Latin America faces rising sexually transmitted infections and declining bodily autonomy

Latin America is facing what sexual-health experts describe as an “unprecedented combination of setbacks and simultaneous pressures.” The warning comes from the Mexican Federation of Sexual Education and Sexology and the Latin American Federation of Sexology and Sexual Education.

The groups said shrinking budgets and opposition to sex education have contributed to a regional rise in pregnancies among girls under 15. Latin America is also the world’s second-highest region for adolescent pregnancy, they said.

The organizations linked that situation to a decline in bodily autonomy. Globally, one in four women cannot refuse sexual relations, according to their statement. “Without bodily autonomy there is no sexual health: there is management of someone else’s body,” the groups said.

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Unprecedented combination of setbacks and simultaneous pressures.

They also pointed to new forms of sexual violence carried out through digital tools, including artificial intelligence and social media. The organizations said the region lacks adequate regulatory frameworks and that platforms have not taken responsibility for the problem.

The report described the trend in sexually transmitted infections as equally troubling. While HIV infections are declining worldwide, they have risen 25% in Latin America. The region accounts for 40% of syphilis cases in the Americas, and cases increased 15% in 2024 compared with 2022. Resistance to the first-line gonorrhea medicines ceftriaxone and cefixime also increased during that period. These issues will be discussed at the Latin American Congress of Sexology and Sexual Education in Mexico City from Oct. 28 to 30, with sexual justice as its central theme.

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Without bodily autonomy there is no sexual health: there is management of someone else’s body.