Women’s Health

Women and people with a vulva*… You’ve probably been neglected

How much of your sex ed focused on:

• Female pleasure
• Consent
• Safer sex for non-binary people
• Safer sex for transgender people
• Safer sex for people with a vulva?

How much info did you receive around sexuality? Chances are, very little or none at all. For me personally, I had to learn about sex and sexual health on the internet! I had a lot of shame about sex and pleasure. I got taught about periods and that’s about it.

We often experience shame

Women and people assigned female at birth typically experience a lot of shame when it comes to their sexual health and have a lot of unlearning to do because of what society perpetuates (basically, despite what has been expressed or implied, your pleasure is equally as important as the person/s you have sex with, and masturbation can be safe, healthy and enjoyable for people of all genders). Good sexual health is important for our overall wellbeing. Having knowledge helps us feel empowered, stay safer and make decisions that are right for us.

Whilst cis-gender men are more likely to engage in risky sexual behaviours than women, sexual health is more than the absence of disease. Sexual health requires a positive and respectful approach to sexuality and sexual relationships, as well as the possibility of having pleasurable and safe sexual experiences, free of coercion, discrimination and violence (in the words of the World Health Organisation, not me). How can you have safer, pleasurable sex if you aren’t educated about what that is?

FYI about the vulva

*You’ll notice we use the term vulva rather than vagina in our content. The vulva is the part of your genitals on the outside of your body — your labia, clitoris, vaginal opening, and the opening to the urethra (the hole you pee from). The vagina is just one part of the vulva.