Grant: Planning and Dissemination Grants - Institute/Initiative Community Support

Youth under 30 continue to represent a disproportionate share of new HIV and STI cases in Canada, yet many report that existing sexual health education is inadequate, fear-based, and disconnected from their lived realities. SExT (Sex Education by Theatre) was developed to address this gap through an innovative, arts-based, youth-led approach. Founded by Dr. Shira Taylor in collaboration with young people from Toronto's newcomer and racialized communities, SExT uses participatory theatre to provide medically accurate, culturally relevant, and trauma-informed education about sexual and mental health, consent, gender, identity, and healthy relationships. Since 2014, SExT has reached over 12,000 youth through more than 120 performances nationwide, demonstrating measurable improvements in sexual health knowledge, self-efficacy, and help-seeking behaviours. The proposed project, Performing Gender and Health, builds on this success by transforming SExT's live performances into a multimedia knowledge mobilization initiative. The project will produce a co-authored book and a series of professionally filmed performances that translate youth-led insights on gender, sexuality, and health into accessible educational resources. Through a facilitated writing retreat and mentorship process, eight SExT Peer Mentors will serve as co-authors, reflecting critically on their performances through public health and intersectional gender equity lenses. Five key scenes will be professionally filmed, accompanied by educator resources and a dedicated website to support dissemination in schools, community organizations, and public health settings. By centering youth with lived experience as co-creators and educators, Performing Gender and Health advances CIHR's vision of equitable, inclusive, and community-engaged health research. This project mobilizes arts-based, peer-led knowledge to transform sexual health education across Canada and foster greater gender and health equity.