Sexpo from VIU Students’ Union breaks down sexual health barriers
Francis (second from right) said the most important piece of advice is that every strong relationship needs to have strong communication. (Lauryn Mackenzie /CHLY 101.7fm)
For many people, sexual health was only something taught to them in high school. Vancouver Island University Students’ Union wants to go further in breaking down stigma and opening up conversion around sexual health and consent.
On Thursday February 5, the VIU Students’ Union (VIUSU) held their third annual sex positivity expo, also known as the Sexpo, on campus in the lobby of the Malaspina Theatre.
The event is held for students and young adults, to learn about sex positivity, education around consent, and safe and healthy sexual expression.
CHLY spoke with the VIUSU Women’s Representative Maggie Velisek at the event.
“We have a lot of young students, people who maybe they've just moved out; this is their first time living alone. They're at a certain age where they're probably exploring sexuality and safe sex and and their expression,” Velisek said. “I think it's really important to have a celebration of that and a space where they can meet local organizations who might have resources for them and can help them figure things out and express themselves in a healthy, consensual way.”
While Velisek said it is a coincidence the event always falls around Valentine’s Day, she said it’s a great timing because people have love in their mind.
“We want people to be having safe sex and taking care of each other and respecting each other, especially in romantic relationships,” Velisek said.
She said this event is really important as it connects students with resources while they are exploring their sexuality.
“I think it's just really important to know about resources in case you are having some issues,” Velisek said. “Just to encourage people to behave safely, but still explore and be respectful, especially for younger people figuring things out.”
The event featured different community and university resources including Risebridge, AIDS Vancouver Island, the VIU Positive Space Alliance, and Options for Sexual Health. As well, entertainment was provided by aerial circus group Circus Freaks during the event.
Alysha Somerton is a sex educator from Vancouver who came to the Sexpo to teach people about sexual health and answer questions from attendees.
“Most people didn't get a lot [of sexual health education] in high school, and so I have so much fun talking to people about pleasures and their bodies and de-stigmatizing,” Somerton said. “It's a lot of unlearning, honestly, because a lot of people learn stuff from social media or the media or their family to have shame around sex, and my whole thing is to de-shameify sex and sexuality.”
She said when hearing from young adults, many of them may have not learned anything about pleasure in their sexuality.
“I have had someone tell me, ‘I think you should take the fact that you talk about pleasure off of your website, because it's going to scare people. They just want to know that you're teaching kids about things like condoms and how not to get pregnant and things like that,’” Somerton said “But I think it's so important to talk about the fact that sex is supposed to be pleasurable as well.”
As a sex educator, Somerton said they hear from young people all the time about how excited they are to finally learn about sexual health outside of what they learned in high school.
She said people seeking to learn more on their own, should follow sex educators on social media and start having conversations with friends.
To start conversations around sexual health, she recommends trying to frame the conversation around pop culture like the hit show Heated Rivalry, or even just asking friends what their high school sexual health class was like.
“Have that conversation with your friend, try and be that person that likes to break down the stigma yourself,” Somerton said. “It's gonna feel awkward and weird at first, but the more you talk about it, the better it's gonna feel.”
Jessica Francis is the co-chair of the VIU Fireside Feminist club. She said they are at the event to promote their club and teach about feminism and consent.
“Without gender equality, there cannot be equal consent, because if you do not respect your partner, then that's just simply not consent, and it's not sex positive,” Francis said.
She said the most important piece of advice is that every strong relationship needs to have strong communication.
“Clear and open communication, making sure that you are telling your partner exactly what you want and making sure that they are listening to you,” Francis said.
Jackson Busch and Mickey Barclay are alumni of VIU and were tabling at the Sexpo to help educate attendees on transgender people, and what sexual health and wellness looks like for transgender people.
Barclay said this need to educate comes from seeing how limited sexual education around queer or transgender people is for youths who have only received sexual health classes in high school.
“In Canada, Alberta and Saskatchewan specifically, [sexual health education] is getting even more limited,” Barclay said. “So it's important that people you know are taught about this willingly and for people, parents, or other trans kids that might not know that they're trans yet or might not have a safe space to live.”
Busch said sexual health for transgender people deals with a lot of other topics that wouldn’t usually be addressed.
“So like, what happens when bodies change? How does that affect sex? Issues of consent and body dysphoria, and how they come up during sex, and how you can navigate those,” Busch said.
Busch said, what they have been seeing over the years is while there is some limited education, the intimidation of getting something wrong or offending each other gets in the way of actual conversation.
“It's different for every person, and it's so hard to navigate these issues, even for trans people, that unless people know a trans person and can have those lived experiences,” Busch said. “It becomes hard to even know what a trans person looks like.”
Anita Carroll is a nurse at Options for Sexual Health in Nanaimo. She wants to teach as many young people that it is possible to have fun with their sexual health while ensuring they regularly get tested to prevent the spread of STIs.
“We're in a society that still seems to have so much stigma and shame around sexual health and mental health,” Carroll said. “It just blows my mind how many people actually don't know about how to talk about consent before they're doing anything, and what's okay for them or what's not okay for them.”
She said it is important for people to know there is no shame in getting tested regularly for STIs.
“I say to people, you got bitten by a dog, you need stitches, you'd go and get seen. If you broke your arm, you go get it cast,” Carroll said. “Why is sexual health and or mental health so stigmatized?”
Along with STI testing and care, the Options for Sexual Health clinic, located at 1665 Grant Ave, offers free birth control, Pap screenings, pregnancy testing, and pregnancy options counselling.
As well, Carroll said, Options is also a place where people can just go in and ask questions with a health care worker about sexual or reproductive health.
“I just think that this is something that we need to be embracing and making anything about sexual health normal and get rid of all of the stigma that we have about it. We're all sexual beings. We're born sexual beings. We die sexual beings,” Carroll said. “So how do we do this and give people the confidence and allow them to be learning more and feel more confident?”
Options for Sexual Health is open Mondays from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. as well as Tuesday and Wednesdays from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.