Young people, sex and relationships: Miles to go and promises to keep

摘要

The overarching messages from the papers in this journal issue are that: 1) adolescents and young people want and need sexual health information and health care, provided with a sex-positive approach to sex, sexuality, sexual identity and relationships; 2) those providing it need specialist training; and 3) adolescent and youth leadership and involvement in policy, activities and programmes are crucial. Adolescents and young people want to know about HIV, STIs, pregnancy, abortion, contraception, sexual and gender identity, communication in relationships, menstruation, sexual violence and coercion, stigma, bullying, discrimination. But above all, they want to know about sex and bodies. Remember surging hormones? Long before they ever have sex, they want to understand and be able to talk about these issues with family, friends, peers. If you read this journal issue from cover to cover, and I hope you do, you'll feel pummelled by these messages, as I did, by the time you reach the end, and you deserve to feel pummelled; we all do.