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It sounds to me like this is really about you more than it is about him. The person having trouble with his history right now appears to be you, and that’s the person who I think needs to work through this. In other words, you say he won’t open up about this, but I’m not sure I can envision what you…

While some doctors may choose not to see children or adolescents in their practice, period – because they just don’t specialize in that group – it sounds far more likely your stepmother was simply being dishonest with you. If her doctor was someone who chose only to see adults, he or she most…

The term “prude” is such a heavily loaded, judgmental term that I’d really encourage you not to apply it to yourself or anybody else. The implications that come along with that are just not very helpful, so I’d suggest removing that from the way you’re thinking about your situation. There are lots…

One of the more interesting (and by interesting, I mean ridiculously ignorant) responses I have seen in a few places discussing the I Was Raped project and my input was my statement on the news that the first time I was assaulted – at the age of 11 – I did not know what had happened to me and was without any language to even express it. This is being met with some measure of disbelief by a few folks, or the assumption I was on drugs or had been drugged or that I was simply stupid.

I’ll be honest: I don’t approve of cosmetic surgery. I think it’s incredibly important to love and accept our bodies for what they are, and to extend that acceptance to everyone’s body. To my mind, surgically altering your body solely for cosmetic reasons is neither loving nor accepting.

(Wo)Men Speak Out’s flagship program consists of keynote delivered by Chris and Ophelia. It includes an ambitious address that analyzes the nature of abuse from multiple perspectives. Often generating the liveliest discussions, it is a no-holds-barred approach to addressing the issues that go…

Vaginal dryness can be one of the more common side effects of hormonal birth control methods (like the pill). Vaginal discharge and the lubrication that’s produced during arousal are influenced by what’s going on with our hormones (to at least some extent). When you’re using a hormonal method of…

(Jane’s question, continued) What we did was very irresponsible I understand that and since I was 17 I’ve been very careful with these things because at age 17 I fell pregnant WHILE taking the pill correctly. My then BF made me have an abortion. He took my by the hand and had it all arranged. I…

There is no one sexual activity, nor any one way to engage in any one sexual activity, which will guarantee orgasm or ejaculation for any given person, or for any given person every time. Plenty of people with penises will reach orgasm and ejaculate with oral sex, though many of those people won’t…

“Pandora’s Project is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to providing information, support, and resources to survivors of rape and sexual abuse and their friends and family. We have been devoted to recovery and healing since 1999. Pandora’s Project offers peer support to anyone who has…

It’s common for teens to have a mentality of “that won’t happen to me”. Well, what if it does? How does one cope when their trust and belief system is shattered by sexual assault?

Your friend was likely referencing a longitudinal study of 3,000 women done in 1999 (Acierno, Resnick, Kilpatrick, Saunders and Best, Journal of Anxiety Disorders) which found that women who had been raped before were seven times more likely to be raped again. As well, many studies have shown that…

A basic lowdown on interpersonal abuse and assault: what all the terms mean, why strangers are the least of our worries, what a cycle of abuse looks like, how you can start seeing abuse for what it is, where it is, and how to protect yourself and others and make abuse stop.

Worried: there’s no one kind of person, or kind of role, that gives someone a free pass to have sex on us or to us when it isn’t what we want. If a husband forces or coerces his wife into sex when sex is not what she wants, it’s not consensual, and it is then a sexual abuse or an assault: a rape. If…

Have you EVER had any sexual contact including sexual intercourse and dry sex with direct genital contact? And have you never been raped or experienced a sexual assault that involved genitals coming in direct contact? If you have NEVER EVER NEVER experienced any of these things, then you are the…

Some people think they’re ready for sex, but after they do it they find out they’re wrong. You need to ask him how he’s feeling about the experience. He’s obviously got something bothering him. He might think he’s inadequate because neither of you reached orgasm. He might be feeling guilty because…

The difference is that PMS symptoms won’t cause your pregnancy test to turn positive. Using symptoms to determine if you’re pregnant is really unreliable. If you absolutely must know if you’re pregnant, wait 10 to 14 days after the sexual encounter in question then take a pregnancy test using the…

Second question first: Correct and consistent condom use is a highly effective way to prevent the spread of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. As for teens and condoms there are a few issues at hand, and most of them can be remedied with the right education and information. Teens sometimes have…

Leave a note for her saying, “Hey, I know you really dig your new guy and all, but I was wondering if you and me could hang out together sometime. Just us. You’re still my best friend no matter what, and I miss you.” Some people get really wrapped up in the excitement of new relationships, and they…

It’s the position that you and your partner find immensely pleasurable at that moment in place and time. The answer to your question is going to change based on where you are, how you’re feeling, and who you’re with. So you and your partner get to figure out what’s working and what’s not. If…

As loving and wonderful as your girlfriend may be, she needs to understand that you have boundaries, too. Negotiating sex can be a major hurdle for many couples, and there are a lot of people in your position – you are trying to live your life by a certain batch of morals, and they’re in conflict…

Jules: what you’re asking is obviously something I’m not going to be able to sum up in one page. Partnered sex and all of sexuality is a huge topic! But what I can do is set you up with some primers to get you started, and give you some context so that it all makes more sense. How you have sex with…

Probably not, no. There are a few reasons why this is the case. One of them, particularly in clinics which also provide abortions, is an issue of simple security. It is dangerous to work in these clinics because of a history of in-clinic violence, and some time ago, one way people who did violence…

There are two colloquialisms for what you’re asking about. When a person has a penis that looks about the same size flaccid (soft) that it does erect, folks colloquially call that person a “shower,” because their penis shows itself to be pretty much the same as it is erect. When a person has a penis…

The first thing I’d ask you is if you – and your boyfriend – feel too young to possibly be someone’s parent. I ask that, because one huge risk with unprotected sex is pregnancy. Statistically, in less than one year, 80-90% of people (and remember, too, teens are often far more fertile than us…