How is sex week funded?
Because Student Advocates for Sexual Health Awareness is a student organization, we are eligible to apply for funding through the Council on Student Affairs. Any funds we may receive from CSA are sourced from the student activity fee. Besides that, private sponsors that support our mission may donate in any way they like—direct donations, prize donations, or donations of goods and services.
Although Sex Week is more informative and inclusive than the typical Ohio high school sex ed, we do not get any taxpayer money. Let me repeat—your tax dollars are not going to Sex Week.
Are you guys even qualified to do this?
We know it’s hard to believe, but yes, college students are qualified to educate their peers, advocate for their health, and facilitate healthy discussions.
For any major events, we are beyond happy to bring in the experts, which is why we partner with so many groups for Sex Week.
why do you include planned parenthood? Does that mean you are pro-choice?
Planned Parenthood is a huge provider of health services for men and women, particularly low-income women. They do STI testing, STI treatment, cancer screenings, pelvic exams, birth control distribution, community education, and so much more. These are vital services that protect public health, and we want to recognize that and include them in our community.
This seems like a good time to remind everyone that abortion is legal. Yes, Planned Parenthood performs abortions, abortions that women are legally entitled to. Considering that 1 in 4 women will get an abortion in her life (Guttmacher, 2017), and OSU is a majority female campus (OSU Statistical Summary, 2018), it seems like a good thing to at least talk about.
Why don’t you partner with any pregnancy crisis centers?
My, my, my, where to begin.
Pregnancy Crisis Centers are intended for pregnant people. Sex Week wants to educate people on how to avoid unwanted pregnancies. See where I’m going with this?
Pregnancy Crisis Centers are not licensed medical providers. They are pretty much just passionate people putting on white coats to look professional, which is probably why they are known to give medically inaccurate information. Because they are not licensed, they are not held to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)—you know, the laws that keep your medical records and identity confidential. You can see how that’s problematic.
Last, but certainly not least, Pregnancy Crisis Centers are unethical, misleading, inaccurate, and a threat to public health. This is not just SASHA’s opinion; many peer-reviewed journals have concluded the same thing. Links below if you don’t believe us.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010782412004155
i saw the sex week schedule. many of the events are not directly health-related. explain.
Man, the sociological undertones of this comment…
SASHA believes that anything with a social stigma attached to it can indirectly influence health. If people feel judged for something, chances are they won’t talk about it. Not talking about problems lets them grow into something worse that can seriously hurt your health. Take sex toys, for example. Many people use them, either alone or with a partner. Since society doesn’t like to talk about that aspect of sexuality, most people don’t officially learn important safety details, like which lubes you can and cannot use, how to clean them, or how STIs can be transmitted. Aaaand we’ve come full-circle back to sexual health.