Zoe Duby: The semantics of sex and sexuality in Africa

HUMA Doctoral Seminar Series

Speaker: Dr Zoe Duby (South African Medical Research Council, South Africa)

In this seminar, I want us to reflect on the semantics and language we employ in the fields of health research and practice and how this impacts on our conceptions and experiences of sex, gender, identity and behaviour. I specifically want us to explore the implicit and explicit assumptions in the language and terminology we use and how these are operationalised in research and practice, with a specific focus on the context of sexual and reproductive health research in Africa. 

We will look at the ways in which the ambiguity and lack of precision of sex-related definitions and terms affect the accuracy of data in research and clinical practice, as well as individuals’ sexual decision making and risk behaviour. We will also look at the implicit inclusivity and exclusivity of language and categorisation. The assumptions we make, without being aware of doing so, serve to perpetuate the systematic exclusion of marginalised individuals. 

These issues will be framed within the context of HIV research and programming, but their relevance extends beyond this domain, making us think about how we use language and terminology in our research, health practice and beyond. What I hope to do through this discussion is bring to light is the necessity of being mindful of our language and the power it has to include or exclude, to empower or marginalise, and importantly to enable or inhibit people to/from making informed decisions about how to have sex safely. 

About the speaker: Dr Zoe Duby is a socio-behavioural public health researcher and qualitative social scientist with a background in social and medical anthropology. Zoe is currently based in Cape Town, South Africa, but has lived in various countries across sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia. With more than fifteen years of experience in the field of sexual and reproductive health, gender and sexuality diversity and health rights, she has worked extensively on various topics related to sexual and reproductive health, HIV prevention, and LGBTIQ+ and key populations in the sub-Saharan African region. Zoe’s passions include promoting health equity, challenging assumptions and discriminatory norms, and breaking the silence on problematic taboos.