Ahead of our Online Clinic on Sexual Health, we wanted to find out more about general awareness of sexual health amongst our visitors and members, and better understand whether people are practicing safe sex. We also wanted to know how informed our audience are about sexually transmitted infections and if they know where to go if they are experiencing symptoms. We discovered where people are learning about sex, if/what they know about contraception options, STIs and more.

Here are the top highlights from the survey:

• The most popular forms of contraception amongst our participants are condoms (44%) and the oral contraceptive pill (36%). Other less popular forms include the IUD or Coil (17%), implants (10%) and injections. Only 1% of those who took the survey use femidoms.
• A small number believed that the contraceptive pill (13%), the IUD/Coil (7%) and implants (7%) can also protect against both
• Only 56% have ever been tested for STIs and 34% have had a one-night stand with unprotected sex. 15% admit to having had an STI at one point in their lives.
• 31% were not aware of the location of their local GUM (genitourinary medicine) or sexual health clinic

If you would like more support with your condition, here are some helpful links:

talkwomen’s health hub
talkwomen’s health forum
talkmen’s health forum
talkmen’s health hub
mywellbeing support programme