Religion and Sexual Wellbeing: Pleasure, Piety, and Reproductive Rights

Examine the role of religion in sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR)

Reproductive rights are at the forefront of many of today’s most heated political and ideological battles. Understanding the relationship between religion, gender, and sexual wellbeing is crucial to understanding the world today.

On this course, you’ll reflect on sexuality as a private and public affair, exploring people’s lived experiences around sexuality, intimacy and pregnancy.

Examine the role of religion in sexual wellbeing

You’ll explore the difference between religion as a lived experience, and religion as prescribed by religious authorities in relation to sexual activity and health.

You’ll examine how sexuality can be the cause of ideological debate as much as a source of enrichment, and explore the dynamics of the current polarisation around reproductive rights in relation to local, national and global histories.

Explore sexual wellbeing alongside experts

Using real-world case studies from the Philippines, Zimbabwe, and the Netherlands you’ll reflect upon how people become sexually knowledgeable, and how we can combat gendered forms of violence.

You’ll come away able to investigate the consequences of cultural polarisation around reproductive rights, and to reflect on how to support people’s sexual wellbeing and health.

This course is for anyone interested in the topics covered. More specifically, it could benefit faith-based and secular organisations that promote sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) across the globe.

• Polarization, religion and sexual wellbeing
• Setting the scene
• Introducing polarization and grand schemes
• The context of polarization: Beijing and beyond
• Sexual health and sexual well-being
• Wrapping up
• Philippines: religion in policy and in everyday life
• Welcome to Week 2
• Sexual wellbeing, pregnancy and religion
• Digging deeper into the Philippine context
• Analyzing pluralism in your specific setting
• Wrapping up Week 2
• Zimbabwe: SRHR and gendered forms of violence
• Introduction to Week 3
• Everyday lives and grand schemes in Zimbabwe
• Women's perspectives
• Exploring men's roles in GBV
• Religion and gender transformation
• Wrapping up Week 3
• The Netherlands: becoming sexually knowledgeable
• Week 4 introduction
• Everyday lives and grand schemes in the Netherlands
• How do people become sexually knowledgeable?
• Polarization between religious and secular views on sex
• Mediators
• Wrap up course