Fanshawe hosts annual sexual awareness fair

Header image for Interrobang article CREDIT: JEN DOEDE
A variety of campus and community partners were available at the sexual awareness fair for students to ask questions to regarding sexual health

Fanshawe held its annual sexual awareness fair on Sept. 14.

The fair gave students the opportunity to speak with community and campus partners on topics regarding sexual health such as safe sexual practices, sexual violence prevention and consent messaging.

A new addition to the sexual awareness fair this year was the Red Bed Talks photo prop, which acted as a conversation starter to introduce the topic of consent. Students could take photos on the bed with speech bubbles and post them to social media with the hashtag #redbedtalks.

These speech bubbles stressed the importance of consensual sexual practices. Students also had the chance to grab some free condoms and dental dams as well as free buttons with positive sex messages on them.

Other services present at this year's fair included the Fowler Kennedy Sports Medicine Health Services/Sport Medicine Clinic, Fanshawe's campus security services, the London Abused Women's Centre, St. Joseph's Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Treatment Program, Spot of Delight, the London-Middlesex Health Unit and an information booth operated by Leah Marshall, Fanshawe's sexual violence prevention advisor.

In addition, Jennifer Gillespie, Fanshawe's campus life facilitator, was also at the fair providing free mocktails for attendees.

Spot of Delight, a locally owned sex shop in downtown London shared their thoughts on this year's sexual awareness fair at Fanshawe.

Spot of DelightA variety of campus and community partners were available at the sexual awareness fair for students to ask questions to regarding sexual health. CREDIT: JEN DOEDE

“I think it went really well. We got a lot of engagement from students and we were able to learn how students are feeling about sex and sexuality,” Rachel Turner, Spot of Delight's public educator said.

When asked why it is important to have sexual awareness fairs on college campuses, Rachel said it is necessary due to the large quantity of misinformation surrounding sex and sexuality. This misinformation spreads rapidly and can have disastrous effects on students.

“We learned some surprising facts,” Jess Rueger, the community development co-ordinator at Spot of Delight said.

“There are a lot of myths that seem prevalent about sex and sexuality and what is safe versus what is not safe.” Rueger explained that some students have a lot of questions regarding sex and sexuality and many do not feel like they received proper answers from their previous curriculums.

According to Rueger, Spot of Delight has a non-judgmental staff that is friendly and open-minded. As a result, customers can approach them to discuss just about anything. In addition, the sex shop offers a 10 per cent student discount.