In Guyanese society, sex remains a taboo subject, especially in the Bushingué, Saramaca or Amerindian cultures where parents speak little or nothing about it. Even in Kourou, this city of crossbreeding and encounters.

And yet the national statistics of one French person in ten who has been a victim of rape or attempted rape are shattering in light of their daily reality.

All the young women in the funnel theater reintegration program know someone who has been sexually assaulted or harassed. Moreover, in Guyana, 24% of the women declared their first sexual intercourse as not “really wanted” and 6% as “forced”, terms based on a concept of consent. In metropolitan France, these rates are 17% and 2% respectively.*

This is why a meeting on the theme of “sexuality and consent” was proposed by Josy Cajuste, a young 22-year-old facilitator, and the Ader association, which works in middle schools, high schools and associations to inform young people about sexual and reproductive health, prevent risks and remove certain prejudices.

Indeed, 27% of French people still think that a girl dressed in a mini-skirt or wearing a cleavage provokes men. And six out of ten believe that men find it harder to control their impulses than women.

Why such acts?

Is it a question of education, of respect?

Is consent a matter of sex?

Is it easier to say no when you are a man or a woman?

These are sensitive questions that young people ask themselves and yet we don’t talk about them, or so little. Sometimes between boys, or between girls but rarely together.

For the first time with Josy Cajuste they talked about it for three hours without judgment, sincerely. She proposed role plays inspired by the techniques of forum theater so that they could express themselves spontaneously on the subject. Thanks to this game, they became aware of the importance of imposing their consent calmly. This might not have been the case in reality.

Josy herself was a victim of violence and had to learn how to say no. Her emotion was visible and it disconcerted them a little, but they understood that beyond their discomfort, it was important to discuss it all together, to listen to each other even if sometimes opinions were different, and to overcome prejudices.

• Opinion on gender-based violence and sexual and reproductive rights in the CNCDH’s overseas territories

Credit: Jalen de Triolet