Capable of Risk: Sexual Vulnerability & Dignity in the Lives of Marginalized Youth
Concerns about youth sexual health are well-founded: to take just one adverse sexual outcome, STI incidence is on the rise, with young people (ages 15-24) accounting for approximately half of all new infections per year. The generalization of this concern, however – that all youth sexual behavior is harmful, that youth sexual behavior is only harmful, and that all youth are comparably harmed – misdirects attention toward individual youth and sexual behavior as the targets of change. Instead, I argue that rates of adverse sexual outcomes must be understood as manifestations of interlocked forms of injustice. Racism, sexism, cishetsexism, adultism, and/or economic precarity combine: 1) to expose marginalized youth to disproportionate and avoidable danger; 2) to compel them toward sexual behaviors and relationships regardless of safety or wantedness; and 3) to deprive them of resources to reduce or remedy adverse consequences. Moreover, social injustice not only puts marginalized youth at risk, it also keeps them from risk, curbing their basic rights and capabilities. In other life domains and developmental stages, we recognize risk as a building block to mastery, an expression of liberty, and a form of dignity. Using Nussbaum’s Capabilities Approach as a framework, I will argue that youth sexual vulnerability must be stemmed through practical steps toward social justice.
Location: Alex Rutherford's