It’s that time again – Sexual & Reproductive Health Week! We celebrate this week annually with Action Canada for Sexual Health & Rights, which Sexual Health NS is an affiliate of. Here is some info from Action Canada on the significance of the week and this year’s theme:
“Sexual and Reproductive Health Awareness Week (SRH Week) is a yearly campaign designed to raise awareness on sexual and reproductive health and promote resources to improve community health in Canada.
This year SRH Week is from February 8-14 with the theme: Youth-friendly care: it’s your right.
Every young person deserves to have their sexual health taken seriously. Youth-friendly sexual health care centres the experience of young people and sees access to sexual and reproductive health as a right. It means having open, non-judgmental, trauma-informed, and sex positive conversations about sex, sexuality, and sexual health.
Youth-friendly care also means seeing sexual health as an integral part of our overall health. It means looking at how issues like age, gender, race, or sexual orientation can have an impact on access to health care.
Young people are the experts when it comes to their own health. They are a diverse group with different needs and desires and the care they receive needs to be adapted to their unique experience.
This year’s campaign is for young people and anyone who works with or alongside them. We want every young person to feel empowered, comfortable, and supported when they visit a healthcare provider. That’s why we will be sharing resources to help clinics offer youth-friendly care, diving into topics like sexual orientation and gender identity, disability, and much more.”
Check out all of Action Canada’s content and resources here: www.actioncanadashr.org/srhweek
To mark SRH Week this year we will be releasing two new resources! The first is a resource created to share with our community what services are available at SHNS’ network of sexual health centres specifically for youth. All of our centres provide services informed by and created for youth, some of which are ongoing and some are new programs and services that are currently happening across the province. Check out this resource here:
Youth Services at SHNS Sexual Health Centres
The second resource is a special youth-edition of our yearly Recommended Reads resource, filled with suggestions for great sexual health reads that young people can enjoy! Check it out here: