New Orleans students to get new sex ed program

The big picture: Louisiana has for years maintained a high rate of STI infections, including HIV infections. The most recent CDC data shows the state clocked 1,181 total cases of syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia for every 100,000 people in 2023, putting Louisiana's rate behind only Washington, D.C. that year.

• The reasons for that, experts say, are as complicated as the solutions.
• Louisiana doesn't have a sexual health education mandate, but when it's taught, state law requires an emphasis on abstinence and prevents educators from using specific language common in medically accurate discussions of sexuality.
• Meanwhile, national data indicates young people are becoming less likely to use condoms — but officials are barred from asking Louisiana students about their sexual practices or beliefs.

That means the state doesn't fully participate in a standard federal survey that could inform policy changes.

• "We're limiting our own datasets," says Ryann Martinek, a sexual and reproductive health specialist at the New Orleans Health Department. "The notion is, if we ask, they will do."

Zoom in: "In New Orleans, a lot of sex ed is conducted by third-party trained educators," says Martinek, who previously spent time in classrooms doing some of that work herself. That means a trained educator visits a school to provide sex ed, instead of someone already on staff and likely also responsible for a different full-time job.

• "But," wonders Martinek, "if things change with funding streams and educators aren't available, would the school [still provide sex ed] themselves?"

State of play: The Institute of Women & Ethnic Studies has been the primary third-party sex ed provider for a south Louisiana region that includes New Orleans, Baton Rouge and the River Parishes since 2010, according to Jen Latimer, the institute's senior program manager of adolescent health.

• Since then, IWES has served more than 17,000 young people across the region.

• But federal funding that supported its work has diminished, and the state law preventing certain sexual health survey questions means the organization has a hard time proving that its methods work, making it harder to get additional grants.
• And so, since the beginning of this school year, IWES hasn't had funding for classroom-based sex education.

What's next: New Orleans health officials are trying to find out how much of a gap remains and close it.

• The Department of Health is creating a four-part sexual health series that officials hope they can begin piloting with participating schools beginning next school year, Martinek says.
• The program aims to be "medically accurate and developmentally appropriate to have students have a better understanding of what they're going through and what would align to" Louisiana law, she tells Axios New Orleans.
• Plus, the department hopes to sweeten the deal for teachers, who would have to go through training for the program, by offering participation stipends. Interested educators can fill out this form to participate.

Go deeper: See locations for low-cost and free STI testing in New Orleans.