Malta has its own version of Carrie Bradshaw's Manhattan. Introduced in last year's Notte Bianca, a specialised tour themed Sex And The City, after the famous US TV series starring Ms Bradshaw, has been organised again focusing on the former red-light district of Strait Street. This time it was in the cause of sex education.
The tour, which took place on Thursday and yesterday, was part of the European Youth Week, currently underway in Freedom Square, Valletta.
Since Notte Bianca, the tours were revised to appeal directly to young people aged between 18 and 25. Students from the Youth and Community Studies Department at the university brought to life the brothel atmosphere of old in a Strait Street re-enactment.
After the tour, youngsters took part in an in-depth discussion about sex-related health issues. They also answered a questionnaire for a study on young people's sexual activity.
European Youth Week was organised by the Parliamentary Secretariat for Youth and Sport, which has set up a committee to evaluate the national youth policy. The tour discussions should provide valuable information for the revision of the present policy.
The president of the Maltese Association of Youth Workers, Miriam Teuma, who also chairs the committee, said the feedback from the discussions was mixed. Youngsters primarily want the government to take the idea of sex education and health promotion seriously. They want a relevant policy and services that will be actively implemented as well as an information clinic where they can speak openly about taboos and where their needs, not those of adults, can be properly addressed. Some young people also pointed out that the health promotion unit should not be located at hospital.
Ms Teuma said that youths need to be heard and feel they can express themselves freely without constraints on any issue.
European Youth Week is being organised throughout the EU but this is the first time Malta is taking part, with activities related to the environment, health, mobility, employment and education. The aim of this chain of events is to generate a consultation process to trigger off the revision of a European Youth Policy, which, by chance, coincides with the review of Malta's own youth policy.
The event took off last Sunday and ends tomorrow.