Sunday, July 09, 2006

Phil Harvey Receives Humanitarian Award


St. Louis--Phil Harvey, founder and president of Adam & Eve, was honored with the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists annual Humanitarian Award last week.

Lloyd Sinclair, AASECT member and long time colleague of Harvey's, presented the award, citing a long list of his philanthropic contributions that have "promoted reproductive health, family planning and AIDS prevention in some of the world's poorest countries."

"I am proud to be recognized by such a fine and compassionate group of professionals," Harvey said. "It is an honor to be part of your organization."

Harvey founded Adam and Eve in 1970 as mail order condom retailer at a time when shipping contraceptives through the mail was still illegal. The company has since become the world's largest mail order purveyor of adult's only merchandise, and a plentiful source of funds for Harvey's ambitious humanitarian projects.

"I was very taken with the idea that I could sell sexual accoutrements to relatively wealthy American's and use the proceeds to support family planning in developing countries," Harvey said in an article in Mother Jones. "I've taken a great deal of pleasure from the sort of Robin Hood effect that's resulted."

Harvey's non-profit organization, Population Services International, has had notable effects on sexual health in poor countries. In a partnership with the Ethiopian Army, Harvey's group distributes millions of condoms for no more that a penny a piece. In addition, soldiers are required to carry a condom off base which has resulted in an HIV infection rate of only 5%. Other African military forces suffer a rate of up to 40%.

At home, Adam & Eve has made a positive impact by being one of the few adult companies to institute a "sex positive" screening process for all its videos. The company refuses to sell videos and DVDs that depict forced sex or violence towards men or women.

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