We are supporting Healthwatch Youth on a project to raise awareness about women’s sexual health well-being, focusing on sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
The project aims to understand the challenges young women aged between 16-25 years face when accessing NHS sexual health services across the borough and in Reading.
This project stems from feedback telling local Healthwatch that "sex education in school was very limited" and from the lived experiences shared by youth team members regarding sexual health education.
In addition, young people across the UK aged between 15-24 years continue to experience the highest diagnosis rates of the most common STIs.
In 2023, there were 166,899 new STI diagnoses in young people across the UK.*
This reflects the higher rates of partner change among this age group. Young women may be more likely to be diagnosed with an STI due to sexual mixing by age and gender - some young women may have older male partners.*
If you identify as female and are aged between 16-25 years, please complete our survey.
Please share the survey or this news article with others. The more responses we gather, the better we can help to improve sexual health knowledge and services for young people across the borough.
Click on the link to complete the short survey to ensure your voice is heard: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/HWRdgYouth_WSH/
*Data and information taken from UK Health Security Agency’s Sexually transmitted infections and screening for chlamydia in England: 2023 report (updated 4 June 2024).