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Sexual Health

January 02, 2007

The New Year is upon us and so many people are making resolutions concerning losing weight or stopping those bad habits that make life less pleasurable. Well my challenge to you is to make sexual health a top priority for 2007 and beyond. Just like losing weight, sexual health is not something you can focus on for a few weeks or months to make significant changes. The most positive results require a consistent and committed lifestyle change. To be able to make informed decisions, one must understand how sexual health is defined.

From 1975 to 2002, several health organizations and medical administrators have defined sexual health. Sexual health is not just using condoms or birth control; it comprises elements of love, intimacy, respect, values, etc. Sex is more than the physical act. Check out the following definitions of sexual health:

1. Sexual health is the integration of the somatic, emotional, intellectual and social aspects of sexual being, in ways that are positively enriching and that enhance personality, communication and love.

WHO Technical Reports Series (1975)

2. Sexual health encompasses sexual development and reproductive health, as well as such characteristics as the ability to develop and maintain meaningful interpersonal relationships; appreciate one’s own body; interact with both genders in respectful ways; and express affection, love and intimacy in ways consistent
with one’s own values.

SIECUS (1995)

3. Sexual health is the ability of women and men to enjoy and express their sexuality and to do so free from risk of sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancy, coercion, violence and discrimination. In order to be sexually healthy, one must be able to have informed, enjoyable and safe sex, based on self-esteem, a positive approach to human sexuality, and mutual respect in sexual relations. Sexually health experiences enhance life quality and pleasure, personal relationships and communication, and the expression of one’s identity.

Lottes (2000)

4. Sexual health is the experience of the ongoing process of physical, psychological and social-cultural well-being related to sexuality. Sexual health is evidenced in the free and responsible expressions of sexual capabilities that foster harmonious personal and social wellness, enriching individual and social life. It is not merely the absence of dysfunction, disease and/or infirmity. For sexual health to be attained and maintained it is necessary that the sexual rights of all people to be recognized and upheld.

Pan American Health Organization, World Association of Sexology (2001)

5. Sexual health is inextricably bound to both physical and mental health. Just as physical and mental health problems can contribute to sexual dysfunction and diseases, those dysfunctions and diseases can contribute to physical and mental health problems. Sexual health is not limited to the absence of disease or dysfunction, nor is its importance confined to just the reproductive years. It includes the ability to understand and weigh the risks, responsibilities, outcomes and impacts of sexual actions and to practice abstinence when appropriate. It includes freedom form sexual abuse and discrimination and the ability to integrate their sexuality into their lives, derive pleasure from it, and to reproduce if they so choose.
Satcher, Surgeon General’s Report (2001)

6. Sexual health is an important part of physical and mental health. It is a key part of our identity as human beings together with the fundamental human rights to privacy, a family life, and living free from discrimination. Essential elements of good sexual health are equitable relationships and sexual fulfillment with access to information and services to avoid the risk of unintended pregnancy, illness or disease.

The National Strategy for Sexual Health and HIV (2001)

7. Sexual health is defined as an approach to sexuality founded in accurate knowledge, personal awareness, and self-acceptance, where one’s behavior, values, and emotions are congruent and integrated within a person’s wider personality structure and self-definition. Sexual health involves an ability to be intimate with a partner, to communicate explicitly about sexual needs and desires, to be sexually functional (to have desire, become aroused, and obtain sexual fulfillment), to act intentionally and responsibly, and to set appropriate sexual boundaries. Sexual health has a communal aspect, reflecting not only self-acceptance and respect, but also respect and appreciation for individual differences and diversity, and a feeling of belonging to and involvement in one’s own sexual culture(s). Sexual health includes a sense of self-esteem, personal attractiveness and competence, as well as freedom from sexual dysfunction, sexually transmitted diseases, and sexual assault/coercion. Sexual health affirms sexuality as a positive force, enhancing other dimensions of one’s life.

Robinson et al. (2002)

8. Sexual health is a state of physical, emotional, mental, and social well-being related to sexuality; it is not merely the absence of disease, dysfunction or infirmity. Sexual health requires a positive and respectful approach to sexuality and sexual relationships, as well as the possibility of having pleasurable and safe sexual experiences, free of coercion, discrimination, and violence. For sexual health to be obtained and maintained, the sexual rights of all persons must be respected, protected, and fulfilled.

World Health Organization (2002)

Source: Defining Sexual Health: A Descriptive Overview by Weston M. Edwards and Eli Coleman from the Archives of Sexual Behavior, Volume 33, Number 3, June 2004, pp. 189-195.

Posted at 12:17 PM by Shantrie in the Safer Sex category/ies.