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Sex and the Body: New DW format takes YouTube by storm

Reaching millions of users from India to Russia, DW's new educative series Sex and the Body is countering the shame, silence and misinformation around women's sexual health with fact-based information.

Sex and the Body | Obst und Gemüse
Image: Lea Albrecht

DW's Sex and the Body series tackles issues that have long been seen as taboo or discussed in whispers: women's bodies, sexuality and their sexual health. In just a few months since its creation, the format has received great resonance among DW's audiences in different parts of the world. 

The format was created by DW journalist Lea Albrecht in English, spurred by a conversation with a friend: "She told me that she had read an article about the clitoris and how it is much, much bigger than we think. I thought, it cannot be that even we - as supposedly enlightened women - do not know our own anatomy. After all, knowledge about one's own body also means self-confidence and self-determination. And so grew the idea to develop this format."

Since then, the format has been adapted in multiple languages, meticulously tailored to the specific needs of the users in the respective countries.  

Editor Isha Bhatia, working with DW's Hindi Service: "I wanted to do something on women's health because a lot of these things are not talked about in India, not even with close friends or mother. I wanted to show courage and to show that I'm not ashamed."  

Following the success of the four-videos-series, the Hindi department decided to convert this into a weekly format called "Sehat Talk with Isha Bhatia Sanan". "Sehat" means "health" in Hindi. The department has created eleven videos so far on various issues. The videos have been viewed more than 140 million times. An explainer on caesarean delivery performed exceptionally well with more than 30 million views on YouTube alone. Additionally, the percentage of the female audience grew from an average of six percent to about 50 percent with this video. 

DW Editor Isha Bhatia explains in a new episode how a caesarean delivery take place .
The video explains how a C-section or a caesarean delivery take place. Image: DW

This has made clear the need by audiences to have more reliable information tackling these topics, particularly in societies where they are viewed as taboo. While the Internet is awash with information on women’s bodies and sexual health, a lot of this is often conflated with myths or lacks a scientific basis. Content for the Sex and the Body series is created together with a gynaecologist to ensure that the information is factual.  

Feedback from the community has been positive. For many, the videos have kicked started conversations on taboo topics, creating a safe space for women for learning and exchange. The editors read all the comments and incorporate the viewers' questions into the videos. In the coming months, the team plans to explore more topics such as breastfeeding and menopause. The positive response has also helped shape the focus of the science team's new YouTube channel, which will launch in October: Health, sexuality and psychology will be the core topics.

Other DW editorial services are also joining the bandwagon. The Bengali Service has adapted the series for its YouTube channel, where the videos have reached over five million viewsand increased the number of women subscribers to the channel. In Europe, the series has also been successfully adapted by the Ukrainian and Russian language services.