So, what exactly is Peer Education?
We like to think of peer education as a process where people of the same social groups – be that age, sexual orientation, culture or interests – share information to educate, inform and empower each other’s choices.
Peer education has been shown as a super effective way of sharing information on topics like sexual health because young people generally seem to feel more comfortable discussing ‘taboo’ subjects with people they see as being ‘on their level’.
But you needn’t take our word for it.
UNESCO – the leaders in best-practice sexuality education – defines Peer Education in the following way:
A ‘peer’ is one that is of equal standing with another; one belonging to the same societal group especially based on age, grade, or status. The term ‘peer education’ would indicate a process whereby those of the same societal group or social standing are educating each other
Advocates For Youth explain how peer education can have a positive influence on young people:
Peer education draws on the credibility that young people have with their peers, leverages the power of role modelling, and provides flexibility in meeting the diverse needs of today’s youth. Peer education can support young people in developing positive group norms and in making healthy decisions about sex.
And Y-Peer, the ground breaking international Youth Peer Education Network, does a great job of explaining why peer education on sexual health is so valuable for young people:
Peers are traditional providers of information to their peers. Young people tend to talk with their peers about most subjects, including sensitive issues such as reproductive health and HIV/AIDS… Peer education makes use of peer influence in a positive way.
More than just helping educate others, Y-Peer explains that peer education is beneficial for the educators, too:
Peer education programmes can provide strong benefits to peer educators themselves. Peer education programmes allow for direct participation of young people in programmes designed to affect them, thereby promoting positive life skills such as leadership and communication and creating opportunities for mentoring and future job contacts.
How Peer Education for HIV and Sexual Health fits into the Global Guidelines for best practice as defined by UNESCO
First things first: what does the term ‘best practice’ really mean?
To put it simply, ‘best practice’ offers advice on the best way to approach something. While there are no guarantees in life, ‘best practice’ helps to guide us by gathering all the knowledge we have about what works and doesn’t work in certain contexts/situations. Through a continual process of learning, feedback, reflection and analysis, ‘best practice’ helps determine what works, how it works, and why it works.
Referring to ‘best practice’ can be really helpful when facing complex situations, because it helps you understand how to apply your own knowledge and offers tools and procedures to assist you [i].
Best practice for youth HIV sexual health education:
In 2008 and 2009, UNESCO conducted a review to assess how effectively studies that involved Peer Education had impacted young people’s behaviours towards sexual health related risks such as exposure to HIV and other STIs
Of the 63 studies they looked at, forty percent reported increased condom use and forty percent reported increased use of contraception. Across all forms of contraception, the programs noted a fifty-three percent decrease in sexual risk taking.
At the end of the review, UNESCO concluded that over half the programs they had assessed had effectively increased sexual health knowledge and decreased risk-taking behaviours.
We’d say that’s a pretty great result! And UNESCO agree, which is why they have specifically included Peer Education for HIV and Sexual Health into their Global Guidelines for best practice [ii].
Why Do It? Because it can be fun!
While the sexual health of young people is a serious topic, peer education can also be a pretty fun thing to do!
As an educator, you get to attend events, talk to other young people, give out free stuff… and you can even take some of that free stuff for yourself!
You’ll also find it seriously rewarding. When a young person decides to talk to you about something they might find embarrassing otherwise, you soon realise the value of being seen as a peer. You will be able to offer advice and information, direct people to a clinics or doctors, or even provide them with barrier methods.
Educators are armed with all the knowledge and materials to help them be able to offer relevant, honest and valuable advice to those who are often too scared to ask.
So, what types of questions can you expect to be asked as a peer educator?
To be honest, it could be almost anything. You could come across someone who wants to know who they can talk to about their feelings of depression. As an educator, you’ll be able to point them in the right direction. You might talk to someone who is worried that they’re in an unhealthy relationship, and you’ll be able to show them how to find the right service to help them out. You might even find yourself talking with someone who is too scared to search the web for sexual health information; you’ll be able to point them to websites with accurate, youth-friendly information.
Peer education is about all this, and so much more.
We love learning about the different ways that Peer Education has been successfully used to educate and empower young people about matters of sexual health. Check out these case studies:
Ellenbrook Girls Group
Organised by the Western Australian City of Swan’s Youth Services team, in Perth, the Ellenbrook Girls Group brought together a group of girls, aged 13-16, in a shared safe space, where anything to do with sexual health and healthy relationships could be discussed. Other aims for the group where to increase self-esteem and develop protective behaviours, like how to prevent STI or BBV transmission.
