Advocates for Youth

Advocates for Youth (Advocates) envisions a society in which all young people are valued, respected, and treated with dignity; sexuality is accepted as a healthy part of being human; and youth sexual development is normalized and embraced.  In such a world, all youth and young adults are celebrated for who they are and afforded honest, affirming, inclusive sex education; access to confidential, universal sexual health services; and the economic, educational, and social power to exercise their bodily autonomy and make informed decisions regarding their health and well-being.

Advocates’ mission is to partner with young people and their adult allies to champion youth rights to bodily autonomy and build power to transform policies, programs, and systems to secure sexual health and equity for all youth.

Advocates understands that reproductive and sexual health and rights are inextricably tied to social justice and equity. The organization partners with youth, particularly those disproportionately impacted by sexual health disparities, including youth of color, young parents, LGBTQ youth, and other young people from marginalized communities, to inform its efforts and mobilize for change.

Advocates’ Rights, Respect, Responsibility (3Rs) philosophy underpins all of the organization’s work:

Rights: Youth have the inalienable right to honest, inclusive sex education; confidential, universal sexual health services; and the economic, political and social power that supports their agency, bodily autonomy,  and self-determination.

Respect: Youth are due respect. They are leading the fight for equity and justice. Young people must be meaningfully involved in the design, implementation, and evaluation of systems, policies, and programs that affect their health and well-being.

Responsibility: Society has the responsibility to examine and dismantle systems of oppression that drive sexual health disparities and other inequities and to instead champion community initiatives, programs, policies, and systems that ensure equity and justice for all young people, their families, and communities.

Young people understand that reproductive and sexual health and rights are inextricably tied to social justice and the fight for liberation. Advocates has a network of thousands of young people across the country who advocate for inclusive sex education, LGBTQ rights, abortion access, & more.  The organization nurtures a pipeline of leaders who bring skill and determination to progressive movements around the country and the world. Young people who are part of our programs go on to be community leaders, legislators, educators, and healthcare providers, bringing the skills we have helped them acquire to their work and their activism.

Advocates for Youth is the only organization that works both in the United States and in developing countries with a sole focus on adolescent reproductive and sexual health. Advocates worked with over 28,000 healthcare providers, educators, and other youth-serving professionals, directly and indirectly strengthening the ability of more than nine and a half million youth to make informed, responsible decisions about their sexual health.

Advocates for Youth has worked with LGBTQ young people for over three decades, including founding the first online space for LGBTQ youth to help and support one another. Now, we work with schools and youth-serving professionals around the country to ensure LGBTQ youth are safe in schools; included in sex education lessons; and above all, celebrated for who they are.

Advocates understands that youth sexual development is normal and healthy and that young people need information and services to help them navigate the path to becoming sexually healthy adults. The organization also understands that the belief that sexuality is something that needs to be controlled serves as a barrier to the provision of honest, complete information and confidential sexual health services for youth. Marginalized youth, those living in poverty, LGBTQ youth, youth of color, young parents, and those who are undocumented continue to feel unsafe and unsupported. These young people are less likely to access services even when they are available for fear of recrimination. 

Advocates understands that all of these issues are interrelated and cultural attitudes impact the policies and programs decision-makers are willing to implement. As such, the organization uses various strategies to shift cultural paradigms to promote youth sexual development as normal and healthy and to support all youth in their development toward becoming sexually healthy adults. 

The organization strives to break through stereotypes and help youth, particularly those from marginalized communities, to be recognized as leaders and change agents. 

Join and support thousands of youth activists and adult allies as we build a better and more equitable world.