The educational mission of most western schools today includes the nurturing of children's sexual upbringing, which many scholars see as a way of controlling their sexuality and forming them into "sexual citizens." This article examines how official Swedish school guidelines and textbooks have mediated sexuality norms through education…

Using an intersectional analysis, this article critically analyses implied and expressed norms to identify perceptions of appropriate behaviour in children's play, and to explore how social communicative arenas such as Internet forums construct knowledge and values. Adults' responses to an incident that occurred amongst a group of children in…

This paper provides a discourse analysis of 12 Swedish sexuality education texts intended for preschool practitioners and published between 1969 and 2021. Using Fairclough's framework, we identify three discourses about children's sexual play in relation to children's sexual agency in the texts: child sexuality as encouraged and entangled with…

This study was conducted among a group of Swedish teachers and a class of 14-15-year-old students and explored pornography education as part of secondary school sexuality education. Data were generated using mixed methods including teacher-researcher meetings, participant observation in class, student interviews, and teacher evaluation meetings,…

This study investigated the prevalence of receiving sexts among adolescents and its relationship with depressive symptoms and self-esteem. A survey was administered to 728 high school students in Sweden in 2019 and 2020 (50.4% girls and 46.4% boys) using a cross-sectional design. Findings showed that significantly more boys (28.4%) than girls…

The purpose of this study was to explore Swedish natural science sexuality education as a material-discursive practice. More specifically, we sought to investigate ways in which the phenomenon of "oskuld," which in Swedish means sexual innocence or to be without guilt, comes into being among 17-18-year-old students. The study, conducted…

Starting with the question of why there is so much religiously motivated resistance against compulsory sex education, this article explores and discusses entanglements of norms about sexuality, gender, and religion in education. Based on predominantly Swedish data, the aim of the paper is to offer perspectives on connections between religiosity…

This viewpoint paper considers the relationships between conferences and activism by examining the events surrounding the "World's Oldest Oppression," a conference held in Melbourne, Australia in 2016. This conference attracted swift protest action from local sex workers, much of which was executed online. Drawing from the documentation…

Since autumn 2020, boys in the fifth year of school (11-year-old students) in Sweden have been offered human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination for free. Drawing from individual interviews with 21 school nurses working in primary schools in one of Sweden's regions, the aim of this study was to explore nurses' strategies and experiences of informing…

This paper illuminates how teachers are influenced by age, gender and sexuality in teaching about sex and relationships. In this analysis grounded in feminist theory, age, gender and sexuality are considered to be enacted as doings. Six interviews with teachers working with sexuality education in K-12 schools in Sweden were chosen from of a larger…

Sexuality constitutes an important aspect of sustainable development as the concept is used by the United Nations. Education is commonly viewed as crucial to achieving sustainability, and promoting action competence is a key element in such educational efforts. This suggests that education should support individuals in actively seeking information…

As concerns about sexual and reproductive health and rights become integrated into public health policies, the demand for higher education in sexology rises. There is a need therefore to evaluate established pedagogical methods to ensure that they are relevant, efficient and lead to valuable competencies. This study explored the current evidence…

Young men in jail and prison are vulnerable regarding sexual health and the fulfilment of their sexual rights. As a response to this, the Swedish Association for Sexuality Education (RFSU) has been providing sex education to young, incarcerated men, via a project initiated by and in cooperation with the Swedish Prison and Probation Services…

In order for adolescents to learn about sex and relationships, the education must be of significance and meet their needs and interests. The study investigated adolescents' conceptions of learning and education about sex and relationships. A phenomenographic approach was used. Six focus group interviews were conducted with adolescents ages 18-19…

Students have the right to receive education about sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). The United Nations Agenda 2030 for sustainable development includes goals regarding SRHR, including the right to universal access to sexual and reproductive health care services and gender equality. The study used a qualitative design with an…