Shame Around This Body Part Is Putting Women's Health At Risk

In a collaborative campaign between intimate health brand, Canesten and affordable beauty brand, MUA has found that women’s shame around their genitals is leading to people avoiding medical treatment.

According to their research featured in ‘The Truth Undressed’, shame and a lack of adequate education is restricting women’s confidence in accessing medical treatment and even identifying common health conditions. 

Alarmingly, they found that 67% of women admitted they would change something about their vulva if they could, which is likely exacerbated by many of us never being taught that all vulvas are a little different.

Terrifyingly, only 6% of UK women aged 16-55 found out about intimate health conditions through school and university education and just under two thirds  only found out about vaginal infections when they first experienced them.

This is concerning when you consider that, according to Bupa, some vaginal infections can go on to cause serious complications if you don’t get them treated.

The two brands have teamed up to create a free online learning resource

Armed with their combined expertise and a determination to bash the stigmas around vulvas and female health, the two brands have created The Truth Undressed: a resource for learning more about vulvas and vaginal health. 

On the Superdrug website, the brands stated: “By teaming up with national curriculum body The PSHE Association, a new series of teaching resources have been created for use in secondary schools (for ages 11-18).

“In addition, Canesten has launched a dedicated fact-based hub and social videos to empower us all with greater knowledge and access to this vital health information.”

Daria Costantini, Brand Lead for Canesten, Bayer Consumer Health UK said: “The truth of the female anatomy is dressed up in a societal culture of sex and defined as explicit by default.

“We live in a world where porn is readily available on the internet, yet many young people don’t know the first thing about what kinds of infections there are or even what the vulva is supposed to look like.

“We hope that through this programme we can start to move imagery of real vulvas away from a sexualised depiction and into an informative, educational space to equip young people with the essential information they need to better understand their bodies as well as normalise conversations .”

Here’s hoping.