Published February, 2009
Comprehensive, LGBTQ-Inclusive Sexual Health Care for Youth in State Custody as a Human Right: The Teen SENSE Initiative, The Center for HIV Law and Policy (2008)
Presented at the 2008 international "Sex, Rights, and the Law in a World with AIDS" conference in Cuernavaca, Mexico, this paper analyzes the goals, obstacles, strategies, and lessons learned from the first years of the Teen SENSE initiative. Teen SENSE provides a new strategy for addressing sexual health care for youth at high risk of STIs and HIV by acknowledging that sexual health care requires appropriate medical services in conjunction with counseling, education, and a safe, inclusive environment for youth of all sexual orientations and gender identities. The paper discusses Teen SENSE's creation of a legal rights "road map" for the right of youth in state custody to comprehensive sexual health care as well as the creation of model standards that reflect the best practices to ensure that state custody facilities respect, protect, and fulfill these rights. It also discusses Teen SENSE's strategy of implementing change through local leadership, with CHLP adopting a principle of "leading from behind."
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