Is Sex Education Enough to Change Sexual Scripts, Promote Agency and Sexual Satisfaction? A Comparative Study Between Brazilian and Portuguese Women

Abstract

Traditional sexual scripts (TSS) are associated with gender inequality for exposing women to vulnerabilities. Higher adherence to TSS has also been associated with deficits in sexual agency, contributing for decrease women’s sexual health and problems with sexual satisfaction. The sexual agency is achieved through sex education, and comparing Portugal and Brazil that treat this issue in different ways may contribute to understand the role of sex education policies. This study verified and compared the association between TSSs, sexual agency and sexual satisfaction in Portuguese and Brazilian women and analyzed the predictive power of the variables on female sexual satisfaction. A cross-sectional online survey with 322 women university students, 161 Brazilian and 161 Portuguese, aged between 18 and 29, was made using measures to verify sexual scripts, sexual agency and sexual satisfaction, and data were analyzed using statistical analyses. Results indicate a significant moderate positive association between sexual satisfaction and initiation, and communion in both groups. Initiation, refusal, communion, instrumentality, and permissiveness were predictors of sexual satisfaction in Portuguese, and initiation, communion were predictors of sexual satisfaction in the Brazilian group. Despite higher rates of sex education and practices to prevent STIs and early pregnancy in the Portuguese group, there was no significant difference in adherence to sexual scripts in the groups. Compulsory sex education in Portugal contributes to increasing sexual agency in sexual practices, but programs focused on STI prevention and early pregnancy are not enough to change TSS, promote an integral agency, and sexual satisfaction.