World Sexual Health Day: Sexual Justice - What Can We Do?
By Psychosexual therapist in training & Accredited Senior Coach
Every year on 4th September, we pause for World Sexual Health Day, a reminder that sexual health is not just about bodies but also about rights, justice, and dignity. This year’s theme, “Sexual Justice: What Can We Do?” could not feel more urgent.
At JKL Therapy, we are committed to promoting sexual and reproductive justice for everyone. We live in a world that often feels more divided than ever, where access to education, healthcare and accurate information is unequal, and sometimes shrinking. That inequality has real consequences in people’s lives, in their bodies, and in their relationships.
Why psychosexual therapy belongs in this conversation.
Some might wonder: “Why should psychosexual therapists, coaches and relationship practitioners get involved in debates about sexual and reproductive justice? Isn’t that the job of public health or education services?”
But our work is part of the same chain. Public services and educational programmes are vital, but they are also under pressure, overstretched, and not always able to meet the deeper, long-term needs of individuals. That is where therapy can function as a bridge. We pick up the pieces where society has left wounds. We offer time, attention, and care in ways that busy systems simply cannot.
Many of us at JKL Therapy come from backgrounds in sexual health clinics, healthcare, or social care. We’ve spent years promoting better outcomes, advocating for access, and walking alongside clients who were not always seen, believed, or supported. We carry that knowledge into every therapy room.
A personal reflection: why I stepped into sexual health.
My own story is one of frustration and responsibility. Before training in psychosexual therapy, I collaborated with individuals with intellectual disabilities and those on the autism spectrum. What I witnessed was a painful lack of knowledge, support and appropriate attitudes towards their sexual health and relationships.
People with additional needs were often excluded from conversations about intimacy and denied the same opportunities for education and autonomy. It felt unjust, and it was.
So, with little formal knowledge at the start, I began educating myself. I felt, and still feel, that it is our responsibility as professionals to do better. If we know more, we can support more. If we listen carefully, we can dismantle shame. If we stay curious, we can challenge damaging assumptions.
That journey is why I am here and why JKL Therapy Centre is here. Sexual justice does not live only in policies or declarations. It lives in the lives of real people.
Sexual justice is everyday work.
World Sexual Health Day is not just a celebration. It is a checkpoint. A moment to ask ourselves:
Am I contributing positively to my clients’ well-being?
Am I doing my part for society, not just in my practice but in the conversations, I have and the advocacy I join?
Am I creating a space where people of all backgrounds, identities and abilities feel heard, respected, and safe?
At JKL Therapy, we strive to answer “yes.” Not perfectly, not always easily, but with honesty and commitment. We collaborate with clients from diverse backgrounds, men, women, non-binary people, people with penises or vulvas, people with disabilities, people with complex relational histories. Justice is not an abstract ideal in our rooms; it is the daily task of sitting with someone’s story and treating it with dignity.
The data does not lie. Justice is urgent.
Consider this reality: in 2023, there were 4.6 million sexual health consultations in England and 402,000 new STIs diagnosed, with gonorrhoea and syphilis hitting record highs. Meanwhile, the HPV vaccination programme led to a ~70% decline in genital warts among teenagers, proving that prevention works when systems are in place.
Still, inequalities persist. 28% of women in England live with a serious reproductive health condition such as endometriosis or fibroids. Black women face a 69% higher risk of fibroids than white women. Socioeconomic inequality accounts for 24% of stillbirths, while abortions rose 17% in 2022, often linked to cost-of-living pressures and barriers to contraceptive access.
These are not just numbers, they are the backdrop against which our work stands. Therapy, coaching, and psychosexual practice may not solve structural injustice alone, but every conversation, every signpost, every listening ear contributes to justice in action.
Why this matters more than ever.
We do not live in a world with equal access. Whether because of location, poverty, stigma, disability, gender identity, or sexuality, many people still face barriers to sexual and reproductive health. The statistics show it; our clients’ stories confirm it.
Justice, in this sense, is about more than fairness. It is about repair, undoing the damage created by silence, misinformation, or exclusion, offering education where none was given, and providing safe relational experiences where trust has been broken.
We are not working in isolation. We are part of a wider movement that includes NHS sexual health services, charities like Brook and Terrence Higgins Trust, professional organisations like COSRT, and international initiatives like the World Association for Sexual Health. But our contribution matters. One-to-one conversations create ripples that spread into families, communities, and cultures.
Our responsibility, our hope
At JKL Therapy Centre, we see ourselves as part of radical change. We know we cannot change the world alone, but we can change the world of the person sitting in front of us. That is justice in action.
This World Sexual Health Day, my invitation is simple: let us use these awareness days not only for campaigns but also for reflection. What can we do as individuals, therapists, clients, and communities to move one step closer to sexual justice?
Because sexual health is not a luxury. It is a human right. And sexual justice is not a dream. It is our shared responsibility.
Helpful Resources
NHS Sexual Health Services (free & confidential): Find a clinic
COSRT (UK register of accredited psychosexual & relationship therapists): Find a Therapist
Brook (support for young people, education & training): Brook.org.uk
World Sexual Health Day 2025 (WAS): World Association for Sexual Health