The group consisted of 4-6 girls, who would gather after school for an hour and a half.
The outcomes of the group included an increase in their knowledge of various sexual health topics, increased self-confidence and the creation of a genuine safe space for the young women. Through the youth centre, the girl’s also had access to free condoms.[iii]
YUTHE Program
Youth United Through Health Education (YUTHE) is a community-level peer outreach program, which aims to increase awareness and improve screening of sexually transmitted infections. The program focuses on African-American adolescents living in urban areas.
Sexually experienced young people aged 12-22 years would meet with peers during a 15-minute ‘catch-up’. Those involved would fill out a risk assessment form and were given condoms and STI/Blood Borne Viruses prevention materials.
Although no increase was seen in screenings among the intervention group, those who were involved in the program were more likely to know that sexually transmitted diseases could present no noticeable symptoms. They were also more likely to be aware of urine-based sexually transmitted screening tests, and more likely to see themselves as being at-risk of sexually transmitted infection (iv).
Additionally, participants who were exposed to the YUTHE program once or more were more likely to have been tested for sexually transmitted infections in the previous six months.
Another program involved educating children of migrant workers in China. It was found that the children of migrant workers had lower levels of HIV knowledge and general HIV/AIDS education.
A program was developed with first and second year medical students from a local university, with the assignment being to teach and educate selected students in a peer-group fashion. It was found after the assessments had been completed that 39 percent of students had an improvement in their knowledge of HIV/AIDS.[iv]
[ii] UNESCO, 2009, International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education, Vol 1
[iii] Youth Affairs Council of Western Australia, 2011, The Youth Educating Peers Project Final Report, pp 40-42
[v] Li, S, Huang, et al, G 2010, ‘Evaluation of a school-based HIV/AIDS peer-led prevention programme: the first intervention trial for children of migrant workers in China’, International Journal Of STD & AIDS, 21, 2, pp. 82-86.
Title | Where | Description | Category | Format | Rated | |
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Sex Uncovered | YEAH | Sex Uncovered is an activity designed to prompt conversations around sexual health and healthy sexuality. It's a great icebreaker for talking about potentially tricky topics, and have been designed to provoke stimulating discussions full of 'teachable moments.' In order to buy these cards, you can refer to our web store at http://red-aware.myshopify.com/products/sex-uncovered-cards! |
Safe Sex, Sexual Identity and Gender |
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STI Matching Card Game Activity Outline | YEAH | This (session) plan is for Agents of YEAH conducting the STI (Sexually Transmitted Infections) Matching Card game. This resource was created and produced by YEAH. These resources are available to all Agents upon request. Please contact agentsofyeah@yeah.org.au if you require new copies of this resource. Teachers and other external agencies and organisations are able to order this and other resources from the YEAH website: http://red-aware.myshopify.com/collections/all We also have the resource uploaded as another tool that can be accessed from the Peer Education Hub: |
STI |
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Sex Uncovered Activity Cards | YEAH | The activity instructions for this activity are available here: https://www.yeah.org.au/tools/workshop/sex-uncovered/ They are also available for sale in our shop in print: http://red-aware.myshopify.com/products/sex-uncovered-cards |
Safe Sex |
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Consent Traffic Light | YEAH | The objective of this activity is to look at consent where it is clearly acknowledged verbally and non-verbally, where it needs to be reassured and where it is clearly not given. At the end of the activity, there should be a clear “yes means yes” and everything else is no. | Consent and Negotiation |
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Byron Youth Theatre Production: PASH | Byron Youth Theatre | 30 minute performance and accompanying 20 minute workshop created by Byron Youth Theatre Company originally for the inaugural PASH ( Positive Adolescent Sexual Health) North Coast Conference. The performance explores issues of first experiences, love and intimacy, S.T.I's, transgender and sex and law. It will be presented this year on June 3rd & 4th at the second PASH conference in Byron Bay. It can be delivered to schools. Director: Lisa Apostolides |
Sexual Identity and Gender | Video | ||
Barrier Method Choices | Fenway Health | Infographic on Barrier Methods! | HIV, Safe Sex, STI | |||
Gender Is Not Uniform 2 (Poster) | Minus 18 | A useful poster from our friends at Minus 18 | LGTBQ, Teachers, Training, Workshop | |||
