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Let's Talk about Sex

This week, our correspondents discover the full panoply of human sex and sexuality, asking how they can mean so many different things to people around the world.

Our correspondents discover the full panoply of sex and sexuality, asking how they can mean so many different things to people around the world. Damien McGuinness asks whether the Bundestag's decision to legalise prostitution in 2002 has actually made life safer for Germany's 400,000 sex workers, as he discovers a little slice of 'paradise', just off the autobahn near Stuttgart. In Brazil, Olivia Crellin uncovers an even darker form of prostitution, as she meets the children selling sex on the streets of Recife in Brazil.

Over in Ethiopia, James Jeffrey finds that the drive to promote safer intercourse has made household names of certain brands of condom. He asks whether a new, 'exclusive' label could radically change their business model. And, while some cultures are so opposed to female sexual pleasure that they practice female genital mutilation, Sue Lloyd Roberts finds that in Burkina Faso, women who have been 'cut' are being offered restorative therapy - from a very surprising source.

With human rights groups concerned at Russia's recent legislation banning 'homosexual propaganda', Justin Rowlatt cosies up to some strapping huntsmen in a sauna in the Urals. Yet even as they express disgust at all things gay, he detects a note of sexual tension in the air.

And finally, sex often results in children - a miracle indeed. But what happens when you take those miracles to work with you? Madeleine Morris discovers the joys of journalism with a toddler in tow.

(Photo: An Aids Healthcare Foundation-Kenya worker distributes condoms in the streets of Nairobi, to promote safe sex practices during the Valentine week and to mark the International Condom Day. Credit: Simon Maina/Getty Images)

Available now

25 minutes

Last on

Sun 18 May 2014 08:06GMT

Broadcasts

  • Sat 17 May 2014 11:06GMT
  • Sun 18 May 2014 00:06GMT
  • Sun 18 May 2014 08:06GMT