The Inclusive Sex Ed Discussion event was held in the Community Commons throughout the weekend of May 5. Scholars from the Colorado Women’s College showcased their year-long project and created a safe space to talk about sex education. 

The workshop included talks about healthy relationships while participants created collages. Lead coordinators of the event were sophomores from the CWC: Ivon Hernandez, Cynthia DeLuna, Kiersten Philavanh, Maddi Montoya and Isabela Padilha Vilela. 

The workshop began with a quick presentation about the event and the importance of providing a safe space to talk about sex education and healthy relationships. The discussion included four central topics that ranged from boundaries and relationships, signs of abuse and sexual freedom and empowerment, to the hypersexualization of female-identifying individuals. 

Provided with different arts and craft materials such as colorful paper, magazines and scissors, the collaging acted as a therapeutic method to ease the uncomfortableness that can come from topics such as sex education. The coordinators of the event emphasized “letting the collage find you” and emerging into an educational conversation. They urged attendees not to overthink but rather create a collage however they want to. 

While collaging, attendees indulge in meaningful casual conversations about their experiences with sex education. Various attendees emphasized the lack of sex education from their primary and secondary educational experiences. Others bonded from the struggles of attending strict private institutions. Many emphasized that they loved being a part of the workshop and having a welcoming environment to be able to talk about topics that have become taboo. 

“Through this workshop, we are able to feel empowered while discussing topics such as sex ed,” Hernandez said. The workshop was able to do just that through an artistic lens. 

For future events follow the CWC on Instagram.