Helsinki’s Municipal Election Panel Candidates Share Common Ground in Sexual Politics
Sexpo and Hivpoint organized a municipal election panel on March 3rd, titled “What is a Sex-Positive City?” Candidates from seven political parties were present.
As sex-positivity is by no means an unambiguous concept, we first asked the candidates to share their thoughts on it, particularly in the context of a city. The responses highlighted ideas of self-love, personal boundaries, safety, consent, and respect for others.
We had planned the panel questions for the candidates around three themes.
The first theme was sexual education in schools and youth work. We started with a slightly provocative question: Should the diverse values of families be considered more explicitly in sexual education? The candidates hoped for education based on researched information, and called for trained sexual educators in schools. High-quality sexual education was seen as a child’s right.
However, the content of education and who is responsible for it sparked lively discussion; topics included what kind of material is age-appropriate and how the diversity of gender should be addressed.
The next theme was sexual and reproductive health services, considering the needs of all age groups. For example, in Vantaa, services are organized differently, making them practically easier to access. The candidates discussed what services are accessible for citizens – whether they should be centralized or spread out.
There was also discussion on how sexuality and diversity are considered in all healthcare. Candidates suggested that sexology expertise should be included in professional studies. As sexuality is part of humanity, all professionals should take care of their own competence and ability to discuss the topic. Here, NGO’s can have a valuable role in providing expertise.
As the last topic we asked the candidates about the role and opportunities of NGO’s, as the cuts in STEA grants will affect the operations of organizations in the coming years. At the same time, many socially important goals and functions in Finland are especially on the shoulders of social and health sector organizations. Helsinki has, for its part, somewhat compensated for the cuts.
The candidates hoped that the operations of social and health sector organizations, in particular, would be secured in the long term, but also called for the organizations’ own responsibility and innovation.
At the end, the discussion also touched on the turbulent global situation surrounding Helsinki. The candidates considered both functional social policy and civil society as part of the contingency work that is now being done in European countries in various ways.
Finally, we presented the candidates with statements, on which they could vote on their own stance. They were surprisingly unanimous.
- Helsinki should have space for queer bars and sex clubs.
- Open talk about sexuality and sex spoils children and young people.
- The sexuality of the elderly is currently sufficiently considered in services.
- It is easy to find discussion support in Helsinki if something related to sex or sexuality is bothering you.
- Sex-positive discussion is needed more than ever before.
The event lasted an hour and a half, but much remained to be discussed. From the perspective of sex-positive sexual politics, the municipal and regional levels are crucial for everyday life, and it was great to see that sex-positive thinking exists in various forms in so many parties.
Panelists included:
- Iris Flinkkilä (Green Party)
- Petra Malin (Left Alliance)
- Janna Rantanen (Finns Party)
- Sini Korpinen (National Coalition Party)
- Ted Urho (Swedish People’s Party)
- Sara Salonen (Social Democratic Party)
- Jenna Wahlstén (Centre Party)