You’re Invited to Sex Week 2025 with the Acadia Sexual Health Resource Centre!

Even though the temperatures are dropping outside, things are heating up at Acadia!

January 31 will kick off third annual Sex Week, presented by Acadia’s Sexual Health Resource Centre.

The SHRC facilitates students’ advancement, growth, and development of sexual health knowledge and practices.

“At the SHRC, we lower barriers to getting free safer sex and menstrual health products by having them available for free outside our door whenever the SUB is open,” explains Paige Moreth (Manager, SHRC). “And we often pop up at campus events to increase our reach. We try to balance the comfort that comes with anonymity with the larger goal of destigmatizing these topics that really affect everyone, regardless of whether you have sex or not.”

In addition to their regular programming, Sex Week is a special opportunity to bring people together from across campus and community for a week of celebration and education about sexual health.

“When we unabashedly talk about stigmatized topics like sex, reproductive health, gender, and healthy relationships, it goes a long way to preventing the spread of illness and getting people the healthcare they deserve. It also works to prevent sexualized and intimate partner violence, which has been declared an epidemic in Nova Scotia,” says Paige.

And this is exactly what Sex Week offers to Acadia students.

With a dozen events over seven days, Sex Week is packed with programming that mixes education and fun. There will be exciting events like a stop-light party, a drag show, and a RENT watch party, as well as lower key programming like button making, mindfulness yoga, and vulva-shaped cookie decorating.

And, of course, education is a huge aspect of Sex Week. Among the educational events are a bystander intervention workshop, sex toy 101, and consent and pop culture trivia.

Allison Smith (Sexualized Violence Response and Education Coordinator) is excited to be part of organizing the events for Sex Week. “It is a wonderful opportunity to explore so many vital aspects of sex and sexuality, including pleasure, self-exploration, connection, consent, and boundaries,” she says. “The events I helped organized are, I think, a nice balance of fun and critical thinking.”

Allison’s office, the Sexualized Violence Response and Education Centre, helped organize the bystander intervention session, which is focused on strategies for standing up to harmful behaviour and promoting consent culture on campus. She is also involved in putting on the consent and pop culture trivia event, which, she says, “encourages us all to think about the ways that sex and consent are portrayed in a lot of the media we consume, such as movies, TV, and song lyrics.”

Help Acadia Take Home the Safer Sex Cup!

The centerpiece of Sex Week 2025 is a competition with St. Francis Xavier University to see which school can get more students tested for STIs in one day. On February 4, students can come out to the Michener Lounge to pee in a cup (or get a swab), then enjoy some free pizza in the name of safer sex and bragging rights for Acadia.

The university that tests the most students will get to take home the Safer Sex Cup!

Tori Rombaut (Coordinator, Campus Health Promotions) says “regular STI testing, if you're sexually active, is an important part of maintaining sexual health, even if you don't exhibit symptoms. By prioritizing sexual health and regularly testing for STIs, you are looking after your own health, and the health of your partners, promoting safer and more informed sexual experiences.”

“I view getting screened regularly as community care, and school spirit ties in really nicely with that,” says Paige, “so I think this event is a really great opportunity for anyone who's due to get tested.”

Nurses from The Red Door will be on campus offering confidential screening to students aged 29 and under for STIs. You can visit the Sex Week website for more information on what to expect.

Come one, come all, to Acadia Sex Week!

“My hope is that whichever events students attend, they get something they need out of it,” says Paige. “Whether that's health care, new information, or a sense of community, I think there's something for everyone during this week.”

All of the Sex Week events are listed on the Sex Week website, including information about grand prize draw (a package worth over $250!). The more events you attend, the more chances you have to win.

And don’t forget to give the SHRC a follow on Instagram, where they share a ton of sexual health info year round.

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