A Wordle of this blog - pretty cool

Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month

http://www.facebook.com/events/153841478099320/

What enhances sexual health?

I have just been reading lots of information regarding working with people with sexualised behaviours and sex offenders. One of the articles really struck a chord. The basic premise in this article is  that treatment imlpications should focus on working on a persons

• self esteem
• shame
• cognitive distortions (thoughts)
• empathy

This is not so different from the ideas that we have been saying for years in terms of sexual health and relationships education. SHARE is not just about giving the facts. It is also in a large part linking sexual health facts into the above 4 points, helping people explore these issues as it relates to them and helping them build on their own self belief to develop positive expressions of sexuality.

I will give an example of the above four points and relate them to Sexual Health and Relationships Education;

 Self Esteem: In a recent discussion with a young man he was saying that he would never get a girlfriend because as a lover he was as exciting as 'limp cabbage'

As it turns out this young man had never had sexual relationships beyond kissing. One of the people he had kissed said that his kiss was as exciting as limp cabbage. His sexual self esteem plummeted as a result of this and he decided to believe there was nothing he could do about this so he had better just 'give up'. Well we did some education about kissing/sex/intercourse/relationships/relationship skills.It was his knowledge that was lacking. In his case the partial solution was to educate and provide a safe space to explore his issues.

Shame: In a small group of young women the discussion turned to vulvas and it quickly became apparent that almost all of these young women were ashamed of THEIR OWN vulvas. Not only that but several of these women stated that they will never let someone (including themselves) explore their vulvas because they did not want them being compared to other peoples vulvas (mostly compared to vulvas they had seen on the internet). They made comments like " They are disgusting/dirty/weird. As it turns out this became a great session to explore such resoures as ' Petals' and 'I'll Show You Mine'.

I wish I had the big colouring book of vaginas at that stage.

Cognitive Distortions: A common cognitive distortion is from miscommunication theory that suggests that many incidents of coercion between heterosexuals are the result of miscommunication between men and women.The two most common being that" men overestimate women's interest in sex and women give token resistance to sex" (Melanie Beres 2009). Clearly these are distortions that we as SHARE educators can work on.

Empathy:: This is a bit of a hard one to describe and to give ideas on ways to work on it. Marshall, Hudson and Jones in 1995 offered a theoretical framework of four stages.

1. recognition of anothers emotional state
2. viewing the world from anothers perspective
3. experiencing compassion or replication of observed emotion
4. taking action to ameliorate others distress.

The way we tend to explore the idea of empathy in SHARE work is to ensure that we cover issues of diversity, sexual violence etc and explore these in terms of how people feel and respond. What current research is saying in terms of empathy is that empathy is situational (for example many people will not feel empathy for  a villain - or perceived villain). Therefore in SHARE work it is important to explore ranges of situations from many angles to expand on young peoples awareness of empathy.

Pregnancy Birth and Baby

I have just had this sites passed on to me by my excellent manager Helen. It is great - full of excellent information. Things like 

"Many women find that their hair is thicker during pregnancy - this is because not so many hairs fall out during the pregnancy. If this happens for you, you will notice that you lose more hair than usual two or three months after your baby is born, until your hair returns to normal."

Or..

The hot weather can be a time of risk for babies because they are easily affected by the heat. It is important to keep them from getting overheated.

Babies can get stressed by the heat and they need extra care in very hot weather. If you feel uncomfortably hot, your baby will need special care too. Breastfed babies may need extra breastfeeds during hot weather, but they usually do not need extra drinks of water. Bottle-fed babies may need extra formula or small drinks of cool boiled water if they seem thirsty. A 'tepid' bath can help keep your baby cool on a very hot day. The water needs to be warm enough to be comfortable; cool or cold water should not be used.

Put your baby in the coolest part of the house with a fan going. Don't point the fan towards your baby - use it to keep the air in the room moving. Dress your baby with the same type of clothes that you need to feel comfortable - you might only have them in a singlet and nappy, or covered with a light sheet in bed. If it is very hot you can try putting a wet towel in front of the fan so that it cools the air. Keep a watch to make sure the baby does not get cold.

If you have air-conditioning, make sure the room does not become too cold. A room temperature of about 24 to 26 degrees would probably be low enough.

Dress babies lightly, but cover their arms and legs if they are outside.

Avoid travelling in the hot weather if possible, or do it early in the day. Babies can overheat very quickly in cars. Never leave a baby alone in a car. Make sure your baby is in the shade in the car when you are travelling, as a baby's skin can burn in sunlight which has passed through car windows.

So ...Would be fun to work through this site with a young client 

CLICK HERE to go to the site

What would it take to optimise young peoples sexual health?

This is a report from the Youth Affairs Network QLD. Definately worth a look for all youth workers. Its downloadable so you can keep a copy sitting handy on your desk.CLICK HERE

In addition the YANQ has uploaded lots of relevent documents for youth workers. CLICK HERE to go to their site.

Teen dating violence website

http://www.breakthecycle.org/what-is-dating-violence

Definately worth a look.

