The Centre for Sexology and Sexuality Studies carries out multidisciplinary research on sexuality from social science, humanistic, medical and clinical perspectives. Our aim is to develop and stimulate faculty-wide research in sexology and sexuality studies, and also to strengthen national and international research collaboration within the field.

Our vision is to shed light on issues of sexuality in an integrated way. Our research center has an important role to play – sexuality is an ever-current issue.

Charlotta Holmström, Director

News and events

Seminar, 2 October

Bisexual, Pansexual, Fluid and Nonbinary Youth

News

Sense of control impacts young people’s ability to propose safer sex

Our research

The centre was established with the intention of further strengthening the University's position as a focual point for national and international research, in parallel with educational and professional development in the field of sexuality. Our research focusses on structural frameworks, institutional contexts and individual experiences, comprising three main themes:

Sexuality, norms and politics

The research theme highlights how different forms of societal interventions and legal measures produce and reproduce ideas about sexuality, gender and relationships. The research projects examine, for example, how sex education takes shape, how Swedish authorities handle suspected cases of genital mutilation, structural conditions for sexual and reproductive health and rights, migration legislation in relation to the experiences of LGBTQ+ people, and perspectives on the criminalisation of the purchase of commercial sex.

Total hits: 5

Sexual and reproductive health, intervention and prevention

In this area, researchers examine different forms of societal interventions to prevent sexual and reproductive ill health, sexual vulnerability and exposure. Research projects organised under this theme investigate, for example, how social services and student health care address issues of sexual and reproductive health and rights, young adults' knowledge of sexual practices in relation to antibiotic resistance, how social care agencies deal with LGBTQ+ people, and sexual counselling in connection with the rehabilitation of patients with acquired brain injury.

Total hits: 10

Sexual experiences and practices

The theme highlights sexual experiences and practices from individual perspectives and experiences. The research projects highlight, for example, reasoning about sexual experiences among young adults with intellectual disabilities, sexual health and ill-health among people with acquired brain injury, how experiences of sexual abuse can affect experiences of visits to dental care, young people's reasoning about sexual consent in digital communication, experiences of investigation and treatment of involuntary childlessness, men's experiences of sexual violence, experiences of poly-relationships, life stories of infidelity, LGBTQ+ people's experiences of treatment in community care, sexual health among young people living with inflammatory bowel disease and experiences of intimacy and sexuality during the COVID pandemic.

Total hits: 10

Publications

Research highlights

Chairs in a circle.

Survivors Healing from Abuse: Recovery through Exposure (SHARE) is a brief, exposure-based group treatment for incarcerated female survivors of sexual violence developed by Marie Karlsson and her colleagues. Preliminary evaluations of SHARE have showed declines in depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms from pre- to posttreatment. In this study Marie Karlsson with colleagues examine whether group size matters for the outcome of the treatment.

Two persons being close.

Through a phenomenological approach, Frida Björklund and Malin Lindroth have explored transgender and non-binary people’s strategies for experiencing sexual well-being. Their study points to strategies that all can learn from: the need to accept and appreciate oneself, not just adapt to gender norms of bodies and behaviors, and to communicate. In addition, being norm-breaking, or stepping out of the gendered paths presented to you, appears to provide new opportunities for people to learn what they enjoy.

Dices with letters forming the word Diabetes.

A recent publication authored by Anne-Marie Wangel and Karin Stenzelius shows that problems with sexual dysfunction are common in middle-aged women with long-lasting type 1 diabetes, and may be unreported unless addressed in clinical care. The study is based on data collected through a questionnaire distributed at four hospitals in southern Sweden.

Researchers at CSS

Sofia Hammarström

Development manager at Knowledge Centre for Sexual Health within Region Västra Götaland. PhD from Linköping University within the field young people at risk of sexual ill health. Contact: sofia.hammarstrom@vgregion.se 

Our centre regularly welcomes visiting academics, from professors to doctoral students, whose research interests align with the centre's activities. To apply, send a CV, information about previous experience, funding, motivation and a research description to Charlotta Holmström.

Organisation

Advisory Board

Advisory Board

Chair

Mariah Larsson, Professor, Department of Film and Literature, Linnaeus University

Members

  • Barbro Lennér-Axelsson, Psychologist, International Planned Parenthood Federation, and Senior Lecturer, University of Gothenburg
  • Carina Listerborn, Professor in Urban Planning, Department of Urban Studies, Malmö University
  • Karin Örmon, Associate Professor, Department of Care Science, Malmö University
  • Katarina Görts Öberg, Doctor of Medicine and Psychologist, ANOVA, and Head of Unit for Sexual Medicine, Karolinska University Hospital
  • Niclas Olsson, Development Secretary, Sexual Health, Malmö city
  • Niels Ulrich Sörensen, Associate Professor and Deputy Manager at The Danish Centre for Youth Research (CeFU), Aalborg University, Denmark
  • Suzann Larsdotter, Social worker and Sexologist, Sexualbyrån Suzann Larsdotter

Senior Research Group

  • Ann-Cathrine Bramhagen, Associate Professor, Department of Care Science, Malmö University
  • Bodil Liljefors-Persson, Professor, Department of Society, Culture and Identity, Malmö University
  • Catrine Andersson, Associate Professor, Department of Social Work, Malmö University
  • Charlotta Holmström, Associate Professor, Department of Social Work, Malmö University
  • Eva Elmerstig, Associate Professor, Department of Social Work, Malmö University
  • Malin Lindroth, Associate Professor, Department of Social Work, Malmö University
  • Mats Lundström, Senior lecturer, Department of Natural Science, Malmö University

PhD Network DSS

Doctoral students for Sexology and Sexual Studies (DSS) is an interdisciplinary doctoral research network based at the Center for Sexology and Sexuality Studies (CSS), Malmö University. Network’s goal is to connect and foster collaboration between doctoral students working in the fields of sexuality, and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). By creating an open space for dialogue and knowledge exchange, we aim to stimulate research collaborations between different faculties and universities and contribute to advancing research in the fields of sexuality and SRHR at the national and international level. Would you like to be a part of DSS or have questions? Please contact PhD students Camilla Ivarsson or Nada Amroussia. 

Camilla Ivarsson

Nada Amroussia

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Nordenskiöldsgatan 1, Malmö

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