Show Notes

In this week’s Sparking Change we’re talking about ‘The Talk’ – or how to discuss sex with your children. Scary? Yes, but it doesn’t need to be. We also discuss a petition for mandatory consent classes in UCC, started by the UCC Feminist Society, and we hear a candid first-hand account of an Irish woman’s experience of a rogue crisis pregnancy clinic. In her editorial this week Dil looks at the struggle faced by many whose families do not accept them, or their partners because of racial or other biases. She reminds us that our parents’ view of who we love does not have to stop us reaching happiness. **Sarah and Alice Sproule; talking to your kids about sex (4:10)** We are joined by Sarah Sproule, occupational therapist, sex educator, and founder of thetalk.ie, and her 14-year-old daughter, Alice, as they talk us through having that conversation, and how to raise your kids with a healthy attitude to sex, and their own bodies. Sneak preview: most people aren’t hairless under their clothes. **Kayleigh Power; Mandatory Consent Classes at UCC (38:16)** Kayleigh is the events officer for the UCC Feminist Society, who have recently started an online petition to introduce mandatory consent classes at the University, where 1 in 7 students have experience serious sexual assault or rape. We talk statistics, victim-blaming, and why ‘feminist’ is not a dirty word. **The Repealist, and Rogue Crisis Pregnancy Clinics (52:23)** Shubhangi Karmakar is known online as the ‘Repealist’, and is known for her colourful jewellery and accessories supporting the repeal movement. She introduces us to her friend ‘Sarah’ (not her real name), who has first-hand experience of a rogue crisis pregnancy clinic in Dublin, and takes us through the difficulty faced by her and her partner in accessing services, and feeling they had to hide it.