WELFARE AND LIBERATION

SEX AND SEXUAL HEALTH

Hi JCR!

We’re Flo and Shirav, your JCR Welfare Reps. We provide sexual health supplies (condoms, lubricant, dental dams) and pregnancy tests – all confidentially and free of charge – just fill out Sexual Health supplies form. What we really want is for everyone to enjoy their time here in Cambridge, and look for everyone to view Catz as a safe, healthy and happy environment! Please scroll down to see some additional information on Sexual Health, and where you can get help in Cambridge, as well as a guide to Sex and Wellbeing!

Community Health Practitioner:

The community health practitioner, Ryan Hegarty, works in room E1A (at the end of a short corridor to the right of the lift opposite the JCR, on the first floor of E). The surgery hours are:

We offer free sexual health supplies so contact us or fill in the Sexual Health supplies form below if you need condoms, lubricant, dental dams, pregnancy tests or STI tests.

Sexual Health:

Not all people choose to engage in sexual acts, but a very normal and healthy part of your sex life is making sure that you have not contracted Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs or STIs). While discussing these topics may make you feel uncomfortable, it is a really important thing which all people who choose to engage in any sexual act should engage in, regardless of your gender or sexual orientation.

Sexual acts which can transmit STIs include: all forms of oral sex, sex with toys that touch genitals, and any form of penetration with toys, fingers or genitals. Everyone’s sex life looks different, but everyone still needs testing. It is important to discuss STIs with your partner/s, and to make it a routine part of your sex life, in the same way that clear consent is. All STIs can be managed with relative ease, so there is no need to avoid or be apprehensive of testing. Testing can also be anonymous. It can look like a vaginal swab, or peeing into a cup. If you are doing a full test, blood may also be drawn (but this is up to you).

There may also be situations in which you did not choose to engage in a sexual act, in which case please approach any members of the welfare team or your college tutor for support (see more below). Please do also note that medical practitioners in Sexual Health Clinics are trained to care for you also, and will proceed with care and with an awareness of your situation, and they will offer you additional support if needed.

Where can I go in Cambridge to get Sexual Health/contraceptive advice and care?

You can go and see your GP in Cambridge if you’re experiencing symptoms - please see information in the Welfare Guide about GP surgeries in Cambridge. The nearest to Catz is on Trumpington Street, and please note that you can book an emergency appointment with any GP regardless of whether or not you are signed up with them.

You will most likely be referred by your GP to Lime Tree Clinic , the local Sexual Health Clinic in Cambridge, who will then be able to diagnose and treat your symptoms. You can also go directly to the clinic for testing, either by phoning and booking or by attending a ‘drop in clinic’.

When should I get tested?

Ideally, you should get tested after every change in sexual partner, and you should leave roughly 2-6 weeks before getting tested (unless you have symptoms, in which case you should go immediately). While we can provide a test for Chlamydia and Gonorrhoea (see the Sexual Health supplies form) we would recommend that for your first test you attend the clinic, so that you can get a full test and so that you can discus additional needs with a medical practitioner (for example, contraception). Moreover, if you are in a demographic of people who are at higher risk of contracting HIV, then you will need to attend a clinic in order to be tested for this, and you may discuss using PrEP with a medical practitioner (offered at Lime Tree Clinic). However, it is best practice for everyone to get a full STI test regardless of risk.

What symptoms could I experience?

Common symptoms include (for more info, please refer to this page) :

• Unusual discharge from the penis, anus or vagina

• Pain when peeing

• Lumps or skin growths around the genitals or bottom (anus)

• Rashes

• Unusual vaginal bleeding

• Itchy genitals

• Blisters or sores around the genitals or anus

• Warts around the genitals or anus

Contraception:

While we offer a range of free barrier contraceptives in college (see the above form), you may decide that you would like to use a different method of contraception.

PLEASE NOTE: only barrier contraceptives, i.e. a condom, can prevent against both pregnancy and STIs. Unless you and your partner/s are regularly testing for STIs or if you are exclusively seeing one or several people (who are also only seeing you) who have been tested, you should continue to use condoms as you are still able to catch STIs.

What contraceptives are available to me?

At Lime Tree Clinic, a range of contraceptive services are available. Again, you are welcome to see your GP regarding contraceptives, but Sexual Health Clinics often have a dedicated and very experienced contraceptive team who may be able to find a more nuanced solution to fit your needs.

Contraceptive solutions may include:

• the Contraceptive Pill

• Copper Coil or Hormonal Coil

• Hormonal Injection

• Contraceptive Implant

• Contraceptive Patch

• Vaginal ring

• Sterilisation

• Vasectomy

• Vaginal Condoms or Diaphragm / Cap

Emergency contraception (which can be taken up to 120 hours after sexual intercourse, possibly longer if you elect for an emergency coil), can be prescribed by a Sexual Health Clinic, Pharmacy or GP. If you need to access abortion services, you can be referred by a Sexual Health Clinic or GP, or you can self refer to abortion services - please find more information and support here.

For more details on STI testing, see the Testing for STIs document.

