ALL UPCOMING EVENTS POSTPONED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

Tuesday 7th April 2020 @ The Devereux, WC2R 3JJ 

Thula Koops, University Medical Center Hamburg

Surveys have shown that many women are familiar with painful sex. Although public awareness has risen over the past years through the media, feelings of helplessness and isolation are still common among those who face sexual problems. To make matters worse, the search for successful treatment is often long, frustrating and sometimes even involves harmful rather than helpful interventions. In this talk Thula Koops will present data from a qualitative interview study on women experiencing sexual pain and/or vaginismus, and discuss questions around their origin, the “right” treatment and the role of society.

Thula Koops is a psychologist and PhD candidate at the Institute for Sex Research and Forensic Psychiatry of the University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany. Her research is mainly focused on sexual difficulties in women, but also covers other sexuality-related topics, such as sexuality and digital media. In her current projects, she explores factors contributing to women’s experience of sexual pain. She is in training for psychodynamic psychotherapy, and takes an interest in both couple and individual sex therapy

Tuesday 5th May 2020 @ The Devereux, WC2R 3JJ

Malachi Willis
@SexResearchNow

The Nuances of Sexual Consent

Sexual consent is a timely topic across the globe. People—media, laws, society—are actively thinking about sexual consent and what it means. In this lecture, Malachi Willis will review important aspects to consider when defining sexual consent based on findings from his research and that of others. Malachi Willis is finishing his PhD at the University of Arkansas in the US and starts as a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Greenwich in 2020. His research primarily focuses on how people experience and communicate their sexual consent. He also investigates gender biases
that exist in language.

For further reading on his sexual consent research:

Willis, M., Blunt-Vinti, H. D., & Jozkowski, K. N. (2019). Associations between internal and external sexual consent in a diverse national sample of women. Personality and Individual Differences, 149, 37–45. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2019.05.029

Willis, M., & Jozkowski, K. N. (2019). Sexual precedent’s effect on sexual consent
communication. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 48(6), 1723–1734. doi:10.1007/s10508-018-1348-7
Willis, M., Canan, S. N., Jozkowski, K. N., & Bridges, A. J. (2019). Sexual consent communication in best-selling pornography films: A content analysis. Journal of Sex Research, 1–13. doi:10.1080/00224499.2019.1655522
Willis, M., Hunt, M., Wodika, A., Rhodes, D. L., Goodman, J., & Jozkowski, K. N. (2019). Explicit verbal sexual consent communication: Effects of gender, relationship status, and type of sexual behavior. International Journal of Sexual Health, 31(1), 60–70.
doi:10.1080/19317611.2019.1565793
Willis, M., Jozkowski, K. N., & Read, J. (2019). Sexual consent in K–12 sex education: An analysis of current health education standards in the USA. Sex Education, 19(2), 226–236.
doi:10.1080/14681811.2018.1510769

Tuesday 2nd June 2020 @ The Devereux, WC2R 3JJ

Dr Liam Wignall

The Kinky Dabbler – Engaging in Kink, but not in Communities.

Kinky sex has become increasingly mainstream in Western countries, with diverse forms of kink present in the media and popular culture; it has also led to the proliferation of new forms of kinky subcultures. While there are debates around whether such visibility is beneficial or not, increased awareness of kink has opened up novel routes for individuals to engage with kink. Previous research into kink has predominantly focused on individuals who immersive themselves in kink communities, highlighting how kink was framed as a deviant activity; was practiced in secret and underground; and how practitioners formed close friendship circles. The impact on increased visibility and the transformational effect of the internet for individuals who engage in kink has been understudied. Drawing on ethnographic observations and 30 interviews with gay and bisexual men in the UK who practice kink in different ways, this presentation identifies the kinky dabbler – a new type of kink practitioner who engages in and invests in kink activities, but does not self-ascribe a kink identity or engage with kink communities. Key features of the kinky dabbler will be discussed, alongside implications for further work.

Dr. Liam Wignall is a lecturer in Psychology at Bournemouth University. He explores the identities and experiences of non-heterosexual individuals related to: kink, BDSM, and fetishes; pornography consumption; drag subcultures; non-exclusive sexualities; and sexual consent. He draws on theories from psychology, sociology and cultural studies, focusing on the impact of the internet and the role of community participation for these individuals. He is a member of the International Academy of Sex Researchers, a research affiliate for the Center of Positive Sexuality and serves on the British Psychological Society’s Psychology of Sexualities committee.