2026 Conference Theme and Subthemes

Sexual Health in the Age of Digital Information: Navigating Truth, Technology, and Trust

The Digital Divide and Building Bridges: Navigating Truth, Technology, and Trust

This theme looks at how people across generations, abilities, cultures, genders, and sexualities navigate a diverse landscape of sexual health education; from in-person supports like clinics, workshops, and brochures to digital platforms such as websites, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. This theme examines how differing levels of digital literacy, trust, and community belonging shape where people seek knowledge, what information they encounter, and how accessible or affirming those pathways are.

Navigating Ethics and Erotics in Sex Tech

This theme explores how emerging technologies, from AI companions and sex tech to digital intimacy platforms, are reshaping erotic expression, desire, and consent. This theme asks how digital tools mediate pleasure, data sovereignty, new ethics, and the possibilities that arise at the intersection of technology and the erotic.

Justice and Care: How Communities Navigate Accountability in Digital and In-person Spaces

This theme focuses on how individuals and communities work to create accountable spaces for sexual health education and connection across both digital spaces (social media, messaging apps, online groups) and in-person settings (clinics, workshops, classrooms, community gatherings). This theme addresses gender-based violence alongside other harms such as racism, homophobia/transphobia, harassment, radicalization, surveillance, stigma, and misinformation, and highlights strategies for accountability, care, and justice that support safety and trust in all the places where people seek sexual health information.

Clinical Care and Sexual Health: Technology, Treatment, and the Stories Shaping Practice

This theme examines how sexual and reproductive health practice is evolving in an era defined by rapid scientific development and highly networked public discourse. Topics include innovations in contraception, hormone therapy, puberty blockers, vaccines, pelvic health, and sexually transmitted infections, with attention to how digital environments shape and distort patient knowledge, confidence, and decision-making. As technology influences both treatment options and the public narratives surrounding them, presenters will explore how clinicians can recognize misleading or inaccurate information, support patients in distinguishing credible sources, and navigate contested evidence. The goal is to equip clinicians and researchers with strategies to advance inclusive, evidence-guided practice within a complex and rapidly changing clinical landscapes.