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Community stories, evidence and analysis on sexual health and rights across Europe.
A reflection on Ba-Cha Solidarity Night, a fundraiser bringing communities together to support sex workers’ rights, challenge stigma and stand in solidarity with organisations in Burundi and South Korea.
Read more →The GSSG has outlined eight characteristics of good practice for sexual services, covering client-centred care, consent, transparency, expertise, sexual health, discretion, participation, and quality development. Here is what each one means in practice, and how it can guide both clients and providers.
Read more →Sexual services can be a path to sexual health and self-determination for people with disabilities or chronic impairments, but the way there is often marked by stigma, unclear information, and practical hurdles. This article looks at consent, quality, and financing, and at how sexual services can become a lever for participation and well-being.
Read more →During PrEP Awareness Week, Eric the Dragking took the stage at Ba-Cha Solidarity Night to dance HIV stigma away and champion global solidarity for grassroots sex worker groups in Burundi and South Korea. Discover how dragtivism and PrEP Diversity are driving inclusive healthcare.
Read more →Eric the Dragking, the HIV Stigma Fighter, was invited to dance HIV stigma away at Club Church in Amsterdam. Her message: take your HIV medication and thrive.
Read more →AIDS Solidarity Movement – Cyprus spoke at Intercommunal Pride about HIV funding cuts, stigma and why prevention and treatment are human rights.
Read more →or those that don’t know, TGEU stands for Transgender Europe, a trans‑led human rights organisation working across Europe and Central Asia to advance the rights, safety, and wellbeing of trans people.
Read more →Empowering Women Through Peer Education Spearheading women centered HIV prevention at the meeting was the PrEP My V(agina) project.
Read more →People should be able to shape their identity, their love, and their sexuality in freedom and security. Without fear. Without discrimination. Without state repression. State and society must ensure this. Not for oppression. Not for criminalization. Not for exclusion.
Read more →When sex is defined solely by penetration, any inability to perform that specific act feels like a total failure of intimacy. Body and Pleasure
Read more →Age does not grant immunity to viruses or bacteria, but it does change how the body interacts with them. The physiological changes that accompany aging create unique vulnerabilities in the bedroom.
Read more →Fresh from AIDS 2026 in Rio, I stepped onto the Pride Boat, representing EATG aboard the EMA (European Medicines Agency) float. With pride and urgency, I carried my message of HIV prevention and stigma reduction, delivered with the fervour our community deserves.
Read more →Stigma still shapes who tests, who discloses, who gets treated, and for queer people navigating gender nonconformity alongside HIV, it often comes layered. When Eric the Dragking takes the stage, though, it isn't just a performance. It's resistance. Survival. A rewriting of what it means to live with HIV.
Read more →It is a beautiful fiction, but it is a fiction nonetheless. Viruses and bacteria do not recognize vows, they do not read marriage certificates, and they do not respect the boundaries of a shared home.
Read more →Hello lovely people, earlier this week I was in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, at AIDS 2026 for less than a week but honestly it felt much longer. From the pre-conference to my final moments, I showed up as HIV Stigmafighter and Eric the Dragking. Rio embraced both sides of my activism.
Read more →To bridge this critical information gap, a comprehensive digital database has emerged. Accessible via https://www.theshape.net/who-europe-hiv-medication-landscape, the WHO Europe HIV Medication Landscape & Access Map provides an interactive, single-screen overview of medication availability and reimbursement policies across 53 European countries.
Read more →Mandela taught us that dignity is a collective responsibility. Jyoti embodies that responsibility. She advocates for women, for people ageing with HIV, for U equals U, and for inclusion of people with disabilities in the HIV response. Every day she acts as a global embassador for those who feel unseen.
Read more →Navigating sexual health under the heavy shadow of "purity culture" is one of the most agonizing, isolating experiences a human being can endure. It forces an individual into a devastating psychological war, where they must constantly choose between trusting modern medicine or trusting the doctrines they were raised to revere.
Read more →Disabled individuals are frequently forced into one of two false categories: they are either infantilized and presumed to be completely asexual, or they are hyper-sexualized and fetishized. The radical, ordinary truth—that disabled people have vibrant sex lives, complex desires, and the exact same biological vulnerabilities to infectious diseases as anyone else—is systematically erased.
Read more →It is impossible to discuss queer sexual health without acknowledging the deep, lingering scars of the early HIV/AIDS epidemic. For the older generation of the LGBTQ+ community, the hard-fought sexual liberation of the 1970s was violently interrupted by a virus that decimated an entire demographic while global governments and medical institutions largely looked the other way.
Read more →The intersection of substance use and sexuality—often referred to as "chemsex" or "party and play" (PnP)—is a complex reality. It involves the intentional use of substances (such as methamphetamine, GHB/GBL, or mephedrone) immediately before or during sex to facilitate, prolong, or enhance the sexual experience.
Read more →Yet, sex workers navigate a world that violently refuses to grant them this pragmatic view. They are subjected to a suffocating "double stigma"—judged relentlessly for the labor they perform to survive, and immediately blamed if they encounter a biological hazard while performing it.
Read more →This June, I am fortunate to be in South Korea. Two years ago, I connected with local communities here, and returning now feels like being welcomed home. The celebrations are known as the “Seoul Queer Culture Festival”, but the spirit is the same: Pride.
Read more →When a bacterial infection involves the genitals, the throat, or the rectum through sexual contact, biology is suddenly overshadowed by theology, morality, and centuries of ingrained shame. Syphilis, Gonorrhea, and Chlamydia are the "Big Three" of bacterial sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
Read more →To combat this rising tide, the medical community has repurposed an old tool for a new strategy: Doxycycline Post-Exposure Prophylaxis, universally referred to as DoxyPEP. While it is rapidly becoming a focal point for health professionals and advocates, navigating the science, the policy, and the practical application requires a nuanced understanding.
