1. Sexuality, Policy and Politics From Advancing Sexuality Studies: a short course on sexuality theory and research methodologies

2. 2 Schedule SessionTiming Introduction10 mins 1. Sexuality, politics and policy at national level Brainstorm Lecture Policy group work Policy enforcement 75 mins 20 mins 5 mins 45 mins 5 mins 2. Sexuality, politics and policy at an international level Lecture Brainstorm Case study discussion Hypothetical UN debate 110 mins 20 mins 5 mins 20 mins 65 mins 3. Policy and politics Pre-reading review Policy implementation case study Sexuality as political weapon 105 mins 40 mins 50 mins 15 mins Conclusion10 mins Total:310 mins (about 5 hours)

3. 3 Module aims To: Encourage participants to reflect on what policy is and how it works, in both national and international arena Critically examine examples of existing policy and politics related to sexuality Enhance participants’ knowledge of common issues and themes which emerge in debates around the policy, and politics, of sexuality

4. 4 Participants will: Develop an understanding of how policies related to sexuality are formed, enforced and implemented at a national and international level Increase their ability to recognise and engage in political debates around policies related to sexuality

5. 5 Session 1. Sexuality, politics and policy at national level

6. 6 What is policy? Set of principles, plans and regulations Imposed on a collective Codifies and enforces values –Often through the granting or restriction of rights Can include legal and social rights, e.g. the right to marry, the right to access particular government payments Exists at both national and international level

7. 7 Policy agents Yeatman (1998) identifies six types of policy ‘agent’: 1.Public servants 2.Service providers (deliver policy on the ground) 3.Potential and actual users of policy 4.Those who give evaluative feedback (citizens, lobby groups, professional evaluators) 5.Ombudsmen, administrative lawyers, sometimes the wider judiciary 6.Agencies charged with monitoring and auditing the policy process

8. 8 Policy & sexuality Common examples of national policy that regulate and proscribe sexuality include: Age of consent –May be different for male / female, or for heterosexual/same-sex attracted Provision of information related to sex –‘Abstinence-only’ school sex education programs National HIV strategies and plans Policy never neutral; always value-laden

9. 9 Policy as contested territory Range of individual views and practices Range of groups with interests, views, values, resources (Waites, M. 2001) –‘Moralists’ Put forward more traditional and conservative sexual values Believe in the state’s role in preserving these values –‘Progressives’ Critique concept of ‘traditional’ sexual values Sceptical of the state’s role in enforcing these values

10. 10 A matter of degrees Differences over the extent to which sexuality should be the subject of policy –Existence of policy could be seen to be violating certain personal freedoms … –Policy may be required to protect particular freedoms or to restrict acts that are widely seen as abusive and destructive –Arguments usually centre on degree of freedom vs. restriction

11. 11 Group work In small groups, discuss the examples of policy related to sexuality from your local context Focus questions / develop a case study: (25 mins) –What values are codified within these policies? –Do these policies grant or restrict rights? For whom? –Who might the key players have been in formation of these policies? Feedback (20 mins)

12. 12 Policy enforcement Policy encoded in law can be enforced through prosecution –Those who do not comply with particular values in relation to sexuality can be criminally prosecuted Enforcement through withdrawal of service provider contract –e.g. where service provider does not comply with policy on non- discriminatory employment practices First step: implementation –Requires political will & allocation of resources ($ and human resources)

13. 13 Session 2. Sexuality, politics and policy at an international level

14. 14 International policies United Nations: –Women’s Conferences –Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) –International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights –International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights –Convention on the Rights of the Child –Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

15. 15 Treaty processes UN treaties establish rights and protections as principles No internationally binding mechanism with strong enforcement processes Require national consent to sign and ratify treaty Ratification ≠ enactment in national law –Argument over sovereignty often used to justify non-enactment –US continues to refuse to make national laws which enact the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Received several UN reprimands

16. 16 Sexual and reproductive rights Slow progress; barriers identified as: (Steans, J & Ahmadi, V., 1995) –Social & political power of elite men claiming to represent ‘culture’ –Adherence by women and men to policies based on idealised ‘traditional’ family models –Pragmatic alliances of Western-based religious groups & some Muslim states in the UN Stand-off on proposed UN Declaration on Sexual Orientation (2008) Sexuality often presented through lens of women’s rights; men must be included

17. 17 Cross-cultural issues Differences in economic development, demographics, culture, religion and political views –Different levels of education, particularly about sex, reproduction and STIs (e.g. Singh, S, Bankole, A and Woog, V. 2005) –Lack of use of contraception linked to technology and contextual factors, including cultural disapproval (Bongaarts et al. 1995) Rejection of perceived imposition of Western values Brainstorm: –In relation to HIV/AIDS, how might the policy (& values) of one country be effectively imposed on another? (5 mins)

18. 18 Influencing national policy Conditional, external funding streams affect policy Case study: US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) –Launched in 2003, topped up to US$50 billion in 2008 –Large number of programs funded –Prohibition on activities that promote condoms or abortion –Contradicts national laws that grant right to access condoms & abortion, e.g. South Africa (Ghanotakis, E, Mayhew, S & Watts, C. 2009) Discuss, review (15 mins)

19. 19 Hypothetical debate Debate background: –The UN is proposing a new, worldwide HIV program to support member governments to respond to HIV, including working with affected populations (inc. sex workers, MSM & IDUs) It would consist of agreed targets against a range of indicators, which will be measured by the UN –The US has already decided that instead of supporting this, it will fund a large program of its own addressing S&RH (inc. HIV). The program is based on a policy which precludes any funding being used to promote abortion or condoms –What is the best way forward? (15 mins to prepare 5 min statement) –Debate (40 mins)

20. 20 National vs international To what degree should one country seek to enforce its policies (and therefore values) on another? Complex and contested territory –Generally guided by a particular stance on values or politics

21. 21 Session 3. Policy and politics

22. 22 Pre-reading review Skim reading to refresh key points (5 mins) Group discussion: –What does Yeatman define as the difference between the policy process and the political process? –What examples does Waites provide of the political process? What examples does Waites provide of the policy process? Is it easy to separate the two? (20 mins) Feedback (15 mins)

23. 23 Policy implementation Case study (Han and Beenish, 2009) : In-class reading (10 mins) Group discussion focus questions: –What national politics were at play here? –Why do you think a policy was made on provision of condoms to school children, without mechanisms being put in place to ensure implementation of this policy? –Do you think US policy had an influence here? If so, was it a political or a policy influence? (20 mins) Feedback (20 mins)

24. 24 Serving political ends Sexuality often used as a political weapon –e.g. to increase or decrease support for policies, people or parties Anwar Ibrahim case, Malaysia (Manderson, 2009): –Accused of sodomy and corruption in 1998, convicted and sentenced to nine years in jail for corruption –Sodomy conviction overturned in 2004, accused again in 2008 –All charges under penal code dating from colonial times –Arguments centred not on the policy, but on the alleged act Discuss: What has been claimed to be ‘in the public interest’ in your context? (15 mins)

25. 25 Conclusion Module aimed to: –Encourage participants to reflect on what policy is and how it works, in both national and international arena –Critically examine examples of existing policy and politics related to sexuality –Enhance participants’ knowledge of common issues and themes which emerge in debates around the policy, and politics, of sexuality Review activity outputs Questions? Comments?

26. 26 Module created by: –Marina Carman, HIV Consortium for Partnerships in Asia and the Pacific Short course developed by: –The Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia and –The International Association for the Study of Sexuality, Culture and Society (IASSCS) –With funding from The Ford Foundation Available under an Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share Alike licence from Creative Commons