ALEXANDRIA, VA—The Woodhull Freedom Foundation announces the funding of a scholarship from sponsor Smitten Kitten for one person to attend the 2016 Sexual Freedom Summit. Held August 4–7 at the Hilton Mark Center in Alexandria, Virginia, the Summit is the one conference focused on sexual freedom as a fundamental human right in the US.
“We’re grateful to Smitten Kitten for offering this fabulous scholarship opportunity to bring a new voice to the Summit,” said Ricci Levy, President and CEO of The Woodhull Freedom Foundation. “It’s thanks to sponsors like Smitten Kitten that sexual freedom advocates are able to attend the Summit, when they may have otherwise not been able to, and then share what they have discussed and learned out into the world—all part of our goal to help create positive change.”
Smitten Kitten will be awarding a scholarship totaling $728, consisting of:
• Woodhull Sexual Freedom Conference Registration for one ($195)
• Travel stipend ($200)
• The cash equivalent of a three-night stay at the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center at the conference rate ($333.00)
Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Smitten Kitten is a sex positive, education focused sex toy store, where everyone is welcome. For more information, visit SmittenKittenOnline.com.
“’Sex positive’ doesn’t just mean we’re really enthusiastic about sex,” noted Jennifer Pritchett, owner of Smitten Kitten. “It means that we work to promote an inclusive, shame-free environment, where it’s okay to talk about all kinds of consensual sex. People’s pleasure, consent, and physical and mental health are what’s most important when it comes to sexuality.”
Continued Pritchett, “We’re also deeply committed to consumer advocacy in the sex toy industry. In 2005, we founded badvibes.org, an organization dedicated to demystifying the adult sex toy industry and positively transforming socially irresponsible, environmentally and personally hazardous sex toy manufacturing and sex toy sales practices. Our most recent project involves research around personal lubricants, their ingredients, and investigation of FDA regulations that limit the sale of body-safe lubes, while making potentially harmful lubes easily accessible.”
The Smitten Kitten scholarship will be provided to a person who is not otherwise eligible for conference expense reimbursement through their current employer, organizational affiliation, or university, and for whom the cost to attend would be prohibitively high. Priority will be given to candidates with intersecting and marginalized identities, especially people of color.
The deadline for applications for the Smitten Kitten Scholarship is May 15, 2016. To apply, click here. The Scholarship Award Recipient will be notified the week of June 1, 2016.
Now in its seventh year, the focus of the Sexual Freedom Summit is the goal of the sexual freedom movement: global recognition of our fundamental human right to sexual freedom. The Summit is for everyone interested in sexual freedom, from activists, educators, students, attorneys, and clinicians, to people who are simply curious about how to make the world a freer place for all.
From gender expression to reproductive justice, LGBT rights to polyamory, sex work to spirituality, and much more, the Summit welcomes attendees to bring ideas and concerns to the table, all within a human rights framework. The four-day schedule of institutes and workshops, roundtable discussions and sessions cover a gamut of topics, ranging from geriatric sexuality, abuse, sex education, religion, gender identities, mental health, condom use, policy trends, intellectual and developmental disabilities, consent, sex work, and more.
For more information on Woodhull’s Sexual Freedom Summit, visit SexualFreedomSummit.org, or follow the Summit on Twitter and on Facebook. Those following the conversation on Twitter may do so by using the hashtag #SFS16.
