Terms & Definitions

Sexual Health

Sexual health is "a state of physical, emotional, mental and social well-being in relation to sexuality; it is not merely the absence of disease, dysfunction or infirmity. Sexual health requires a positive and respectful approach to sexuality and sexual relationships, as well as the possibility of having pleasurable and safe sexual experiences, free of coercion, discrimination and violence. For sexual health to be attained and maintained, the sexual rights of all persons must be respected, protected and fulfilled". (World Health Organization (WHO), 2006a -working definition)

Sexual Pleasure

Sexual pleasure is the "physical and/or psychological satisfaction and enjoyment derived from solitary or shared erotic experiences, including thoughts, dreams and autoeroticism. Self-determination, consent, safety, privacy, confidence and the ability to communicate and negotiate sexual relations are key enabling factors for pleasure to contribute to sexual health and wellbeing. Sexual pleasure should be exercised within the context of sexual rights, particularly the rights to equality and nondiscrimination, autonomy and bodily integrity, the right to the highest attainable standard of health and freedom of expression. The experiences of human sexual pleasure are diverse and sexual rights ensure that pleasure is a positive experience for all concerned and not obtained by violating other people’s human rights and wellbeing." (The Global Advisory Board (GAB) for Sexual Health and Wellbeing, 2016)

Reproductive Justice

Reproductive justice emerged in response to low- income women, Black women and women of colour, and LGBTQ+ people feeling isolated from the women's rights movement. Reproductive Justice was first termed by SisterSong Women of Colour in the US and is defined as “the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities”. Reproductive justice focuses on access rather than rights, asserting that legal rights alone do not mean having access, due to socio-structural factors. 

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Intersectionality

Intersectionality was coined by Professor Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw in 1989, and is defined as “a lens, a prism, for seeing the way in which various forms of inequality often operate together and exacerbate each other. “We tend to talk about race inequality as separate from inequality based on gender, class, sexuality or immigrant status. What’s often missing is how some people are subject to all of these, and the experience is not just the sum of its parts”. - Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw

Declaration of Sexual Rights

​The Declaration of Sexual Rights was revised in 2014 by the World Association for Sexual Health (WAS) special task force and expert consultation. 

Please contact WAS if you would like to volunteer to translate the Declaration of Sexual Rights into your language.

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