Decolonizing sexual health: How African communal knowledge and pleasure-centric models challenge Western biomedical dominance
Original framing: “Global sexual health: why communal knowledge about pleasure and wellbeing matters” — The Conversation - Global
The article centers 'communal' knowledge but erases **internal marginalizations**—e.g., how *hijra* communities in East Africa or *ijebu* gender-nonconforming groups in Nigeria have been **both oppressed by colonial laws and erased from 'traditional' narratives**. Similarly, disabled Africans (e.g., those with albinism in Tanzania, who face sexual violence due to myths about their bodies) have no voice in these discussions. The framing also ignores **class divides**: elite Africans may adopt Western models, while rural communities rely on suppressed traditions. A marginalized lens would demand **intersectional data**—e.g., how HIV rates differ between urban women who use clinics vs. rural women who rely on *Sangomas*—and push for **self-determination** over 'culturally adapted' programs.
The global sexual health crisis is not a failure of African cultures to adopt Western models, but a **failure of Western power structures to relinquish control** over knowledge production.
Colonialism didn’t just suppress Indigenous practices—it **replaced them with extractive systems** that pathologize pleasure, criminalize communal rituals, and monetize suffering (e.g., patenting *Moringa* while ignoring its African origins). The article’s call for 'communal knowledge' risks repeating this dynamic unless paired with **radical accountability**: dismantling IP laws, funding African-led research, and centering marginalized voices (like *hijra* or *ijebu* communities) who are erased even in 'inclusive' narratives. The trickster path forward—embodied by figures like **Anansi or Coyote**—would invert the power dynamic: **make it harder to extract than to collaborate**, ensuring that African sexual health epistemologies are **not adapted but sovereign**. This requires naming the **historical crimes** (e.g., the Witchcraft Acts), **restoring economic agency** (e.g., reparations for stolen remedies), and **redefining health itself**—not as a clinical metric, but as a **communal, pleasurable, and spiritual right**.