Host Emily Yates from Enhance the UK chats with Linnea Haviland of SH:24 about Sexual Health. The compelling topics they get to the nitty gritty about are STI kits, Contraception, how mental health and sex can effect each other, what sexual expression can be for you and above all what sex means to YOU
Host Emily Yates from Enhance the UK chats with Linnea Haviland of SH:24 about Sexual Health. The compelling topics they get to the nitty gritty about are STI kits, Contraception, how mental health and sex can effect each other, what sexual expression can be for you and above all what sex means to YOU
Hello, and welcome everybody to another of Enhance the UK's Undressing disability talks. We've spoken about parenting, we've spoken about sex toys. And today I have the
lovely Linnea from SH:24 with me, and we're going to be talking a little bit about sexual health, and everything that surrounds that. So Hello, thank you so much for taking the time to join us.
Linnea Haviland:Thank you so much for having me.
Emily Yates:Oh, youre more than welcome. Now you have a seriously cool job with a brilliant organisation that's doing very, very meaningful work. I'm going to let you introduce yourself and everything that you do, because you probably do it much better than I could.
Linnea Haviland:Great. So yeah, I work for sh 24, which is an online sexual health service. We provide contraception and STI testing, and you can order it online and then get sent it to you at home and you get support via phone and text. And I'm the art director for SH:24. So I'm kind of in charge of the visuals. I used to run the Instagram accounts, if you follow that you probably have seen some of my work on there. But I'm in charge of the visuals I've done, for example, the illustrations for the test kits, and kind of that side of things.
Emily Yates:Amazing. And I think that's so important in itself, isn't it? Because when we talk about sexual health, it's often seen well, and rightly so it's seen as a medical and a clinical thing. And something that's very important and very serious, but actually to be able to add a little bit of creativity to information and that education, I think is so valuable.
Linnea Haviland:Yeah, I agree. And I think it's, it's important not to forget that sex is fun and enjoyable. And we shouldn't take all of that out from such sexual health and sex education.
Emily Yates:Yeah, that's so so true. So I guess the big question to start this episode, then, when we're talking about safe sex, what does that mean, exactly? And what does it mean
to you and to SH:24?
Linnea Haviland:So it means I think when people talk about it, usually people are talking about protection against STI or protection against pregnancy. But really, I think it's a lot broader than that. I think it's about having the type of sex you want, being able to explore your sexuality, express your sexuality. And, you know, it's also communication and consent and kind of having the type of sex you want and being able to communicate that.
Emily Yates:I love that. I love that. So yes, the the safety in terms of our health and our bodies is so important. But so is the enjoyment and the pleasure that exactly on safe sex. Yeah, I learned a lot from that already. That's brilliant. And I know from being a disabled person, and I know from following your Instagram account that there's a lot of conversation around taboos regarding sexuality, sex in general, everything from period sex to sex when you're older to STI's. Why do you think those taboos exist? And what advice would you give to somebody who may be wanting to talk to their partner about one of these taboos, but didn't really know where to start?
Linnea Haviland:Hmm. Well, I think sex in general has been taboo for a really long time in the West and I think that has its roots in patriarchy. I mean, it's a way to control female agency and sexuality and kind of that taboo around sex and sexuality at that time; I'm thinking Victorian times, for example, people were very focused on control, everything should be about control and sex is not control, you know. So that became something really, that was pushed down. And I think that is really something that we still see today. It sort of has shifted and in that certain types of sex are allowed or are okay to talk about, but it's very specific and narrow, like just heterosexual penis and vagina sex between people who are in a certain type of relationship. So I think all of those taboos really stemmed back to this really kind of sex negative way of thinking. And it has a long history of being influenced or influencing also colonialism, for example, and racism and kind of using, er saying that sex is something that's dirty or uncivilised or bad in some way and using that as a way to control other cultures where sex was not as stigmatised as in the west or not as taboo. And we still see that still, as a remnant of colonialism in a lot of cultures around the world. So I think my advice to someone who kind of wants to bring up a subject that's a bit taboo is to remember that almost everyone feels awkward talking about this. It's something that I have felt awkward talking about, it's only because I have to talk about it, like five days a week now for a few years, but it's, I'm totally fine with it. So it's gonna be awkward, and that's completely okay. It's normal. And it's okay to have awkward conversations. And practising in front of the mirror can be really helpful. Just saying it out loud. And seeing Okay, how does that sound? How did I feel? Because then when you go into the situation, okay, you've actually already said it once before, and it's gonna feel easier. And also just remember that someone might respond in a way in a negative way. But it's going to be because they have internalised those negative thoughts about sex, not because of what you're saying, or what you're doing, you know, so coming in with an understanding that it might not go exactly as you wanted. But it's also not your fault if it doesn't go perfectly.
