Media Release
New sex health website targets teens
A new reproductive and sexual health website just launched is already helping young people throughout Australia and around the world deal with their real-life dilemmas.
www.yoursexhealth.org was commissioned by the University of Melbourne's Key Centre for Women's Health in Society.
Two days after its launch, which was timed to coincide with Orientation Week, www.yoursexhealth.org had already attracted “hits” from overseas with visitors to the site coming in from Singapore to San Jose, Rochester (in the US) to Rome.
The website targets 15 to 24 year olds of both sexes and will soon be translated into French and Spanish.
Visitors to the new website are discovering a unique feature called ‘True Stories'.
These scenarios link photos with audio to play out the real-life dilemmas teenagers face, such as unwanted pregnancy, STIs, sexual coercion, sexual identity and more. The storylines were developed from research interviews with young people.
Professor Doreen Rosenthal, the Director of the Key Centre, has been developing the site for more than a year, working with professional designers, writers, programmers, a photographer and a graffiti artist.
Professor Rosenthal says that while young women and men today seem much more savvy about sex, they are actually under siege, confronted by more sexual pressures than previous generations.
“The paradox is that although they think they know more about sex than their parents, many young people are basing their sexual decision-making on myths, miscommunication and misconceptions,” she says.
“This is despite the fact there is more information available than ever before about sex. The Internet, television, magazines, music, movies and text messages are awash with sexual content – but this content is often misleading or downright wrong.”
www.yoursexhealth.org covers about 120 topics, ranging from communication to condoms to ‘coming out'.
“This generation is facing unprecedented expectations to make relationship decisions more rapidly – often in the time it takes to send a text message,” she says. “Electronic communications are compressing the time spans in which relationships are developing, leaving young people with less time to make the kinds of choices that can have life-changing consequences.”
The impact of a wrong choice made in an impulsive moment can be devastating, Professor Rosenthal says. “Rising rates of chlamydia and unwanted pregnancies are evidence that these dilemmas are faced by sexually active young people every day – and every night.”
Media enquiries:
For more information or to interview Professor Doreen Rosenthal,
contact Kay Ansell
Fullpoint Media
Ph 03 9376 5370
Mob 0425 829 042
kayansell@iinet.net.au