World Sexual Health Day (WSHD) is a WAS initiative that is celebrated annually on September 4th throughout the world since 2010, in an effort to raise collective awareness of Sexual Health as a fundamental dimension of health and wellbeing (see WHO definition of sexual Health) and the recognition of Sexual Rights as human rights.
Portugal was the first country in the world to officially recognize the WSHD as a National Day in 2021, which is the culmination of a solid legislative path recognizing sexual health and rights as a priority.
In the words of Pedro Nobre, Director of the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences and former WAS president “The celebration of the World Sexual Health Day is fundamental for the recognition of the importance of this dimension in the well-being and quality of life of every people and in the assumption of sexual health as a fundamental right. I am particularly proud that Portugal is playing a pioneering role in recognizing and giving pubic visibility to the importance of sexual health and rights for all across the world. I hope this is the beginning of a wide movement for the recognition of the fundamental role of sexual health, and urge governments around the world and ultimately the United Nations to formally establish September 4th as the World Sexual Health Day”.
The 2023 theme for World Sexual Health Day is Consent.
Consent is the cornerstone of any empowering sexual experience. It’s about cherishing everyone’s autonomy and decisions in their intimate lives beyond race, bodily ability, gender or sexual orientation. Learn more about the topic here
