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The idea that pleasure might form a part of sexuality education is no longer a "new" idea in the field of sexuality studies. In this paper we examine how originally conceived notions of pleasure have been "put to work" and theoretically "taken up" in relation to sexuality and education. It is our contention that because of the nature of discourse and varying cultural and political contexts, pleasure has been operationalised in ways we did not intend or foresee. Throughout this discussion we seek to discern the discursive limits of visions of pleasure to illuminate their normalising potential. Drawing on Foucault's thoughts about pleasure as having "no passport" and queer theoretical understandings of this concept, we argue for a re-conceptualisation of the potential of pleasure in sexuality education. In particular we identify the need for wedging open spaces for the possibility of ethical pleasures, in forms that are not heteronormatively pre-conceived or mandatory.

In 2004, the Australian National Rugby League (NRL) commissioned the Playing By The Rules research project in response to allegations of sexual assault by members of a professional rugby league team. This article offers an overview of the theoretical and methodological approaches adopted by the team, and the subsequent workplace education programmes designed to promote ethical sexual behaviour and attitudes within NRL culture. The researchers reflect on contemporary thinking in the relatively new field of violence prevention education aimed at young men, and consider new critical approaches to the intersection of masculinities and sexual learning. (Contains 3 notes.)

This paper discusses the lack of attention that has been given by helping professionals, police, welfare systems, and legal systems concerning the sexual assault of adults who are intellectually disabled, with special emphasis on the situation in New South Wales, Australia. Reasons why people with intellectual disability are particularly vulnerable to sexual assault are explored. (Author/JDD)

This article reports on a study of a small group of social workers who are or have been coordinators of health-based sexual assault services in New South Wales, Australia. What does working in this area of practice mean for these women? How has being daily witnesses to sexual assault affected their lives professionally and personally? This article aims to give voice to and thereby gain some understanding of these workers' experiences., I think the notion of helping people, has been challenged a lot. I think I have been surprised by people's resources and have rethought my role as the person who [...]

When young people begin to explore their sexuality they are often subject to particularly strong surveillance from adults and the institutions of the state. How young people become ethical sexual citizens is not well understood. In recent years an increased focus on comprehensive sexuality programmes that include violence prevention have led to the development of a number of education programmes targeting young people. This article will draw on quantitative and qualitative responses of a three-phase (pre-group, post-group, follow-up) impact evaluation from 153 young women and men from Australia and New Zealand who participated in theSex and Ethics Violence Prevention Programfrom 2009 to 2011. The Program encourages young people to explore alternative approaches to gender and sexuality and learn skills in ethical negotiation which they can utilise in ‘real life’ situations. This includes developing a reflexive ethical stance to consider how sexual choices impact on themselves and others. The primary aim of the Program is to reduce pressured, coerced sex and sexual assault in intimate relationships. Despite gender differences women and men were able to move toward behavioural change, explore alternative approaches to gender relations and increase their skills in sexual negotiation as ethical sexual citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores a research and education project seeking positive ways to engage young men in respectful and ethical negotiation within sexual relationships. The experiences of young men aged 16–25 years of age are explored who took part in the Sex & Ethics Violence Prevention Program which was developed in 2006 and continues to be run in several Australian states and in New Zealand. The Program was designed to assist both young women and men to develop enhanced ethical sexual subjectivity and in the process help them to explore diverse gender possibilities in their intimate relationships. This study is located within the international field of violence prevention education. It considers how the young men who took part in this Program between 2009–2011 responded to the opportunity to reflect on their practices within the context of casual and ongoing sexual relationships. The implications of the study for our understandings of masculinities and gender are explored and how sexual ethics may provide a useful approach to assist young people as they navigate their sexual lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The idea that pleasure might form a part of sexuality education is no longer a ‘new’ idea in the field of sexuality studies. In this paper we examine how originally conceived notions of pleasure have been ‘put to work’ and theoretically ‘taken up’ in relation to sexuality and education. It is our contention that because of the nature of discourse and varying cultural and political contexts, pleasure has been operationalised in ways we did not intend or foresee. Throughout this discussion we seek to discern the discursive limits of visions of pleasure to illuminate their normalising potential. Drawing on Foucault's thoughts about pleasure as having ‘no passport’ and queer theoretical understandings of this concept, we argue for a re-conceptualisation of the potential of pleasure in sexuality education. In particular we identify the need for wedging open spaces for the possibility of ethical pleasures, in forms that are not heteronormatively pre-conceived or mandatory. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In 2004, the Australian National Rugby League (NRL) commissioned the Playing By The Rules research project in response to allegations of sexual assault by members of a professional rugby league team. This article offers an overview of the theoretical and methodological approaches adopted by the team, and the subsequent workplace education programmes designed to promote ethical sexual behaviour and attitudes within NRL culture. The researchers reflect on contemporary thinking in the relatively new field of violence prevention education aimed at young men, and consider new critical approaches to the intersection of masculinities and sexual learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that many anti-violence prevention strategies have been shaped by unarticulated discourses of sexuality that focus primarily on women managing the risk and danger of unethical behaviour of men. Sexual intimacy has therefore been dominated by discourses of fear and danger and women's pleasure is once again invisible. An alternative conception of sexual ethics is presented based on Foucault's work on ethics, and sexuality. The findings from in-depth qualitative interviews with 26 Australian women and men of diverse sexualities indicate that women and men regardless of erotic choice of partner have found multiple ways to explore sexual pleasure that is ethical, non-violent and where danger is reduced. This suggests a need to develop alternative ways of shaping violence prevention strategies that acknowledge both pleasure and danger. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article critically assesses the main social policy responses to preventing rape following much feminist struggle to make sexual violence a public matter of legitimate concern. It considers the preventative potential of legal measures, anti-violence campaigns waged by feminist and men's groups in the US and Australia, public education campaigns in Schools and Universities, and public awareness campaigns sponsored by the state. We argue that sexual violence is not amenable to quick fix strategies that place responsibility for prevention entirely on individual men or women. While we recognise that responsibilising victims and individualising offenders is consistent with wider global shifts in social policy calling upon individuals to manage their own risk, we argue that the increasing reliance on such neoliberal social policy is especially problematic in preventing rape. The paper suggests ways to resist this which place greater emphasis on the promotion of sexual ethics; the eroticisation of consent; the reinvention of the norms of romance to include both these, and the complete separation of the psycho-social-symbolic connections between sex and violence, and ultimately the re-evaluation of the cultural expectations of masculinity and femininity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social workers have played an active part in the development of sexual assault services in New South Wales. It will be argued they have effectively fulfilled the roles of individual counsellor, advocate, educator, social planner and political negotiator. Skills in these areas have benefitted individual clients and contributed to the development of social policy in the area of sexual assault. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]