Lesbians more likely to self-harmBritain’s lesbian and bisexual women are significantly more likely to self-harm and to abuse drink and drugs than the wider female population, a major new study has revealed.
Matt Aston
18 June 2008
The research, conducted by De Montfort University and Sigma Research, also found that its 6,000 lesbian and bisexual respondents faced exclusion from routine testing for cervical cancer.
The study suggests that the National Health Service is failing to identify specific healthcare needs among Britain’s 1.8 million lesbians, with half reporting a recent negative experience.
The NHS is also failing to address specific mental health needs that many women still experience as a result of discrimination.
In February, Health Secretary Alan Johnson spoke about eradicating just this kind of health inequality, saying that “genuine equality will be achieved not by providing the same service for everyone but by delivering the same outcome for everyone, recognising the diverse needs of different communities and individuals and responding appropriately to those needs.
”The complete version of this story appears in the new copy of the Pink Paper, available from 26 June.
Source: news.PinkPaper.com
2 comments:
Seems quite logical, statistics show that there are more female self-harmers than male and the addedd stress of being a lesbian, out or not, could add to a girls problems.
I think your quite correct Ant with regards to self harm. I have also been to Dr's with women and heard them say 'Oh your not sexually active so you dont need Pap smears', I hadnt really related it to lesbians until I read this study.
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