Talking about sex is awkward, so how can teenagers ‘just ask’ for consent?

By Elsie Whittington The topic of sexual consent seems to be in the news on a daily basis, especially since #MeToo went viral one year ago. From posters to podcasts, there are endless resources promoting the importance of getting and giving explicit consent. Many suggest that a “yes” must always be enthusiastic, and that partners …

Building Strength And Resilience After A Sexual Assault: What Works

By April Fulton The wrenching testimony of Christine Blasey Ford, who is accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of a sexual assault years ago, raises questions about the long-term emotional and physical toll this kind of trauma takes on survivors and how our society responds to those who come forward long after the assault. Emily …

The Kavanaugh allegations show why we need to change how we teach kids about sex

By Sarah Hosseini When I was 13 years old, I met a guy at the gas station right outside my suburban neighborhood in Upstate New York. Other neighborhood kids and I would go there to buy sodas and smoke cigarettes behind our parents’ backs. He was a friend of a boy I went to school …

3 Experts on What’s Missing From the Consent Discussion

By Kasandra Brabaw In 1990, a group of women gathered at Antioch College to talk about the growing problem of rape on their campus, drafting the very first version of the school’s Sexual Offense Prevention Policy (SOPP). In doing so, they created what we now know as affirmative consent, decades before anyone else began using …

6 sex-positive YouTube channels you need to follow

By Emma Elizabeth These YouTubers are giving the progressive, inclusive and sex-positive sex ed we never got in school. A huge chunk of (majority straight!) women today are not having orgasms- partly because they never learned how to masturbate– or that they should. Having these awesome, sex-positive resources available to young people is revolutionary. Of …

The Puberty Book Embraced by Preteens, Parents, and Sex Educators Alike

Since its publication 20 years ago, The Care and Keeping of You has taught young girls about their bodies in a uniquely forthright and approachable way. by Allison Pohle I first learned about periods from a cartoon. Just before I started middle school, my mom handed me a large white book with three cartoon girls …

Sex, technology and disability – it’s complicated

By Phillippa Carnemolla People living with disability are largely excluded from conversations about sexuality, and face overlapping barriers to sexual expression that are both social and physical. Media portrayals of sexuality often focus on a visual and verbal vocabulary that is young, white, cisgender, heterosexual and … not disabled. My research into inclusive design explores …