Ligia’s Story
Ligia DeStephen is a young woman from Honduras. She’s the Community of Action Facilitator for the We Lead Project in her country and she is very passionate about sexuality in general.
Ever since she was in school she was interested in this topic. Especially because they did not receive information about it, and when they did receive it was to scare them. But her classmates and her were still curious and informed each other. She decided to study psychology and then she wanted to do something to prevent abuse, unwanted pregnancies and live a healthier sexuality. So she focused her master’s thesis on the social determinants for young women to get pregnant. She looked for work that was related to the topic and here she is 8 years later trying to generate changes in matters of sexuality.

Apart from her work, she started a personal project over a year ago, a podcast on sexuality in order for people to obtain information on this topic, since in the country they are far from accessing comprehensive sexual education. She also participates in many conversations, panels, talking about sexuality with people that don’t have access to this information.
Although she has support for her work around her, these are still taboo topics and there are those who are bothered by seeing people talking about this. Also, although she is passionate about her podcast, it is often hard to find time to do it.
She has seen how she has inspired other young women to do their own projects and be leaders in their communities. She has also opened communication and information channels through her social networks. Many people write to her and ask questions about sexuality.

She doesn’t think of herself as a role model, but other generations, including young girls in her family, have seen that women can be more than what society tells us and they feel inspired to work, study, and follow their dreams.
One way she brings about change in her immediate family, which is very large, is through times like Christmas or New Year’s. She always tries to use those moments to talk with my little cousins and other teenagers about sexuality. Especially about the importance of taking care of ourselves.