Fisting is a sexual practice that is almost always left out of sex and sexuality education. It elicits strong reactions, both from practitioners who describe it as a highly pleasurable, safe, and even spiritual activity, and from critics and clinicians who condemn it as dangerous. Fisting has attracted little scholarly attention but has ignited…

Autism can make menstruation and menopause and other aspects of reproductive and sexual health (RSH) more difficult. However, healthcare professionals (HCPs) often fail to provide autism-aware care, and often lack the skills or confidence to discuss RSH with patients. This study explored whether autistic people experience particular difficulties…

Background: Specific treatment and interventions for individuals with Autism Spectrum Conditions who display harmful sexual behaviour have yet to be widely evaluated. This review aims to consolidate and assess the quality of research exploring non-pharmacological interventions for individuals with Autism Spectrum Conditions who display harmful…

This comparative study examines the way the news media in the United Kingdom and Thailand discursively portrayed the platform OnlyFans and its content creators. Two specialized corpora of news articles about the platform published between January 2016 and July 2022 in both countries formed the data. Using the approaches of Cross-linguistic…

Introduction: The Relationships and Sexuality Research Team consists of researchers with learning disabilities who specialise in research on sexual citizenship and use visual and creative research methods. They are collaborating with academics on an innovative, cross-national, interdisciplinary and co-produced research project that brings together…

Autistic individuals have reported lower satisfaction in their romantic relationships compared to non-autistic individuals. Previous research on the factors that contribute to relationship satisfaction within autism has focused on the characteristics of autistic participants as barriers to relationship satisfaction, while overlooking the role of…

Background: Care staff supporting people with intellectual disabilities (PWID) report accepting views on PWID's sexual expression, but people with intellectual disabilities report their sexual expression is restricted by care staff. Methods: We recruited a panel of 17 UK clinical psychologists experienced in helping care staff support PWID's…

Universities are increasingly recognized as spaces and cultures where gendered and sexualized harassment is endemic. This article pays close attention to the manifestations of sexualized behaviours in a campus university in the UK, examining some of the ways in which formations of masculinity are encouraged and reproduced through university…

The concept of 'professional boundaries' -- widely used in sectors where professional relationships between adults are regulated -- has not commonly been drawn on in higher education (HE) to understand and denote appropriate relationships between faculty or staff and students. Nevertheless, in recent years the question of how to regulate sexual…

Statutory requirements for compulsory Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) in the UK is generating concern among many religious communities and reigniting debates about the purpose of School Based Sexuality Education (SBSE). Among the communities voicing their dissent are members of the British Islamic community. Quranic scripture deems…

This is a reflexive account of carrying out 'dirty research' on "cis" women's experiences of working as erotic dancers while at university in the UK. Focusing on the recruitment process, I discuss how universities avoided becoming 'subjects' of research by blocking the study and labelling it 'extremely sensitive' or 'inappropriate'. By…

Reflecting on a previous article, I evaluate changes encountered around teaching sexuality over the past 22 years in different geo-political settings. This article examines the ways in which my teaching practices, as an academic committed to equality, have developed in relation to different academic and political contexts. This personal pathway…

In this photo essay, I use a diary-style narrative and photojournalistic images to document my experiences in gendered spaces in a UK collegiate university during the academic year 2022-2023, unveiling complexities of gender and sexual diversity in academic settings. I delineate three domains - terra firma, digital skies, and echoes of…

First-year undergraduate students in the United Kingdom undergo significant change in their lives as they embark upon their university experience. They may be exposed to various social and psychological factors that increase their risk of poor sexual health. Indeed, epidemiological data suggest that young people (including students) face sexual…

The aims of this study were to investigate the lived experiences of people with complex communication needs in developing romantic and sexual relationships, and identify and explore barriers and facilitators they encountered in pursuing these relationships. For the study, nine participants were interviewed. All were at least 21-years-old, used…