Homophobia & Transphobia Discrimination Free Zone (Poster) | Minus 18 | A useful poster from our friends at Minus 18 | LGTBQ, Sexual Identity and Gender | |||
Consent poster | Center for Sexual Pleasure and Health | Poster outlining some rules of consent | Consent and Negotiation | Link | ||
Full Blown | The Stigma Project | A useful infograph from The Stigma Project. | HIV | Link | ||
Gender Is Not Uniform 3 (Poster) | Minus 18 | A useful poster from our friends at Minus 18 | LGTBQ | |||
Healthy Relationships Indicators | YEAH | This activity helps people indicate the characteristics of a healthy relationship vs an unhealthy relationship. The activity comes with a Venn Diagram because some of the indicators may be considered a "grey area" or up for debate. This activity is meant to enhance discussion about signs of unhealthy and healthy relationships. |
Other |
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The 5-step Condom Demo | Youth Empowerment Against HIV/AIDS | Condom demonstration video | Safe Sex | Video | ||
STI Matching Card Game | YEAH | The STI Matching Card Game Activity Instructions are available here: https://www.yeah.org.au/tools/workshop/sti-matching-card-game/ The card game can also be bought at our store here: http://red-aware.myshopify.com/products/sti-matching-game |
Safe Sex |
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Dear Year 7 Self | Minus 18 | A resource sharing the stories of straight Australians and their experiences of homophobia and transphobia in both online and offline worlds from our friends at Minus 18. | LGTBQ | Video | ||
YEAH’s Sexual Health Knowledge Quiz | YEAH | Test your sexual health knowledge! | Safe Sex | Image |
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Infograph on Risk Meter for different Sex Acts | Youth Educating Peers | Risk Meter for different Sex Acts | Safe Sex, STI | Image | ||
Porn World: What young people perceive as expectations for sex | YEAH | This activity is derived from Sexuality Education Matters by Deakin University. It outlines sexual expectations that porn may contribute to the minds of young people. The cards are meant to be discussion points and the activity may not be as dichotomous as it seems. | Other |
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Title | Where | Description | Category | Format | Rated | |
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HIV 101 | HIV 101 | Engaging, animated visuals tell the story of how HIV works. The video can be used to help explain what the virus does to CD4 cells, how it multiplies, and why HIV treatment is important. *Also includes a downloadable discussion guide |
HIV | Video | ||
World AIDS Day Activity Sheet | YEAH | This World AIDS Day activity sheet is a simple classroom activity designed to prompt interesting discussion about HIV and AIDS. The activity sheet has been designed to accompany the World AIDS Day video and Fact Sheet, and can be completed both individually or in a group setting. | HIV |
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World AIDS Day Fact Sheet | YEAH | This YEAH produced World AIDS Day Fact Sheet is a great way to introduce students to the concept of World AIDS Day, and provides great information about HIV and AIDS both in Australia and around the world. | HIV |
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Be the Hero: Teacher’s Kit for Young Men to help prevent violence against women | VicHealth | This toolkit created by VicHealth addresses the notions of gender and sexuality and teaches young men in a school setting on how they can help prevent violence against women. | Other | |||
Masturbation Myth Busting | YEAH | There are many myths about masturbating! Bust those myths in your classroom with this presentation! | Other | Link |
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Pleasure Points | YEAH | Pleasure Points is a simple classroom activity designed to start a conversation about sexual pleasure. Participants choose the male or female (or a gender neutral) anatomy and identify all the different erogenous zones on the body they can think of. Participants will notice that there are pleasure points all around the body, not just in the genital area, and they are not always linked to reproductive functions. It's also good to note that many of the identified pleasure points are shared among men and women. |
Consent and Negotiation, Sexual Identity and Gender, Teachers |
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Gender Box Activity | YEAH | This activity explores the societal built and fostered expectations for males and females. It explores the qualities and emotions that people employ and demonstrates the lack of dichotomy in the idea of masculinity and femininity. | Other | Document |
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Healthy Relationships Indicators | YEAH | This activity helps people indicate the characteristics of a healthy relationship vs an unhealthy relationship. The activity comes with a Venn Diagram because some of the indicators may be considered a "grey area" or up for debate. This activity is meant to enhance discussion about signs of unhealthy and healthy relationships. |
