Safe spaces to learn about sex

We know that the possibility that other people may find out about what has happened can be worrying. You may have a lot of ‘what if’ questions going round your mind – these can be distressing and make it hard to see the ‘bigger picture’.

It is important to try and focus on the here and now, taking each day as it comes. You might find trying a grounding exercise or breathing technique helpful – you can learn more about these on our managing difficult emotions page. It is may also be helpful to talk to a trusted adult about how you are feeling. This could be a parent, carer, grandparent, aunt, uncle or teacher.

You can contact us by using our email service to talk about what you are going through and how you are feeling.

If you need more support, check out our other helpful organisations page.

You are likely feeling a mix of emotions about your behaviour and what you may have done. You may be unsure if you have caused harm to someone else or yourself. We can talk together, to understand what has happened and why. We can help you set goals, which you can work towards to help change your behaviour.

We also can help you develop a safety plan and put boundaries around yourself to prevent you getting into trouble again.

Finally, we can help you focus on creating and building a positive life to move forward, be happy and achieve success. If you want to read more about this and learn how to set yourself goals, this can be found on our page, building a good life.

If you feel ready to talk to us, you can use our email service. The person you’re contacting won’t know who you are.  

We also encourage you to speak with someone you are close to and who is a safe, trusted adult about what has happened and how you are feeling. You can also look at our pages which help support you with what to do if you have harmed someone sexually, or online sexual behaviour.

If you’re under 18 and someone has shared a sexual picture of you or a friend, let an adult know immediately so that they can support you. Childline and IWF’s Report Remove tool is here to help young people under 18 confidentiality report sexual images and videos of themselves to see if they can be removed from the internet.
This can be a distressing and uncertain time, so it’s important that you take care of your mental health and make sure that you have the support of your friends and family. Visit Young Minds for more advice and tips on how to cope during difficult times.