The Purity Myth

Sounds like a great dvd to get hold of. Here is their blurb.

This alternately hilarious and infuriating new film adaptation of pioneering feminist blogger Jessica Valenti’s bestselling book makes a powerful case that evangelical Christians, right-wing politicians, and conservative activists have been using irrational fears around young women’s sexuality to undermine women’s autonomy and roll back women’s rights. In a wide-ranging analysis that moves from ‘purity balls’ and the abstinence movement to right-wing attacks on Planned Parenthood and women’s reproductive health care, Valenti targets the persistent patriarchal assumption that men know what’s best for women — and that a woman’s worth depends on what she does, or does not do, sexually. 

Sociological resources

Much of our work in sexual health and sexuality is about helping people examine the ways that society places constraints on the way that people choose to portray themselves or live their lives.

This site Sociology Source is a site dedicated to giving YOU resources that you can use in your work with young people.

There are videos and music clips with commentary (and much more). Resources on gender, sexuality, deviance and much much.

As an example have a look at this clip.

Watch Poor Kids on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.

CLICK HERE to go to  Sociology Source

Dude

A much needed resource; 

About

DUDE is a collection of queer and trans perspectives on various topics related to trans guys.

DUDE is a not for profit creative resource designed to celebrate positive representation of trans guys and to share skills and knowledge within our wider community.

DUDE magazine explores sex, relationships, bodies and diversity between transguys and the wider community. Our specific goal is to facilitate smoother, less awkward interactions between transguys and other people; particularly so we can all enjoy hotter, safer sex in more places, more often, with more people!

Sex represents an intersection of bodies, gender, identity and desire which intrigues us, not just because sex for transguys is underrepresented, but because erotic encounters can be seen as extreme and explicit examples of general interactions we experience every day – with a potential and capacity for awkwardness, intimacy, confrontation, education, adoration.

DUDE recognizes and relishes that masculinity is nebulous, and that our relationships to it can be divergent, contradictory and ambiguous. 

CLICK HERE to go to Dude magazine

Stopping homophobia all around the world.

ALL OUT

76 countries make it a crime to be gay or transgender - and in 10, you can still be sentenced to death or life in prison. In many others, the ability to work, raise a family and love who you choose free from threat of violence is not yet a reality.

All Out is bringing together people of every identity - lesbian, gay, straight, bi, transgender and all that's between and beyond - to build a world in which everyone can live freely and be embraced for who they are.

I'm supporting All Out because I believe that equality is inevitable. But we all need to do our part to make that shift happen in 5 years, not 25...or 50. Millions of us are joining forces to go All Out against discrimination, All Out against hate, All Out in favor of equality, love and dignity.

Check it out and spread the word:
www.allout.org/all-out-2012

Asking For It - The Ethics and Erotics of Sexual Consent

Go HERE to see more of how to obtain this excellent looking resource

Legal Education for Young People

Legal Education for Young People

Many young people face distinct challenges and experience considerable barriers when it comes to obtaining legal information and assistance.

With a vision of increasing access to justice for young people, we offer free legal education sessions for schools, youth services and community organisations.

These sessions can be individually catered to meet the needs of your school or organisation.

Topics may include:

     - sexual assault laws
     - cyber bullying
     - mobile phones, social media and legal risks
     - interactions with police, arrest and custody
     - the youth justice system
     - legal services to the community
     - consumer issues

The Legal Services Commission has recently launched Trusted Moments, a short film developed as an early intervention strategy for the prevention of sexual assault.

Trusted Moments is designed to be used within schools, youth services, and FLO programs as a tool for facilitating discussion and learning about the law of consent and the importance of respectful relationships.

Set at a 17^th birthday party, the film draws attention to types of attitudes and behaviours that can lead to sexual assault and the potential impact of these behaviours on personal relationships and communities. It also highlights the inherent legal risks associated with using mobile phones for producing and sharing sexually explicit images of young people.

The film is supported by the Trusted Moments Study Guide. The Study Guide contains a number of resources including fact sheets that introduce young people to basic legal concepts to facilitate their participation in the learning activities suggested in the Study Guide.

To download the film's resources please visitwww.trustedmoments.com.au

As part of the Trusted Moments early intervention program, organisations using the resource are able to book legal education workshops for 2013 that explore in more detail the legal issues raised by the film. The workshops provide a unique opportunity for schools, youth services and community organisations to engage young people and staff in early intervention education about laws dealing with sexual assault and other criminal offences.

To view Trusted Moments or to discuss how your school or organisation may use this resource please contact Ella Pak Poy, Legal Education Officer, on the details above.

First Time Intercourse

Here is a really good post by one of my favourite sexologists (Cory Silverberg) about First Time Intercourse. What I really like about this is that it is detailed but easy to read. Cory covers such topics as:

• What is intercourse?
• Does it hurt?
• Preparing for Intercourse
• How do you 'do' it?
• First time intercourse with second thoughts
• Sex beyond intercourse.

If you are working with young people this might be a handy printout to keep nearby. CLICK HERE to go to the site