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Proceedings from the 20 th World Congress of Sexual Health 9026BETTING ON FUTURES FOR SEX RESEARCHJ.R. HeimanThe Kinsey Institute, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USAResearch on sexuality has the ambivalent advantage of needing andbenefiting from the best of many areas of scholarly expertise. Yet sexresearch efforts are usually remarkably limited in the degree to whichresearchers work with others from diverse disciplines and specialties,or at least draw from the theories, methods and data generated from,for example, biology, psychology, neuroscience, economics, social sciences,medicine, information technology and humanities. There aregood reasons for staying within one’s intellectual identity but the fieldis not developing at a pace that justifies this as the main strategy ofinquiry. The present talk critically considers the value and cost of collaboratingbeyond area boundaries and proposes that the most impactfulsex research, with the greatest promise of deeper knowledge overthe next decade will be incited by allied areas of expertise. These areaswill pursue a fresh look at theory, method, measurement, data analyses,and participant qualities which include more refined sensitively toenvironmental contexts. A topical case study is that of decision making,particularly the combination of risk, emotion and rational decisionmaking. This is an area well-researched from a variety of frameworksin economics and increasingly psychology and neuroscience, and hasapplicability to a wide range of behaviors that have sexual health outcomes.There is now a science of risky behavior. This work hasnot gone entirely unnoticed by sex researchers. Selected samples ofrecent promising work will be discussed with an eye toward futurepotentials.27SEXUALITY, OBESITY & GENDERN. Bajos 1,21 Inserm, CESP Centre for research in Epidemiology and Population Health,U1018, Gender, sexual and reproductive health, F-94276, Le KremlinBicetre, France, 2 Université Paris Sud 11, UMRS 1018, F-94807, Villejuif,FranceObjectives: To analyse the association between body mass index(BMI) and sexual activity, sexual satisfaction, unintended pregnancies,and abortions in obese people and to discuss the implications for publichealth practices, taking into account the respondents’ and their partners’BMI.Design and Setting: Random probability survey of sexual behaviours.National population based survey of 12,364 men and women aged18–69 living in France in 2006.Results: Obese women were less likely than normal weight women toreport having a sexual partner in the past 12 months. Obese men wereless likely than normal weight men to report more than one sexualpartner in the same period and more likely to report erectile dysfunction.Sexual dysfunction was not associated with BMI among women.Obese women aged under 30 were less likely to seek healthcare servicesfor contraception or to use oral contraceptives. They were also morelikely to report an unintended pregnancy.Conclusion: There is a link between BMI and sexual behaviour andadverse sexual health outcomes, with obese women less likely to accesscontraceptive healthcare services and having more unplanned pregnancies.Prevention of unintended pregnancies among these women isa major reproductive health challenge. Healthcare professionals needto be aware of sensitivities related to weight and gender in the provisionof sexual health services.28SEXUAL POLITICS AND THE “SCIENCE OFSEX”: COMMON THREADS, FRACTURES ANDPOTENTIALLY VIRTUOUS LIAISONS IN THE21 ST CENTURYS. Sonia CorreaSexuality Policy Watch, ABIA, Rio de Janeiro, BrazilIn the last five decades, clear gains have been achieved in societies,both South and North of the Equator, in regard to the social acceptanceof sexual plurality, agency and enjoyment. Political struggleshave also occurred resulting in the enlargement of rights in relationto sexuality in various national contexts, but also at the level of internationalnorms. Nonetheless, laws, cultural norms and religious prescriptionsstill persist, almost everywhere, which restrict the ability ofpersons to express and experience their sexuality without shame or besubjected to violation or coercion. The realms of gender and sexualityhave become battlegrounds, as dogmatic religious forces and otherconservative voices systematically invest discourses and resources tocontain the transformations that are underway.This landscape has similarities with the European scenario of thelate 19 th century that witnessed the birth of the science of sex, asexemplified by current struggles against sodomy laws, dogmaticreligious revivals and the recourse to science as a way to contestexisting orders. But the two eras also differ in many aspects. Contemporarysexual politics is not exclusively European. It is global andtraversed by postcolonial tensions. Bodies and voices engaged in thesebattles are much more diverse and much precaution is requiredwhen resorting to scientific arguments in seeking to propel sexualfreedoms.This paper will examine this complex scenario and explore the possibilitiesto reconnect a “science of sex” and sexual politics within aperspective capable of keeping pace with the transformation of existingsexual orders.29GOOD CATHOLIC SEXJ. O’BrienCatholics for Choice, Washington, DC, USAContraception, abortion, masturbation, sex outside of marriage, gayrights and sexuality education . . . for centuries the hierarchy of theCatholic church has denounced all things sexual. The question is stillpertinent: why does the Catholic hierarchy still have a problem withsex? Irishman Jon O’Brien, a longtime reproductive health activist andleader of Catholics for Choice takes you on a biblical, theological,political and hysterical journey to try and understand the mindset ofthe bishops. The mindset that not only tries to inculcate guilt intoCatholics but attempts to influence the public policy agenda on everythingfrom opposing condoms to prevent the spread of HIV to awoman’s right to abortion to comprehensive sexuality education.30ETHICAL WORK OF REGULATORYAGENCIESJ.L. FourcroyUrology, Uniformed services University Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD,USA“The first step in the evolution of ethics is a sense of solidarity withother human beings” (Schweitzer). Change came with the NurembergCode (1947) including informed consent, need for scientific merit.right of patient to withdraw, and understanding the benefit balance.To sign an informed consent one must have the ability the to giveconsent, understand the circumstances and the information given(1964 World Medical Association and the Declaration of Helsinki). Dr Jay Katz was important in addressing the complex issues of medicalethics and the interaction of ethics, law, medicine and psychologyJ Sex Med 2011;8(suppl 3):84–299jsm_2325.indd 905/20/2011 8:18:12 PM