England consistently has some of the poorest sexual health outcomes in Europe – we are a nation riddled with STIs.

New diagnoses increased by 5% in 2018 from 2017, syphilis and gonorrhoea have increased by 165% and 249% respectively in the past decade. 

And, worryingly, it is marginalised communities and ethnic minorities who are disproportionately impacted by higher rates of sexually transmitted infections.

It is no surprise that Black and minority communities fare worse when it comes to sexual health as these groups tend to have poorer health outcomes generally – with experts pointing to systemic inequalities in healthcare and poor accessibility as a root cause.

Another key cause of the unequal sexual health outcomes may be failings in sex education. Experts and campaigners believe that what we are taught in schools is a ‘whitewashed’ version of sexual health education that inherently excludes children of colour.

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