cognitive, affective and behavioural pathways including internalised discourse around HIV and AIDS, gender and sexuality; the quality of youth–educator relations and teaching competencies; peer pressures; and broader cultural dynamics. The cultivation of a learning environment in which young people share and debate their views promotes engagement and critical thinking. In-service and pre-service educator training, structured activity plans and monitoring are recommended to advance the content knowledge and pedagogy of educators. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

People with disabilities are at increased risk of exposure to HIV, yet they lack access to HIV prevention, treatment care and support including sexuality education. Lack of knowledge, skills and confidence of educators teaching sexuality education to learners with disabilities is related to this increased vulnerability. This study identifies possible challenges educators of learners with disabilities face when teaching sexuality and HIV education. Five focus groups were conducted in three purposely selected types of special schools representing four impairment groups in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Educators recognise that teaching about sexuality is part of the South African Life Orientation curriculum and understand its importance to learners. However, they identified a number of challenges to such work, including barriers in communication and language, cultural values and expectations, learners' knowledge and behaviour, handling of sexual abuse cases and the teachers' own life experiences. Educators feel a lack of support from parents, departments of education, fellow educators and members of the community. They report the need for training and adapted HIV and sexuality education tools and resources to accommodate learners with disabilities. This training needs to provide knowledge on disability and HIV, offer guidance on disability-appropriate communication strategies, deal with sexual abuse and include educational tools for the classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]