Sex, sexuality and health

Research into sex, sexuality and health examines interactions between lived experience, policy and practice and how these affect physical and mental health and well-being in UK and international contexts. Critical perspectives on policy, practices and service delivery support understandings of the context and lived experience of citizens and (health) service-users.

There are three themes with this research area:

Health and illness
Infection and disease
Social and cultural wellbeing

Health and illness

Our research critically explores the lived experiences of health, illness and disability. Drawing on critical, feminist and queer theory, using creative and participatory methodologies, this research focuses on both the promotion of health and prevention of illness and explores what makes life liveable, in sickness and in health (mental and physical), in contexts of enduring and increasing social inequalities that shape experiences of health and care for individuals, their families and their communities. The research resists pathologising accounts of queer lives and is non-normative in nature in order to bring about transformation as part of a broader sociopolitical drive.

Infection and disease

The social and physical experience of sexuality and gender has implications for physical (and mental) health. Our research includes a core focus on sexual health and HIV incorporating approaches that range from behavioural interventions in health outcomes to critiques of service policy and design.

Social and cultural wellbeing

Researchers critically examine how sexual practices, identities and difficulties are inscribed with meanings which limit, constrain or enable liveable lives for individuals whose experience is structured by multiple and intersecting inequalities or privileges.