Other |
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Porn World: What young people perceive as expectations for sex | YEAH | This activity is derived from Sexuality Education Matters by Deakin University. It outlines sexual expectations that porn may contribute to the minds of young people. The cards are meant to be discussion points and the activity may not be as dichotomous as it seems. | Other |
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Barrier Method Choices | Fenway Health | Infographic on Barrier Methods! | HIV, Safe Sex, STI | |||
Workshop Planning Templates | Youth Empowerment Against HIV/AIDS | Workshop Planning Template | Other | Document |
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Consent poster | Center for Sexual Pleasure and Health | Poster outlining some rules of consent | Consent and Negotiation | Link | ||
Rapid Assessment Tool for Sexual and Reproductive Health and HIV Linkages | IPPF, UNFPA, WHO, UNAIDS, GNP+, ICW and Young Positives. | The evaluation tool highlights the various issues like policies, systems and services to enhance assessment of HIV and Sexual and Reproductive Health to enable identification of gaps and ultimately enable development of country specific action plans. | HIV | |||
Talking About HIV campaign | Queensland Positive People | This series of short films are a starting point for conversation by providing tools – to PLHIV or anyone affected by HIV – to initiate conversation about HIV with family and friends. Listen to the diverse stories that address the lived experience of people living with, and affected by, HIV. | HIV | Video | ||
Floria’s Sexual Health Education Community Outreach Tool Kit | USF Healthy School Project | This education tool describes how information, ideas and strategies could be passed on to the community members t enable them with reducing teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and improve the health and academic success of the students. | STI | |||
STI/HIV/HEP C Podcasts & Vodcasts | The Alfred - Education Resource Center | The Alfred - Education Resource Centre has produced some very informative podcasts and vodcasts focusing on STI's, HIV and Hepatitis C. | HIV, STI | Link | ||
Glove Love | Unknown | A step by step method on how to turn a glove into an all round dental dam! | Safe Sex | |||
Clitoris vs G-Spot: Learn about the female anatomy | Louise Bouchier | Louise Bouchier from D-Vice regularly teaches workshops on a myriad of sexual health topics and these are some of her important notes on female orgasms! | Other | |||
Get yourself tested | STFU, Conservatives | Reasons for people not getting tested that aren't true! | STI | Image | ||
Byron Youth Theatre Production: PASH | Byron Youth Theatre | 30 minute performance and accompanying 20 minute workshop created by Byron Youth Theatre Company originally for the inaugural PASH ( Positive Adolescent Sexual Health) North Coast Conference. The performance explores issues of first experiences, love and intimacy, S.T.I's, transgender and sex and law. It will be presented this year on June 3rd & 4th at the second PASH conference in Byron Bay. It can be delivered to schools. Director: Lisa Apostolides |
Sexual Identity and Gender | Video | ||
Sex Jeopardy | Kaushi Kogar | This is a fun, interactive game called "sex jeopardy" asking different and difficult questions about different aspects of sexual health including STIs, consent and healthy relationships! | Safe Sex, STI | Document |
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Sexting | www.cybersmart.gov.au | Information on support services and sexting! | Technology | |||
Consent Traffic Light | YEAH | The objective of this activity is to look at consent where it is clearly acknowledged verbally and non-verbally, where it needs to be reassured and where it is clearly not given. At the end of the activity, there should be a clear “yes means yes” and everything else is no. | Consent and Negotiation |
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Infograph on Risk Meter for different Sex Acts | Youth Educating Peers | Risk Meter for different Sex Acts | Safe Sex, STI | Image | ||
Talking About HIV campaign | Queensland Positive People | This series of short films are a starting point for conversation by providing tools – to PLHIV or anyone affected by HIV – to initiate conversation about HIV with family and friends. Listen to the diverse stories that address the lived experience of people living with, and affected by, HIV. | HIV | Link | ||
Stuck in the 80s | Queensland Positive People | This film challenges myths and misconceptions associated with HIV. | HIV | Link | ||
YEAH’s Sexual Health Knowledge Quiz | YEAH | Test your sexual health knowledge! | Safe Sex | Image |
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Sex Uncovered Activity Cards | YEAH | The activity instructions for this activity are available here: https://www.yeah.org.au/tools/workshop/sex-uncovered/ They are also available for sale in our shop in print: http://red-aware.myshopify.com/products/sex-uncovered-cards |
