I’ve been on the contraceptive pill since I was 18. It’s almost 20 years since I plucked up the courage to ask my family doctor for it but, thanks to the sex and relationship education (SRE) provided by my school, I knew enough to prepare myself and take control of my body. In all those years, I have never had an occasion when the pill didn’t perform its primary function, but I know where I could go to get help and advice if that did ever happened. I’ve taken other precautions too, and have also been for STI testing, because I know a lot of the bad stuff about sex as well as the good stuff. Not everyone’s that lucky though and, if we’re not careful, no one will be.
“Having healthy sex is important because of the impact it has on a person’s wider health and wellbeing. Control over our fertility, safety from infections and access to good quality, unbiased information and support is all vital and helps us maintain safe, happy relationships. For more than 50 years, people have fought for the right to understand, care for and improve their sexual health and relationships […] Imagine if all of that was taken away.”
So much has been achieved yet government funding cuts and sly policy changes are threatening to undo all that good work and take us back to a time when SRE was minimal, contraception was costly, access to STI testing was limited, and abortion was illegal. XES – We Can’t Go Backwards is a fantastic campaign run by the sexual health charities Brook and FPA to prevent our rights from being eroded. Support the XES campaign and speak up for the majority of the population who need and use these essential services and information. Please join me in helping to spread the word and remind people how important this is.
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