Sex and Wellbeing

Sex is great for a lot of reasons: it can reduce stress, help you connect more intimately with a partner, help you understand yourself more thoroughly and allow you to have a lot of fun. But, sex can also be a bit complicated, for a lot of reasons. What sex is to you, and what it means to you, is different for everyone — and it is very normal for you to come to university not having an answer to either of these. While you may not want to have sex or be ready to engage in sex, you may come to university wishing to explore sex and sexuality. While we often discuss the physical consequences of sex, it is also important for you to develop a holistic understanding of your relationship with sex. In this section we wanted to share some resources with you which may open some internal dialogue, or dialogue with friends, about sex.

What is sex?

Sex really does look different for everyone, and your definition of sex might be very different from someone else. While you may have been taught a very biological and heteronormative view of sexual intercourse in school, you may find that upon having sex, your definition changes — this does not make your sex life any less valid or fulfilling.

If you haven’t engaged in any sexual acts and are planning to do so (or even if you already have), it may be a good idea to have a think about what you consider sex to be (perhaps in terms of intimacy and pleasure, rather than biology), so that you may be more empowered in future to set boundaries which feel more appropriate to you.

Here is a great video by Hannah Witton (who’s YouTube Channel has loads of great videos on sex, including discussions from pleasure and arousal, to STIs) to open up the conversation on what sex can actually be:

It is also important to establish what good sex means to you. While consent is essential across all you sexual experiences, not many other things are. Sex and pleasure do not necessarily go hand-in-hand, and it is completely normal to have to experiment a bit to find out what works for you - please do not think that you are abnormal for not enjoying sex straight away, whether it is your first time or whether you are starting a new relationship with a different partner! Basic things which you may want to introduce in your sex life from the beginning include lubricant or sex toys. Learning to communicate what you like, once you’ve worked it out, is not only vital for having great sex, but also to ensure you are having safe and consensual sex.

Teen Vogue has a great log of articles on sex which can spark really important, empowering and useful conversations. Examples include ‘How to be an Ethical Hookup Partner’, ‘Yes fat people have sex. Here’s how to do it best’ and ‘Trying to figure out if you’re Top, Bottom or Vers? You’re not alone’.

Sex and Sexuality:

Sex and sexuality are not the same, but you may end up exploring one while exploring the other. While this is hopefully a fun and exciting experience, you may also find it challenging in a few ways. For community support in Cambridge and advice please refer to the LGBTQ+ page. Here are some additional resources which may help:

• A useful guide to sexual orientation can be found here

• The Terrence Higgins Trust offers useful information about sexual health, and more specifically HIV

• Sexual Health support for Bisexual and Lesbian women or Non-Binary/ Gender non-conforming people can be found here (NB: the language on this website refers to women, but you may find it useful even if you do not identify as such)

Sex and gender:

For some people, the interaction between their gender and sexual acts can also be challenging. Again, please refer to our LGBTQ+ page to find support and community in Cambridge. Here are some additional resources which you may find useful:

• Teen Vogue article on navigating Gender Dysphoria and Sex, written by Syd Stephenson who identifies as Non-binary and gender fluid

• A video by Ash Hardell (a queer, trans Non-binary Youtuber) and Dr Lindsey Doe (sexologist and host of the Sexplanations YouTube Channel) discussing Sex and Gender Dysphoria, and tactics for handling the two

• A video on Transgender Sex Education by Jamie from the YouTube Channel Jammidodger

Sex and consent:

One of the most important aspects of a healthy sex life is consent. Consent should be at the heart of all your sexual interactions: the best sex happens when you feel safe and able to voice what you want to happen. However, consent is not always simple. As your sex life progresses, you may well encounter situations, for example in relationships or involving alcohol, in which giving informed consent is either not possible or you find challenging. By making sure everyone understands consent, we can try our best to avoid situations in which it is not given.

What is consent?

This page from Rape Crisis gives a really great over view of what consent is, especially beyond simply saying yes or no. The tea video is a popular resource for explaining consent, but is often over used in schools/ sex education to the point where people don’t really listen to the message. Having serious conversations with friends and peers about consent is vital in order to help you identify situations in which you or someone you know did not give or receive consent. Try having these discussions with yourself or with friends about how you’d feel in more complex consent situations, such as: when both people involved are too drunk to consent, or when you are with a partner who you are emotionally involved with and might feel nervous about disappointing them, or a scenario where they have performed sexual acts on you but you no longer want to perform any sexual acts on/with them. This article can be a really great conversation starter for having a conversation about consent in relation to ‘hookup culture’, which is something people often experience for the first time at university.

I had non-consensual sexual experience, what should I do now?

Please reach out for support, either from you college tutor, the welfare team or anyone else who you feel comfortable telling (if someone has come to you about about an incident, you can ask one of these trained individuals for help in supporting them without revealing their identity). This page from Rape Crisis, will direct you to your nearest rape crisis centre, and offers avenues of support for if the incident happened recently, a long time ago or if you do not know when it occurred. This is the link to the Cambridge rape crisis centre, and here is a link to another help centre in Cambridge, The Elms SARC, who can also be contacted on 01480 425003. The Cambridge Union Advice Service also offers a list of national services to help demographics such as male and LGBTQ+ survivors.

If you would like to report the incident, these are the official pages for St Catharine’s and the University for if you would like to raise a complaint about an incident involving students or staff. You may want to report it to the police. Both of these avenues can look intimidating, so please reach out for support if this is an avenue you would like to take, and someone from the college will be able to help you through it. Please also know that if you would not like to report the incident, you are very much still able to receive the support that you need.