Richmond Council has voted to enforce a ban on national safe sex 'SexWise' posters. The vote came on an opposition motion to lift the recently imposed ban, to bring the borough into line with all other boroughs in London which use the SexWise posters.

Calling the Tory administration "barmy", Lib Dem Councillor Stephen Knight, who moved the motion, condemned the ban, saying:

"Unlike every other Council in London, Richmond seem incapable of opening their eyes to the facts of life and their attitude is now denying our young people information that could protect their health. The idea that posters warning of the risks of pregnancy and catching Chlamydia are going to somehow encourage teenagers into having sex is barmy beyond belief.

"The facts are that around a third of young people have their first sexual experience before the age of 16 and surveys show that between a half and a third of teenagers fail to use protection the first time they have sex. The UK has the highest rate of teenage pregnancy in the developed world, with the exception of the US - six times the rate in the Netherlands and three times the rate in France and Denmark.

"We have also had a massive rise in the level of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the last few years, especially amongst teenagers and young people. Today's young people did not experience the high profile safe sex campaigns of the 1980s around HIV and there is a clear need to re-enforce the safe sex message amongst a new generation of teenagers, who are increasingly taking risks with their health.

"This ban also flies in the face of the Council's own policy, Sex Education in the Youth Service, which says: 'Young people have the right to information that will enable them to protect themselves from potentially harmful situations.'"

Richmond Council deemed the posters, distributed by the local Primary Care Trust of the NHS, as "not considered suitable" for use within Council youth clubs but pledged to continue to work to advise young people about sexual health.

See the young people's
sexual health advice and resource website for South West London
Family Planning Association
Brook (Advisory Service)
BBC Sexwise site
RUThinking

Monday, June 21, 2004

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