Emily Yates:Brilliant. Absolutely amazing. And I think, especially with kind of my, my disability charity head on, I think that's so valuable to hear those things, because you've probably heard about Love Lounge. And what we do there - our Q&A forum and a lot of disabled people and their loved ones write into us with any questions around kind of sex and dating and relationships. And one of the most prominent questions we get is around awkwardness of these conversations surrounding sex and how to gain that confidence of having these awkward conversations. And actually, a really important point that we so often make is, it's not just disabled people that have to have these awkward conversations. Everybody does, sex is brilliant and fun and joyful, as it can be, can also, like you say, be difficult to talk about, and have a lot of different nuances and a lot of internalised prejudices. So yeah, so moving on, then to contraception, of course, as a disability when a charity were all about empowering disabled people, but actually keeping them safe as well. And, you know, I would say, in general, we talk about condoms, and we talk about the pill. And that's kind of generally what you see in terms of contraception. I was wondering if you could maybe tell us a little bit about different kinds of contraception and maybe how they might be beneficial to certain people watching or listening to this?
Linnea Haviland:Absolutely yeah, there's so there's lots of different types of contraception. One kind of group are called LARCS, which stands for long acting reversible contraceptives, so it's basically contraception that works for a really long time. Now, part of that is IUS, which is the coil - the hormonal coil, the IUD, which is the copper coil, and the implant, which is like a little kind of, I don't know if it's plastic, but a little kind of plastic rod that you put in your arm, and then it releases hormones over, I think it lasts three years, that one. So all of these are really long acting, and they can be really good if you know, you don't want to be pregnant. And you also don't want to mess around with having to do something every time. And they're also all fitted by a healthcare professional. So it can be really good if you're having issues. For example, taking it yourself or using a type of contraception yourself. The IUD, it's the copper coil that's also doesn't have any hormones. So it can be good for people who for some reason are sensitive to hormones, or accounts can take certain type of hormones. Other ones that are similar to the pills, so also hormone ones, are the patch, which is basically like a, it's kind of like a plaster that you usually put on your arm, and it releases a hormone and you replace it every sort of week, I think it is. That can be quite good if you're not able to take the pill, for example, or you can't remember it every every day or take it at the same time every day. And that has the same type of hormones as some of the pills, so it's also a hormonal contraceptive. Another one is the ring, which is like kind of a I also don't know what it's made of and maybe silicone or plastic, a ring that you can twist and then insert into your vagina. And then it sits there and releases a hormone and you replace it as well. But you don't have to replace it all the time. There's also the internal and external condoms. We talked about condoms, which is usually what we call the external condom, that's the one you put on the penis, but there's also an internal one which you just insert into the vagina, before sex. So that can be a good alternative for people who may be find that condoms interrupt sex, because the internal condom can be inserted before sex, before you start, you know, getting into the mood or you know, yeah, later, you can just put it in there and you don't have to mess about with it
Emily Yates:And also no need to have the excuse of Oh, well, I later. was too in the mood so I forgot!
Linnea Haviland:Exactly yeah. So those are good, because they also protect from an STI, both external and internal condom, which other types of contraception don't do. So
Emily Yates:Amazing. Wow. Thank you. So I guess you can you can that's why they're really good. have contraception that is almost as non invasive as you like, yeah, there's a lot to be researched. And we don't have time to discuss this right now. But there's a lot to be researched around different hormones and how they influence things like that. But if you are fearful of like you say, forgetting to share the pill or having something that maybe you feel is a bit too internal, a bit too invasive, there's lots of options there.
Linnea Haviland:Yeah, absolutely. I mean, for the long acting ones, both the, the IUD and iOS are inserted up into your uterus, which, or into your womb, which can feel quite painful for some people. So the implant is a good alternative, because it's just in your arm. So you don't have that same pain. Maybe.
Emily Yates:That's brilliant, thank you so much. Really, really helpful. I wanted to talk a little bit about when we think about sexual health, we so often think about physical health and solely our physical health, or we seem to get into a bit of a pattern of doing that I feel. I wanted to just talk a little bit about sex and mental health in general, and what SH:24 have done around that, because I know that it's something you guys discuss. And really, again, just any hints and tips for people around that as well.
Unknown:Absolutely, yeah, so we've discussed it quite a lot on our Instagram. And I think a lot of people have different experiences around it, it can be that your mental health affects your sex drive, so that at times of stress, you have maybe a really high sex drive, or a really low sex drive; those things are very linked. And sex can be a great release for stress and built up tension. I mean, masturbation, for example, a lot of people use that to relieve tension or stress. And it can be really helpful for that. Orgasming can also help release emotions, you know, sometimes people have an orgasm, and they start crying, or they start laughing uncontrollably. And it can be kind of like a floodgate, where you let out a lot of emotion that maybe you have had trouble accessing. So I think it can be really helpful as a release emotionally, for people. And sex and sensuality, in general can really help us get in touch with our bodies. So it can be something like just you know, like touching your arm and really focusing on how does that feel, and where do I feel it in my body, and kind of getting in touch with what you like, personally. So I think like self exploration, masturbation doesn't even have to be involving genitals, it can just be touching different parts of your body, because we have, you know, zones all over our body that feels good to us. And it's going to be different for different people. So that can really be a way to kind of almost like a mindful exercise to kind of get in touch with how you're feeling and what feels good for you.