Safe Sex |
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STI Matching Card Game | YEAH | The STI Matching Card Game Activity Instructions are available here: https://www.yeah.org.au/tools/workshop/sti-matching-card-game/ The card game can also be bought at our store here: http://red-aware.myshopify.com/products/sti-matching-game |
Safe Sex |
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STI Matching Card Game Activity Outline | YEAH | This (session) plan is for Agents of YEAH conducting the STI (Sexually Transmitted Infections) Matching Card game. This resource was created and produced by YEAH. These resources are available to all Agents upon request. Please contact agentsofyeah@yeah.org.au if you require new copies of this resource. Teachers and other external agencies and organisations are able to order this and other resources from the YEAH website: http://red-aware.myshopify.com/collections/all We also have the resource uploaded as another tool that can be accessed from the Peer Education Hub: |
STI |
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Sex Uncovered | YEAH | Sex Uncovered is an activity designed to prompt conversations around sexual health and healthy sexuality. It's a great icebreaker for talking about potentially tricky topics, and have been designed to provoke stimulating discussions full of 'teachable moments.' In order to buy these cards, you can refer to our web store at http://red-aware.myshopify.com/products/sex-uncovered-cards! |
Safe Sex, Sexual Identity and Gender |
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Consent Poster (Center for Sexual Pleasure & Health!) | Center for Sexual Pleasure and Health | Great infographic poster, navigating through the different elements of consent, including practical ways to communicate consent and non-consent. | Consent and Negotiation | Link | ||
Dear Year 7 Self | Minus 18 | A resource sharing the stories of straight Australians and their experiences of homophobia and transphobia in both online and offline worlds from our friends at Minus 18. | LGTBQ | Video | ||
Gender Is Not Uniform 3 (Poster) | Minus 18 | A useful poster from our friends at Minus 18 | LGTBQ | |||
Gender Is Not Uniform 2 (Poster) | Minus 18 | A useful poster from our friends at Minus 18 | LGTBQ, Teachers, Training, Workshop | |||
Gender is not uniform 1 (Poster) | Minus 18 | A useful poster from our friends at Minus 18 | LGTBQ | |||
Homophobia & Transphobia Discrimination Free Zone (Poster) | Minus 18 | A useful poster from our friends at Minus 18 | LGTBQ, Sexual Identity and Gender | |||
Full Blown | The Stigma Project | A useful infograph from The Stigma Project. | HIV | Link | ||
Keep Calm and Talk About HIV | The Stigma Project | A cheat sheet on common language mistakes regarding HIV from the Stigma Project's campaign: HIV Talk | HIV | Link | ||
I Am HIV Neutral | The Stigma Project | A useful infograph from the Stigma Project | HIV | Link | ||
Cheat Sheet #2: HIV Disclosure Etiquette | The Stigma Project | A useful infograph from The Stigma Project. | HIV | Image | ||
Cheat Sheet #1: HIV vs. AIDS (The Stigma Project) | The Stigma Project | A useful infograph from The Stigma Project. | Training, Workshop | Image | ||
UN AIDS Terminology Guidelines (2011) | Terminology Guidelines, October 2011, UNAIDS | A useful guideline to UNAIDS' preferred terminology. English version. | Training, Workshop | |||
Health and Physical Education: An introduction for parents and community | Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) | A video made by ACARA for parents and community introducing the Health and Physical Education curriculum of the new Australian Curriculum. | Sexual Identity and Gender, Teachers | Video | ||
Volume 2: Topics and Learning Objectives (International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education, UNESCO) | Section on HIV and AIDS, Division for the Coordination of UN Priorities in Education, Education Sector, UNESCO. | International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education. An evidence-informed approach for schools, teachers and health educators. | Sexual Identity and Gender | |||
Volume 1: The Rationale for Sexuality Education (International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education, UNESCO) | Section on HIV and AIDS, Division for the Coordination of UN Priorities in Education, Education Sector, UNESCO. | Volume 1 of UNESCO's International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education. An evidence-informed approach for schools teachers and health educators. | Sexual Identity and Gender | |||
Learning the Language of HIV | Life Planning Education: A Youth Development Program | This resource introduces the language of the HIV/AIDS epidemic | Safe Sex | Link | ||
The 5-step Condom Demo | Youth Empowerment Against HIV/AIDS | Condom demonstration video | Safe Sex | Video | ||
Training of Trainers Manual | Youth Peer Education Network | Best-practice HIV and Sexual health peer education training of trainers manual | Training |