Evolving From What Has Been
“Young people are affected daily by the intertwining systems of oppression that inform and constrict sexual education, so it is only right that we should be able to influence and control what information we learn and the lenses through which we access that information. Currently adults in positions of power are able to decide on our behalf what potentially life altering education and information we will engage with, without consulting us. This rendition of the SASH [State of Adolescent Sexual Health Report] flips this power dynamic on its head through intentionally centering young people’s lived experience through art and storytelling.”
— Talia Cardin, Youth Facilitator to the Youth Sexual Health Program Board
State of Adolescent Sexual Health Report Resources
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Introduction to the 2023 State of Adolescent Sexual Health Report
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Trailhead Institute's Lessons Learned and Recruitment Process Document
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Summary of Anti-Oppressive Recommendations for Improving Sex Education
Navigating the SASH
The SASH is organized through the four primary sections — Learn, Core Boundaries, Liberating Practices, and Anti-Oppressive Recommendations. While the opportunity for learning and reflection are omnipresent, the core boundaries, liberating practices and anti-oppressive recommendations are intended to be explored progressively in order to ensure that action taken through the anti-oppressive recommendations is grounded in a shared set of foundational principles and approaches that will equitably move the field of youth sexual health education forward with young people at the center.
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Young people, community members with intersectional living experience, and history have been Trailhead’s greatest teachers from the onset of developing this report. The 2023 SASH report centers youth voice, awareness of oppression, and learning from authentic and intentional community engagement as integral guides for evolving the delivery of youth sexual health education. The Pleasure Artshops, Isms Blog Series, and Lessons Learned pages invite readers to:
Learn directly about young people’s experiences with sexual health and sex education through art and storytelling;
Explore systems of oppression impacting sexual health and sex education; and
Examine lessons that Trailhead has learned from centering anti-oppressive community engagement practices in our work with Consulting Within Your Context throughout the development of the SASH.
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Four foundational principles, referred to herein as core boundaries, were honored throughout all aspects of the Youth Sexual Health Program Board’s work in the development of the SASH. These core boundaries create a basis for youth sexual health education that is inclusive and intersectional, pleasure-based, aware of oppression, and accessible for all. For systemic transformation to be effective, it is imperative to first identify and understand the roots from which all engagement, action, and envisioning within the youth sexual health field must stem in order to be not only anti-oppressive, but liberating.
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Moving from a foundation that honors intersectionality, pleasure and joy, awareness of oppression, and ensuring accessibility of sex education, the SASH presents a set of liberating practices as enduring approaches for advancing the field of youth sexual health through centering youth voice, authentically engaging communities, and sharing power. Each of these liberating practices are accompanied by examples of these approaches in action and invite partners across the public health and youth sexual health fields to reflect how these practices can be used collaboratively and in their own work to evolve sexual health education and improve health in communities.
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With the liberating practices guiding how partners can equitably take action to advance the youth sexual health field, the SASH intentionally progresses towards a robust set of sector-specific anti-oppressive recommendations to improve sexual health in Colorado. Developed over a six month period by the Youth Sexual Health Program Board, these recommendations offer a starting point towards affecting systems-level change and culture shift within the youth sexual health field. This intentional progression towards action requires that partners build from a shared foundation of what sexual health education must reflect, and engage in liberating practices that center young people, community, and power sharing.
Developing the 2023 SASH report has been a rich collaborative effort between young people, community members, funders, and partners who share a liberating vision of what sexual health education can become.
Sharing Gratitude to Our Partners
Dig Into the SASH Report
The process of developing the 2023 SASH report is a model for how work within the public health and youth sexual health fields can evolve to equitably engage and meet the needs of communities. Learn how the development of the 2023 SASH report came to be with introductions written by Consulting Within Your Context and Trailhead Institute.