Young adult perspectives on sexuality education in Australia: implications for sexual violence primary prevention

Over the past decade, global awareness of the extent, impacts and underlying drivers of sexual violence has grown. While sexual violence can affect anyone, research indicates that young people are disproportionately affected as both victims/survivors and as perpetrators. Comprehensive sexuality education is one key strategy to prevent sexual violence among young people. However, research has revealed significant shortcomings of Australian sexuality education. A reflexive thematic analysis was conducted to qualitatively investigate 20 young adults' (aged 18–30) experiences and perceptions of Australian sexuality education. The findings indicated that while the participants learned about sexual health topics during their school years, these subjects were significantly focused on fear-based messaging and risk-reduction. Knowledge and skills-building on sexual wellbeing and ethical sexual experiences were lacking. In the absence of comprehensive sexuality education, participants described learning about sex through various alternative methods. The insights drawn from interviews with young adults illuminate how sexuality education both shaped and restricted their perceptions of sex and sexual health. This research calls for the need to incorporate knowledge and skills-building around consent, pleasure, intimacy, ethics, and safety within sexuality education. Implications for an evidence-based comprehensive sexuality education and the primary prevention of sexual violence are discussed.