February 10 to 16 is SexPlus Week, which was formerly known as Sexual Health Awareness Week. It’s an event led by Action Canada aiming to create a future where sexual health is part of every conversation about health. Where asking questions about sexual health isn’t taboo. And where misinformation is challenged, stigma is confronted, and barriers are dismantled.
This year, the theme of SexPlus Week is sexual health + artificial intelligence. To get away from misinformation with AI, the Manitoba Harm Reduction Network in Selkirk held an in person event, Sexy Bingo.
“We wanted to really focus on having a fun spot together and meet in person. I don’t know if you want to call that anti-AI, but it’s kind of like the converse of AI, getting people together in person to discuss sexuality and sexual health,” said Tristan Dreilich, Network Coordinator – Selkirk for the Manitoba Harm Reduction Network.
He explained that they chose to play bingo because everywhere he’s gone, bingo has always been a hit.
“It’s a fun way to engage with the topics. Some (were for example) the way we talk about sex in society, and the way it’s been talked about historically, people can have different feelings or can be uncomfortable with discussing it openly. And so, hopefully, the bingo method is a little bit more of an approachable way and fun way to discuss the topic and maybe learn a new thing or two,” said Dreilich.
They covered a wide breadth of information with the goal of talking about it in a way that makes it easy to understand and takes away some of the intimidation of talking about sex.
He wanted to emphasize that the MHRN isn’t just about talking about safety information. There is safety information, but they also want to emphasize the fun side of the discussion, so it was a positive event.
The event itself was hosted at Roxi’s Uptown Café on Feb. 10 and was a first for the MHRN because they hosted the event in the evening.
As for the MHRN itself, their strength in reducing harm in our community is that they are a network, so they had other organizations with information and community support at the event.
“Everyone from public health nurses from the regional health authority, to sexual exploitation services, and everyone who’s helped inform this bingo. I’d say one of the cool things that MHRN is able to do is provide a spot for service providers to share information whether that’s on sexual health and how to get tested, or how to access training which the RHA may not be knowledgeable on, how to access services around sexual assault and sexual exploitation, or even how to talk about, we have some folks in private practice, who are really engaged on what does sex positivity looks like,” said Dreilich.
He explained it’s important that we talk about this stuff, even if it can be awkward.
“(It’s important to talk about) the quantitative data out there on rising rates of STBBIs(Sexually Transmitted Infections and Blood-Borne Illness) in Manitoba, specifically, HIV, hepatitis, and how we need to get serious about that. But with the Bingo, we also wanted to not just talk about but celebrate the other side of sex, the sex positive side, and recognize that people engage in sex for pleasure or because it’s fun, and it can be healthy. People get other benefits from it as well, but also we just (have) to have that full conversation on it, because we find in harm reduction, if we just focus on the negative of something, we’re not having a full conversation of why folks partake in that activity,” he explained.
He also wanted to put out the call to any people or organizations in the area that would like to connect with the harm reduction network to contact him.
“We love working alongside folks, that’s all part of the network. Our threshold is basically, are you cool, and can you be respectful to folks that use substances working alongside the network? We love having a diverse group around the table, so anyone who wants to be a part of the harm reduction team is more than welcome,” said Dreilich.
To learn more about the MHRN, visit them online at mhrn.ca.
