ABSTRACT
Sexual health is a socially constructed phenomenon influenced by social norms, culture and personal experience. It is a complex and multidimensional construct. HIV & AIDS in its present manifestation centres on the identification of threats to public health, identification of risk and protective factors and the development, implementation and evaluation of interventions to promote public well-being. The social construction of sexual health pervades the academic arena as well as the popular media. In the past, research has focused on sexual health in terms of sexuality as family control, sterilisation and awareness about reproductive health, but all carry a socially constructed negative connotation. The World Health Organization came up with the first internationally accepted definition of sexual health and published it in 1975. It was an outcome of a 1974 international technical consultation meeting held in Geneva.
