Accessing the Internet is commonly associated with risks to children from exposure to pornography, which may lead to poor mental health, sexism and objectification, sexual violence, and other negative outcomes. Yet, technology at the same time can have a positive influence on gender norms through providing access to sexuality education opportunities outside of school. Sexuality education can be directed at the entire population through low-tech channels, or it can be targeted, providing interactive and personalized learning experiences in a safe and confidential learning environment. Technology-enhanced strategies are effective for traditionally excluded groups and offer greater content and style flexibility. It can be low cost, private and effective in tailoring messages for specific populations. This blog shows the evidence of where such approaches have been used around the world, drawing from the recent 2024 Gender Report: Technology on her terms.
Digital technology can promote shifts in gender norms that move towards social justice, primarily by providing spaces where dominant gender norms can be challenged. Digital strategies in sexual and reproductive health are evolving, with social media–based and interactive technology becoming more common than the mobile phones and text messaging used more often before 2015.
Digital redesign of traditional games, such as Help Pinky, has been used to engage girls in rural India in discussions about menstrual health, addressing information gaps and challenging taboos. In Lesotho, the Nokaneng app helps students access information on gender-based violence and on legislation protecting women and girls from violence. The CSE Learning Platform, primarily targeting youth in sub-Saharan Africa, aims to encourage knowledge sharing and learning across countries, featuring a digital library and an ‘Ask and Share’ forum.
Smartphone- and iPad-based applications can also improve reproductive health knowledge. The Girl Talk app increased sexual health knowledge in girls aged 12 to 18. Similar effects were reported for the application by the Girls’ Talk+ programme, directed at adolescent girls with disability in the Netherlands. A survey among 936 young adults in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa found that 84% consider social media appropriate for sexual health communication.
In Uruguay, the JAAKLAC initiative developed a Guide on Comprehensive Digital Sexual Education for Adolescents, which was disseminated through social media campaigns. In Guayas province, Ecuador, 70% of secondary school students agreed that social networks facilitate collaborative content creation for comprehensive sexuality education.
In the United States, the web-based Health Education and Relationship Training programme aims to enhance adolescent girls’ sexual assertiveness skills and decision-making. Its evaluation has shown better sexual assertiveness skills, better intentions to communicate about sexual health, better knowledge regarding HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, safer sex norms and attitudes, and condom self-efficacy among those exposed to the programme compared with those in the control group.
Teachers can also access comprehensive sexuality education through technology. In Thailand, the Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the Path2Health Foundation, has developed e-learning courses to strengthen teachers’ skills in providing sexuality education and life skills training.
Radio and television can educate men and women about gender equality and sexuality. In Nepal, two radio dramas, Mai Sari Sunakhari (Orchid, like me) broadcast in Nepali in 2016–18 and Hilkor (Ripples in the water) broadcast in Maithili in 2016–17, addressed critical topics such as child marriage, domestic violence, education, family planning, gender equality, gender-based violence, maternal and child health, nutrition and reproductive health. Among listeners, 11% reported being motivated to seek family planning and reproductive health services, with men (17%) showing notably higher motivation than women (10%). Listeners were also more likely to disapprove of child marriage and to take action against it.
Two national radio programmes were produced by the BBC for the EAGER programme in Sierra Leone, with accompanying social media content. Designed to engage caregivers and community influencers with trusted gender-sensitive messages, they aimed to address discriminatory gender norms. Among the population aged 15 and over, 3 in 10 had listened to at least one episode, while 2 in 10 were reached regularly. Men were more regular listeners than women, reflecting higher levels of radio access. Regular listeners showed a better understanding of the risks of early marriage and more positive attitudes toward girls’ rights to decide if and whom, they want to marry, as well as towards sexual and reproductive health and rights.
UNESCO, the United Nations Population Fund, SAfAIDS and Save the Children meanwhile launched a Let’s Talk radio drama series on early and unintended pregnancy in 2022 in Eastern and Southern Africa. It provided information on sexual and reproductive health and rights, modern contraceptive use, early onset of sexual activity, violence against women and improving young people’s access to services. While targeting adolescent girls and young women, the drama also engaged men and boys as agents of change. In Malawi, the first country to air the drama in 2022, it reached 10 million people, initially interacting more with men but gradually seeing an increase in women voicing their concerns.
Television can serve as a powerful vehicle for changing mindsets and behaviours.
In Latin America, telenovelas are an entertainment staple and have influenced sexual health. In Mexico, Vencer el Miedo (Overcoming fear), a telenovela co-produced by the Population Council and Televisa, tackled issues such as teenage pregnancy and gender-based violence, reaching 3.5 million viewers every day, primarily aged 13 to 17. Adult viewers were 1.6 times more likely than non-viewers to discuss condoms and other contraceptive methods with their adolescent children during the show’s run. Young adult viewers were 1.8 times more likely to have used dual contraception to prevent unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. A parallel social awareness media campaign, Gánale a las Ganas (Beat the desire), which encouraged positive behaviours around sexual and reproductive health, reached 41.8 million people. Its success led to its distribution in the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and the United States.
In Honduras, Vencer el Pasado (Overcoming the past), a partnership between USAID and Televicentro, followed four women of different ages addressing gender-based violence, sexual assault, sexual harassment, cyberbullying, cyberstalking and stigma and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
A quasi-experimental evaluation of 3,000 households in Kabul, Afghanistan, demonstrated that families who frequently viewed Baghch-e-Simsim, a children’s TV show focusing on academic skills and gender equity modelled on the popular US-based Sesame Street programme, held more gender-equitable beliefs. In Senegal, a community-based educational entertainment television series, C’est la Vie!, broadcast in film clubs in rural areas aims to enhance knowledge, attitudes and practices on gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive health, and maternal and child health. Despite implementation issues, the programme effectively communicated on these sensitive topics.
In conclusion, as these multiple examples demonstrate, technology offers a powerful and multifaceted toolbox for delivering comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) across geographic, cultural, and social barriers. While there can be negative influence on gender norms through the use of technology, as illustrated in our 2024 Gender Report, there is also the chance to build on the potential that social media campaigns to interactive apps, educational television dramas to radio programming can offer in empowering individuals with knowledge, challenge social norms, and ultimately improve sexual and reproductive health outcomes around the world.
