Sanitising Sex in the USSR: State Approaches to Sexual Health in the Brezhnev Era

Hearne, Siobhán

Abstract

This article examines Soviet approaches to sexual health in the Brezhnev era (1964–1982), specifically venereal diseases (VD). After the death of Stalin, the Soviet leadership adopted new methods for regulating the behaviour of Soviet citizens based on collective adherence to specific moral codes. State ministries took tentative steps towards mass sex education. In the 1960s, the Soviet leadership relaunched the ‘struggle with VD’, a state-led campaign to drastically reduce rates of infection. This article explores the enactment of this campaign in the Latvian SSR, where VD cases exceeded all-union averages and where Party leadership adopted a stringent approach to perceived sexual misconduct.

Citation

Hearne, S. (2022). Sanitising Sex in the USSR: State Approaches to Sexual Health in the Brezhnev Era. Europe-Asia Studies, 74(10), 1793-1815. https://doi.org/10.1080/09668136.2022.2032607

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 3, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Mar 3, 2022
• Publication Date: 2022-12
• Deposit Date: Mar 28, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: May 23, 2022
• Journal: Europe-Asia Studies
• Print ISSN: 0966-8136
• Electronic ISSN: 1465-3427
• Publisher: Department of Central and East European Studies
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 74
• Issue: 10
• Pages: 1793-1815
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09668136.2022.2032607
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1211077