Reaching Excluded Youth Through Out-of-School CSE

Africa leads our global webinar series

View this email in your browser Dear WAS Members and Friends, As we step into December, the global calendar offers a timely reminder of why our work matters. Yesterday was World AIDS Day, a time to honor community resilience, to challenge stigma, and recommit to equitable access to HIV prevention, treatment, and rights-based care. Tomorrow marks the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, highlighting the ongoing need for inclusive sexual health services and policies that truly leave no one behind. Thank you for being part of a global movement advancing sexual health, rights, justice, and pleasure for all.   Upcoming Webinar: Dec 9, 2025 Insights and Trends in Out-of-School Comprehensive Sexuality Education: Africa Region Date: December 9, 2025 Time: 4:00 PM SAST (Find your local time here) Millions of young people worldwide never receive in-school sexuality education due to displacement, disability, discrimination, poverty, early marriage, conflict, or other systemic barriers. Out-of-school CSE is not only a programmatic gap. It is a matter of sexual justice. This first webinar in a series on out-of-school CSE focuses on developments, challenges, and innovations across the Africa region, exploring:  How out-of-school CSE initiatives are evolving across the continent Key insights from recent global research Practical innovations from the field Why reaching excluded youth is essential to advancing sexual rights and justice Speakers: Esther Corona: WAS Vice-President Elizabeth Schroeder: WAS Consultant on Out-of-School CSE James Tumusiime: CSE & ASRHR Linkages Specialist, UNFPA ESARO Amina Alidi: Social Work Professional, UN Volunteer & Youth Development Advocate Register now to save your place Spotlight: World Sexual Health Day 2025 Results Thank you to everyone who participated in World Sexual Health Day 2025. This year's theme, Sexual Justice: What Can We Do?, inspired powerful global engagement. According to the official WSHD Report: 465 downloads of WAS-created content 826 toolkit downloads 89 conversation deck downloads Visitors from 164 countries 3,783 online mentions generating 12.9 million reach 71.6K interactions across platforms 354 attendees from 36 countries joined the official webinar 16 events submitted to the WSHD website Thank you to ASHA for the valuable support with this project, as well as our Member Organizations, youth networks, educators, clinicians, and advocates who helped amplify the message of sexual justice worldwide. Read the WSHD 2025 report here Webinar Replay: Reflecting on Professional Education in Sexology (PES) If you missed the November webinar, the replay is now available. This session outlines the PES Committee's priorities for 2025–2029, including global mapping, competency development, and progress toward strengthening future accreditation pathways across regions. Speakers: Stefano Eleuteri, Leiszle Lapping-Carr, Osmar Matsui, Anthony Smith, and Elsa Almås. Watch the replay here WAS Federation: FLASSES Webinar Sexual Violence Against Women in Different Cultures Our regional federation FLASSES (Federación Latinoamericana de Sociedades de Sexología y Educación Sexual) is hosting a free, Spanish-language webinar for societies and individual members on Friday, 19 December. Webinar: Violencia sexual hacia las mujeres en diferentes culturas Time: 12:00 (Argentina) The session brings together experts from across the Latin American region to examine different dimensions of sexual violence affecting women, including: Felipe Hurtado-Murillo: Female genital mutilation, forced marriage, and trafficking Silvina Valente: Indicators of sexual abuse in children and adolescents: when, where, how, and what Jaqueline Brendler: The role of sexologists in immediate responses to sexual violence Dra. Verónica Delgado Parra: Obstetric violence: current perspectives As the official WAS Federation for Latin America, FLASSES extends this invitation to all WAS societies and members. Learn more and register here HRT Black Box Warning Changes: What's Happening? On November 10, 2025, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced it will remove several long-standing boxed ("black box") warnings from menopausal hormone therapy products. These warnings, introduced after early findings from the Women's Health Initiative, strongly shaped public and clinical perceptions of HRT for decades. The FDA will retain one boxed warning related to endometrial cancer risk for systemic estrogen-only products used by people with a uterus. Other risk information remains but will appear outside the boxed format. The update has generated broad debate. Many menopause experts welcome the shift as a correction toward more accurate, age-specific, and formulation-specific risk communication. Others express concern about misinterpretation or the lack of clarity around the change process. From a sexual health and rights perspective, risk communication matters. How warnings are framed can impact stigma, access to care, and the confidence of both patients and providers. Comment from Faysal El Kak, WAS President "The removal of broad, non-specific boxed warnings is a positive step toward more accurate, age-appropriate, and formulation-specific risk communication for hormone therapy. For more than two decades, the previous labeling shaped clinical practice in ways that were often out of proportion to the evidence, contributing to fear, stigma, and restricted access for many who could safely benefit from HRT. At the same time, this shift places greater responsibility on clinicians and health systems: to communicate risks clearly, avoid oversimplification, and ensure people receive individualized, rights-based counseling. Hormone therapy remains an important tool in sexual and reproductive health. What matters most is that decisions are grounded in accurate information, not outdated fears, and that access is not undermined by stigma or misunderstanding." Thank you for showing up, speaking up, and continuing to build a world where sexual health, rights, justice, and pleasure are lived realities for everyone. Warm regards, World Association for Sexual Health (WAS) Not on our mailing list yet? Sign up here! Click here to visit the WAS website Support the Mission of WAS We invite you to support the ongoing work of the World Association for Sexual Health (WAS). Your contributions help us continue our mission of promoting Sexual Health, Rights, and Justice globally. Consider becoming a supporting member or making a financial contribution today. Donations are tax-deductible in the USA. Donate Here Copyright © 2025 World Association for Sexual Health (WAS), All rights reserved. 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