The UK's first online sex shop for people living with and beyond cancer has opened for business.
Sex with Cancer has been created by two artists and former cancer patients, Joon-Lynn Goh and Brian Label, in partnership with Sh! Women's Erotic Emporium.
They collaborated on the shop's remit and product range with a steering group of patient advocates, specialist doctors and nurses, psychosexual therapists, pleasure activists and sex toy experts. The overall aim is to promote sex-positivity and encourage a greater sharing of information among people living with and beyond cancer.
According to its homepage, Sex with Cancer is "an online shop, an art work and a public campaign exploring how people living with and beyond cancer can take agency over their own health and wellbeing".
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Explaining why the shop is so necessary, the founders say: "Cancer, and the treatments for cancer, often have serious effects on a person's sex life in direct and indirect ways. Surgeries can result in body parts being removed, or scars that can take time to get use to.
"Chemotherapy and radiotherapy can cause exhaustion, weight loss, weight gain, loss of interest in sex, erectile dysfunction, vaginal dryness, and heightened infection risks," they continue. "People with cancer are navigating lots of emotions, traumas and priorities, all of which might make sex less desirable or feasible."
On top of this, the founders explain, there can be a "disconnect" between cancer patients and medical professionals when it comes to talking about sex. Some patients feel uncomfortable talking intimately with their medical teams, while some medical professionals are not fully trained to advise on matters relating to sexual agency and pleasure.
Therefore, Sex with Cancer says it aims to "lubricate these difficult conversations by centring patients and their admirers, and drawing on sex-positive professional expertise".
You can find out more and browse the shop at sexwithcancer.com.