Read more →These are the silent rivers of the viral world: Hepatitis B (HBV) and Hepatitis C (HCV). In conversations about sexual health and intimacy, Hepatitis is frequently overshadowed by HIV or visibly stigmatized conditions like Herpes. Yet, millions of individuals globally navigate the complex intersection of liver health, infectious disease, and romantic connection.
Read more →The human body is not a sterile environment, and expecting it to be one is a recipe for lifelong misery. By stripping away the moral panic and looking at the science, people managing HPV and HSV can reclaim their bodies, recognizing that a common microscopic companion does not diminish their infinite capacity for pleasure, connection, and profound love.
Read more →I founded the Albanian Association of People Living with HIV/AIDS (AUPLHA). The mission was exceptionally clear: to demand access to life-saving medications, to protect the fundamental rights of patients, and to drag the reality of HIV out of the shadows.
Read more →Science has fundamentally transformed HIV from a fatal diagnosis into a manageable chronic condition. A person diagnosed with HIV today, who has access to modern medication, is expected to live a lifespan equal to someone without the virus.
Read more →Society has conditioned people to view this conversation as a confession—a courtroom moment where one person admits to a fundamental "flaw" and silently waits for the other to hand down a verdict. This framework is not only medically inaccurate, but it is also profoundly damaging to the human spirit. Disclosure is not a confession of a crime. It is an act of profound vulnerability, an invitation to trust, and a fundamental step in adult intimacy.
Read more →The mind begins to play a cruel trick. A person might think, “Who could ever love me now?” or “I have to settle for less because I carry this.” This is the mirror effect. The virus does not destroy the capacity for love and pleasure; the internalized shame does.
Read more →Three attacks, one pattern: sexual freedom as a litmus test for democracies Authoritarian and totalitarian systems differ in history, ideology and style. In one respect, however, they bear a striking resemblance: they hate freedom. And they oppose diversity. Where democracies erode and rights are curtailed, this rarely happens by chance or in isolation. The transformation follows a pattern: with […]
Read more →One year of ‘Data over Dogma’ – debates characterised by conviction and openness April 2026. For exactly one year now, Harriet Langanke has been hosting a special series of discussions. At the GSSG – Non-Profit Foundation for Sexuality and Health, she welcomes guests to the monthly “Data Instead of Dogma” debate on Thursdays who deal with the topics of paid sexuality and health. The online format has quickly established itself as a forum for […]
Read more →Static knowledge and dynamic insight – why essentialist thinking hinders scientific progress Science does not thrive on simply describing the world, but on constantly questioning its own descriptions. It is precisely here that a key dividing line lies: between a static and a dynamic understanding of knowledge. A static understanding is evident where […]
Read more →When morality becomes a substitute for religion: Why the debate on sex work so often falls flat Some discussions are exhausting. And then there are those that no longer even want to be discussions. The debate on sex work increasingly falls into the latter category. Anyone who publicly advocates for the rights of sex workers today often encounters a striking pattern: facts are ignored, scientific findings […]
Read more →We all carry dreams and desires, but we also carry the whispers that try to stop us: “No, you can’t”, “you don’t deserve happiness” or “don’t even try.” These voices are not ours. They are fear. And fear grows when we stay silent.
Read more →İnsanlar bana, sadece erkeklere özgü şeyler yaptığım için “deli” olduğumu söylediler. Ama içimden bir ses bana, “Mutlu ol, Eric” dedi.
Read more →People told me I was “crazy”, doing things meant only for boys. But my inner voice told me, “Be happy, Eric”.
Read more →But how can we speak of rights when women are still not treated equally in the HIV response? How can we speak of justice when gender‑based violence continues to silence so many? How can we speak of action when prevention tools for women are still out of reach, even though we make up more than half of all people living with HIV worldwide?
Read more →Weren’t we supposed to end AIDS by 2030? Because right now, it feels like we’re moving backwards. Discrimination is the barrier blocking every step of progress. Without confronting it, the promise to end AIDS by 2030 becomes nothing more than a fantasy dressed up as progress.
Read more →SHAPE makes its public debut on October 17, 2025, during the European AIDS Clinical Society (EACS) Conference in Paris, where it presents its mission and invites new members to join.
Read more →Governments and Their Bodies Open to Partnership Governments across Europe and the EECA region are actively seeking partnerships focused on community engagement. They understand that successful public health strategies require input from local populations. For instance, the EU Health Programme has allocated over €450 million from 2014 to 2020 to support projects that promote cooperation and shared best practices among member states. This commitment fosters an environment where organizations...
Read more →The first step in empowering a community dedicated to sexual health is to create a strong network throughout Europe. This network should consist of individuals, organizations, and advocates who genuinely care about sexual health. For instance, organizations like Sexuality Education Network in the UK and EUSAF in Germany can join forces, sharing their unique insights and approaches. By connecting diverse voices, we build a powerful coalition capable of increasing our collective impact. A...
Read more →The Legacy of the HIV Movement The HIV movement traces its beginnings to the early 1980s when the first AIDS cases emerged. Activists swiftly organized to raise awareness, challenge falsehoods, and advocate for the rights of those living with HIV. This grassroots determination was fueled by urgency and a commitment to community support. Consider this: within a decade of the epidemic's onset, the first antiretroviral therapies became available, transforming HIV from a death sentence into a...
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