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Campus Life

Sex in the Dark: a Q&A Event with Sex Experts

Student Health Services annual event returns

Sexually transmitted diseases and infections are on the rise. 

According to a recent report by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were more than 2.5 million cases of syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis reported in the United States in 2022. Syphilis is at its highest levels since the 1950s. 

To make sure that students are in the know when it comes to safe sex, BU Student Health Services is bringing back its annual Sex in the Dark event on Monday, April 1, at 6:30 pm, at the School of Law Alumni Auditorium. 

The live event returns after a four-year hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The lights in the auditorium will not be on, but before the event, students can pick up glow-in-the-dark swag to light their way. Once students sit down, they’ll be invited to anonymously write out their questions about sex—including consent and communication, sexual identity, contraception, STDs, and more—and submit them to the evening’s panel of experts. 

The panelists will answer as many questions as possible during the 90-minute event. The goal of the evening is to create a safe place to talk about safe sex, which is why it will be held in the dark.

The event is cosponsored by BU’s Sexual Assault Response & Prevention Center (SARP), Society for Queers and Allies (GSDM), BU School of Public Health Reproductive Justice Student Alliance, Women’s Health Society, PERIOD, Outlaw, Greek Life Sexual Assault Prevention Committee, It’s On Us Boston University, BU LGBTQIA+ Student Resource Center, and BU Committee on Sexual Assault & Harassment Prevention. 

Community Partners and donors for the event include Global Protection Corp., ONE Condoms, Good Clean Love, Lorals, PleasurePie, and Planned Parenthood.

The experts on this year’s panel are Stephanie Orozco, a sexual health educator; Goddess Cecilia, a pleasure educator and advocate at Mer-Made for Pleasure; Nathan Brewer, director of SARP, and Hannah Landsberg (Sargent’12, SPH’13), SHS associate director.

Event organizer Sarah Voorhees (SPH’13), assistant director of substance use, recovery, and sexual well-being at SHS, says the evening is a safe space for students to have their questions answered by knowledgeable experts, and she is thrilled that the event is returning this year.

She is also excited about the info the experts will share with students, seeing that they have knowledge and experience in areas like sexual pleasure, sexuality, sexual and reproductive health, mental health, and more.

In her experience, students have “nuanced questions,” Voorhees says, about sexual health and sexuality, and they might come to the event for a few different reasons. “Maybe they’ve found accurate information about sexual health can be more difficult to come by than they like, they’re just not sure of the accuracy of sources, they haven’t been able to find an answer to a really specific question that they have, or they want to learn more about the services and resources that are already available to them on campus,” she says. 

What’s more, students might attend the event to hear what other people are asking so that they can learn from others without having a question to ask themselves. 

Voorhees says the ultimate goal in hosting the event is to help students feel more informed so they can make the decisions about their sexual health and well-being that are right for them. Sexual health looks different for everyone, she says, and SHS is committed to supporting students’ sexual health. While that includes clinical services such as birth control consultations, prescriptions, and STI screening, “it also means sharing information resources that support student sexual health in different ways,” she says. “Sex in the Dark is just one of the ways [to help] students do that.” 

Last, Voorhes says that Sex in the Dark is meant to be a welcoming environment for all—including those who may be curious about a sexual activity or are making a choice to abstain from sex. 

“Sex in the Dark is such a great space to just get that information,” she says.