Good Vibrations: Bringing Pleasure into Gender Equity

​About the session
Gender equity and sexual wellbeing have been circling each other for decades—rarely fully coming together. This session invites a bold shift: what happens when we intentionally integrate sexual wellbeing and pleasure into gender equity work?

​Hosted by The Pleasure Project, this session introduces Good Vibrations—a new, evidence-based action framework designed to bring sexual wellbeing out of the margins and into the core of gender programming. Grounded in research from Tanzania and Brazil, and shaped by over 20 years of sex-positive work in SRHR, the framework maps seven domains where pleasure and gender equity intersect, from personal agency to enabling environments and rights.

​At its heart, this session challenges a persistent pattern: that much of gender equity programming is built around deficit—risk, vulnerability, and what people lack—while one of the most fundamental aspects of quality of life remains largely absent.

​What to expect
This is not a lecture. It is a playful, participatory experience designed to spark reflection and conversation.

​Participants will engage in a lively session featuring audience interaction, a “compatibility quiz,” and a dose of theatrical energy, all centered around one provocation: what changes in your work when pleasure enters the room?

​The aim is to create a space that is engaging, slightly uncomfortable, and difficult to forget—opening up new ways of thinking about gender equity in practice.

​Who this is for
This session is for investors, policymakers, INGO leaders, and practitioners working on gender equity who are open to challenging assumptions and exploring new approaches.

​What you will get out of it

• ​A new framework for integrating sexual wellbeing into gender equity programming

• ​Fresh perspectives on moving beyond deficit-based approaches

• ​Insight into how pleasure can reshape program design and impact

• ​A thought-provoking experience that challenges how gender work is typically framed

​Hosted by
The Pleasure Project

​​Location & access
Accessibility matters deeply to us, and we do our best to choose spaces that reflect that. That said, some of our Oxford venues are in historic buildings without lifts. This room is unfortunately not accessible for wheelchair users, those with mobility challenges, or anyone needing step-free access.