Internship at the NGO «Sex og Politics»

What tasks did you perform during your internship?

–This semester I have been an intern in the media team at the NGO «Sex og Politikk», and a large part of the work I did for them was writing journalistic articles. Then I covered both events we were invited to and which we organized ourselves, and conducted interviews. I was also tasked with creating an image bank and various overviews, participating in meetings and publishing articles on social media. I also had the opportunity to work with the elderly project of «Sex og politikk», and helped to design a learning tool for healthcare professionals who work with the elderly.

How did you use skills you have acquired from your education at the Faculty of Humanities?

– Sex og Politikk is the Norwegian branch of the international organization «International Planned Parenthood Federation» (IPPF), and works to improve sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). Sex og Politikk's focus areas are abortion, sexuality education, the elderly and sexual health, sex work and sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. Within all these focus areas, gender studies can be relevant, and I have experienced that the knowledge I have acquired from my studies has been useful during my internship.

In the work with the elderly project, for example, I particularly experienced that expertise from gender studies came in handy. An important focus area on the website of the elderly project - Uke66.no - is the myth of the asexual elderly, and emphasis is placed on the importance of debunking this myth. I found knowledge of theories about othering to be particularly relevant in this connection, and a background in gender studies I believe is important to have when working to improve the sexual health of older adults as well.

What do you think is or was the greatest benefit from your internship?

– I got to experience what it's like to work in an organization working to improve sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) - a topic I learned a lot about while I was there. This knowledge is very useful to have and I will definitely take it with me further. It was also very useful to experience what everyday working life in such an organization can be like, and I met with many exciting people during the semester.

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