Emily Yates:Yeah, love that. That's amazing. And one thing that we always say is that we really, really campaign and we are doing especially at the moment, within different care homes, for the right for disabled people to have access to their sexual expression. And we so often say that sexual expression, it can be, but it absolutely doesn't have to be sexual. It could be the ability to go out and get your hair or your nails done. For me wearing bright lipstick, you know, that's kind of my thing. That's what makes me feel good. Sexual expression is, is what makes you feel good, and what affects the way that you present yourself, I guess, to the outside world, or how you feel internally. And I think everything that you've said there, having that taking that moment to be mindful, taking that moment for yourself, using it as an element of self care. It doesn't necessarily have to be a sexual moment to be essential and a positive one.
Linnea Haviland:Yeah, exactly. And I think that's so important that you're doing this campaigning, because it is a human right to be able to access and have the space to explore your sexuality. And sensuality.
Emily Yates:Yeah. And another thing that I know we've we've discussed previously, and I love that you guys kind of really, really campaign for this and make sure that this is really viewed as important as well, is that sex isn't just penetrative either. It can be in so many different ways by so many different people who identify in so many different ways. And, and again, that's something that I feel can be particularly beneficial to disabled people.
Linnea Haviland:Yeah, absolutely. I agree because thinking of sex just as penetrative sex is limiting so much of what we could do, sexually, or how we could experience sex with another person or with several other people, you know, and it's so important that we sort of start to chip away at that and say, okay, no, it's not foreplay then sex. Why is one thing, one thing? And the other, the other? You know, like, again, I think that stems from patriarchy, really this idea that the, the penis is the agent, sex begins when the penis enters the vagina, you know, rather than actually sex is something between two people who are equal in this relationship, and it's about a given take, and it's about pleasuring each other, and yourself.
Emily Yates:Absolutely, absolutely. Erm and I guess the last thing that I really wanted to talk about before we kind of discussed social handles and who else you would recommend that we follow, is that I just wanted to really talk about the campaign that we've been working on together. And to just explain a little bit, I guess, to anybody watching or listening to this, is that for a lot of disabled people, there's a massive struggle to access clinics and surgeries or anything like that, in order to receive any kind of screening or testing. When it comes to their sexual health, it might be that the clinic itself isn't accessible if you've got a physical impairment. Or it might even be that actually when you get into the surgery and into the office, or the space where you're going to be examined or asked to take tests that there's just not that kind of inclusive understanding around your own sexual health and your own sexual expression to the extent that you feel quite awkward, not very welcomed there, like you're not very well understood, and you're not going to receive the treatment or the care they deserve. So I just wanted to kind of take the time to say that the campaign that we've worked on together is absolutely amazing. It'd be worth us just kind of explaining that to everybody. I know that it's ended now. But explaining that
and saying that SH:24 is there for future needs, and exactly what you guys do?
Linnea Haviland:Yeah, absolutely. So the campaign was for a sexual health week, last year. And we, we did a campaign called Take One Give One where each kit ordered on Fettle, we donated one to Enhance the UK for you to give to your, to your readers or supporters. Yeah, and, and Fettle, er SH:24 is sort of the parent company of Fettle as a brand, which provides the same service, but it's paid for, so it's quite cheap. But it's sort of helps us as a company to first of all
fund the NHS work that SH:24 does, but also to give people a bit more agency if they want to. So on the SH:24 side, you can only order if you're in an area where we provide it where you can only order certain things depending on what the area has decided they want to provide through us, right. So some areas might not have emergency contraception for, for example. Whereas on Fettle, you can order however you want, and you can decide I want to test for these things, even if those things aren't routinely tested for on the NHS, for example. So it gives the user a bit more freedom. And it also can help people support the work we do on SH:24. And that also really worked because it meant that we could donate kits from there for free. We can't do it through SH:24 because all of that has to come from the NHS budget of the local council, but in Fettle we own it. So we can decide, you know, how we distribute those kits, which has been really helpful. Yeah, and I think your points that you made about access are so important. And I really think even in online sexual health and sexual health services, we need to do more to make sure we are accessible to disabled people. And there is such a wide range of needs for people and we have to make sure that, you know, those needs are met. So I think the best thing for us is that we hear from users, if someone says'Actually, this doesn't work for us'. This is why that really helps us to develop the service and make it better for people because the aim is that people should be able to self manage their sexual health as they want. And then we have to make sure that we keep developing our service to be better and better so that more people can use this. So absolutely, if you're using SH:24, or Fettle, you can
check on SH:24 we have a postcode checker to check if it's available in your area, you can order things like emergency contraception, oral contraception, like the pill, you can get an STI test on there. In some areas, you can actually get diagnosed, if you have herpes or warts outbreak, and get treatment for that. You can also get chlamydia treatment, if you are diagnosed with chlamydia. So quite a lot of stuff can be done online. And it can be really helpful to do that from your home, especially if there's trouble accessing your clinic. And if there is something that doesn't work for you, or that you have certain, you know, specific needs, that you're not sure they're going to be met, when you order, there's a little comment box, you can say there 'actually, you know, maybe drawing blood is going to be really difficult for me, is there another way I can get this blood test', or whatever your need might be. And there's sometimes there's ways we can get around that. Other times, if something didn't work, at the end of the journey, there's a feedback section. So you can tell us actually, this didn't work for us. And that's super helpful for us when we develop our service.
