Seeking Sexual Freedom: African Rites, Rituals, and Sankofa in the Bedroom

by Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah

A bold foray into African traditions around sexual pleasure and joy, with the personal goal of self-discovery and liberation, by one of Africa’s preeminent feminists who “is changing the way African women talk about sex” (Harper’s Bazaar).

While working on her first “groundbreaking” (Ms. Magazine) book, The Sex Lives of African Women, acclaimed African feminist and activist Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah had access to the wildest dreams and spiciest realities of women from around the world. But so often, she noticed that something was holding these women back from achieving full liberation and unfettered joy. So, she set out to apply sankofa—which means learning from the past to inform the future—to sex and pleasure, reclaiming African traditions in a quest to achieve sexual freedom.

Organized in three parts, Sekyiamah first takes readers across the African continent, from Senegal to Tanzania and beyond, where she meets and trains with gurus, “witches”, and aunties whose job it is to guide girls through puberty rites and later through “marital training.” She discusses practices like beading and pulling, while highlighting the spiritual and gender-fluid nature of African traditional religions. The second part of the book asks us how we’ve lost our way, looking at the incursion of colonialism and western patriarchal norms into sexuality which has led to our warped ideals of beauty and shame, internalized racism, as well as state and interpersonal violence that stand in the way of sexual liberation. In the third and concluding part, Sekyiamah shows that we can overcome these hurdles by returning to a more joyful and free sexual practice, using practical advice and prompts to chart our own journey.

Part travelogue and part manifesto, Seeking Sexual Freedom is the powerful and bold call to joy and sexual freedom women of all backgrounds need today.

288 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication March 3, 2026

About the author

Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah is a Ghanaian feminist writer and blogger. She co-founded award-winning blog Adventures from the Bedrooms of African Women and has written for The Guardian and Open Democracy. Sekyiamah is the Director for Communications manager at the Association for Women's Rights in Development and a member of the Black Feminism Forum Working Group which organised the historic first Black Feminist Forum in Bahia, Brazil.

Reviews

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a cisgender white woman, I second-guessed myself when I signed up for the Goodreads giveaway to win an ARC of this book, letting my fears hold me back at first. But I'm so glad I let them go!

This incredible book now sits comfortably by my bedside, filling me with more love and insight than I could have imagined. I've learned so much about seeking sexual freedom, and the conversations it's already sparked are beginning to transform my community—I can't wait to see where my own journey takes me next.

[Luna and Co · Rating 4 out of 5]

The subject was interesting in itself, but this book pushed even more: it educated me a lot on how colonialism has affected Africans' sexualities and lives in general. The feminist lens made it even more interesting. I truly loved the first and second part's but the third and the prompt part felt flat for me. I do believe they will work for a lot of people.

Thank you, Netgalley and Atria/One Signal Publishers for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Won a paperback ARC of this title in a Goodreads giveaway. This book read to me partly like a tips and tricks guide and partly like an account of various stories, the latter of which I particularly enjoyed since it served as a kind of coming-together of tellings of the same and related topics; I learned a lot and felt like I was joining the conversation! The author’s personal anecdotes added a nice touch, as did her knowledge and support of sex-positive practices.

[Ron Frampton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A subject like most that happens when colonialism and western practices take over.