OUR LATEST ISSUE
Many lesbian and bisexual women are reluctant to be honest about their sexuality when talking to doctors
Love Your Inner Lesbian
Love your inner lesbian - Stonewall's new health campaign
Stonewall's new poster campaign, Love your inner lesbian, was launched today.
Funded by the Department of Health, it aims to encourage lesbian and bisexual women to take better care of themselves through health awareness information that will appear in surgeries and healthcare centres.
The campaign resulted from the first major survey of lesbian and bisexual women's health ever undertaken in the UK, Prescription for Change, involving over 6000 lesbian and bisexual women.
It found alarming levels of substance abuse, self harm and exclusion from routine testing for cervical cancer, but also that lesbian and bisexual women are reluctant to be honest about their sexuality when talking to doctors, and often don't speak frankly about their health needs.
It also revealed that half of those who responded reported a recent negative NHS experience, deterring them from visiting their GP, or coming out to them, and consequently making it less likely they'll be treated early and appropriately. Apart from the health consequences of this delay, it also inevitably meant higher costs for the NHS when accurate diagnosis finally took place.
The recommendations in Prescription for Change included increasing lesbian visibility through posters and leaflets covering lesbian and bisexual-specific health issues in hospitals and surgeries so that women felt more comfortable.
The Love your inner lesbian series of posters available for healthcare centres depicts the slogan and encourages women to be more open with their doctor about their healthcare needs, along with key statistics from the report - including smear testing, lesbian parenting, mental health issues and drink and drug habits.
Ruth Hunt, Stonewall's Head of Policy and Research, said: "At Stonewall we recognise that, even though our extensive programme of work benefits women as well as men, lesbians face unique challenges and encounter issues that men don't - especially in terms of healthcare. The poster campaign continues Stonewall's commitment to act upon our research to improve the lives of lesbian, gay and bisexual people - at home, at school and at work."
Love your inner lesbian posters can be ordered from the free infoline 08000 50 20 20