Emily Yates:Good. That's great. And, and I love what you say about giving people the agency and the autonomy to be able to access these tests, you know, even if it's not necessarily within clinics or surgeries themselves. And just to say from from our point of view, it's been a real pleasure working with you, you know, we've learned so much. And it's been wonderful to be able to really deliver hundreds of these testing kits to disabled people themselves and disabled people to be able to have that autonomy and that agency to be able to do those tests in their own home, in the comfort of their own home with their own accessible and inclusive environment around them. Pop the test back in the post, and there it is all done. And yeah, thank you.
Linnea Haviland:And it's been so great working with you guys, too. I mean, I've learned so much. And I love what you're doing with the Love Lounge and the Undressing Disability campaign. I think it's so great.
Emily Yates:That's so kind. Right, so to finish up, last question then. I would love for people to know where they can follow you and see some of your brilliant artwork. I'd love people to know how they can get in touch with SH:24, should they have more questions, or want to find out more information or educate themselves on any of the issues we've discussed. And I'd love to know if there's any particularly cool accounts - I don't know if cool is a cool word anymore! Maybe it's not! - that you'd really, really recommend following around this kind of area that we're discussing, for information, for education. And for a bit of a laugh.
Linnea Haviland:Yeah, so you can go to SH:24, the website is www.sh24.org.uk. With fettle it's fettle.health. And on the Fettle website, there's something called the help centre, which has kind of article on commonly asked questions and we routinely update that as well, based on the questions people ask. So that's a good place, if you have some specific questions that you're not sure. On the SH:24 website, there's also a lot of information pages on all of the most common STI's, so you can read about symptoms, you can read about how common they are, when you should get checked, how often you should check for them, all of that information is there, as well as information about all the different contraceptions. And we also have something called the contraceptive comparison tool. So if you have two different methods, you're not sure what the difference is, there's a tool there that can help you compare them. So if you're making a decision about what to choose, that's really helpful.
So that's on the SH:24 website and on the Fettle website. And on Instagram, you can follow us at SH:24 underscore NHS, same on Twitter. That's where we have a lot of interactions with users. We do a lot of stories. So I post fun stuff like that sort of more general education around sex and sexual health talking about all things taboo. Other good places to follow. I love this Instagram called sex positive families.
Emily Yates:Okay,
Linnea Haviland:it's a it's an American Instagram and it's the sex educator in the US. She talks about how do you talk to your children about sex positivity. And I think that's so interesting because I learned new things there every every day and she's really good at kind of, I'm not a parent myself, but even just kind of understanding, okay, what's appropriate, at what age, how do you talk about these things? At what age and for most of us, I mean, myself anyways, I didn't really have a sex positive kind of environment growing up so I can't sort of go back to how I learned things. I want to do it differently. So that is a great resource for that, I think. I also really like one called decolonise contraception. They talk a lot about racism and colonialism and that how that's been part of sexual health and, and contraception. So that's actually really interesting in an historical perspective, you learn a lot there about bias within sexual health and where that comes from.
Emily Yates:Wow. Okay, I'm going to be following both of those straightaway. It's been amazing working with you, you know, I really, really love SH:24 and what you guys do, and I love the fact that as we said, at the very beginning, you gave information and education in a way that is accessible, it truly is accessible to different people who have different requirements, and perhaps want to learn about things in a way that is not so scary. And I think that's really important. So, thank you.
Linnea Haviland:Thank you so much.
Emily Yates:Thanks for listening. For more information or to have a chat with us, please visit enhance the uk.org. From there, you can also sign up to our Undressing Disability hub, a platform for professionals to connect and collaborate in the arena of sex and disability.