Sexual health emergency preparedness with Kelley Dennings and Kyliah Hughes

When floods, fires, freezes, or other extreme weather rip through our communities, the fallout goes far beyond damaged homes and downed power lines. As we've established on The Response Podcast, the climate crisis touches everyone—especially women and gender-diverse people—yet sexual and reproductive health rarely makes the checklist.

Stores, pharmacies, and clinics close or run out of supplies. Roads and other forms of transit shut down. And with worsening disasters comes a longer length of time to be self-reliant. Gone is the advice to have three days of food and water. Now the reality for many communities is to expect little to no support for up to two weeks!

Without a plan, it's harder to manage menstrual periods, get sexually transmitted infection testing, or refill birth control. Survivors may face increased violence and reduced privacy, which compounds the risk. These gaps aren't inevitable, and as you'll learn, there are things you can do now to be better prepared while supporting others in your community at the same time.

For this episode of The Response, we brought on Kelley Dennings and Kyliah Hughes from The Center for Biological Diversity (Kelley is also a member of Shareable's Board of Directors). They recently collaborated on a new how-to guide for creating and distributing Sexual Health Emergency Preparedness Kits.

[PODCAST]

About the speakers:

Kelley Dennings (she/her) works in the Population and Sustainability program at The Center for Biological Diversity, developing and executing advocacy and outreach initiatives addressing the connections between reproductive health, gender equity, endless growth, inequitable consumption, and the climate and extinction crises. She's also a Shareable board member.

Kyliah Hughes (she/her) is a sexual health emergency preparedness campaign intern at The Center for Biological Diversity and is currently working towards a Master's in Public Health at Howard University.

Resources

• Sexual Health Emergency Preparedness Kits
• Webinar: Reproductive Health Preparedness in Climate Emergencies on 11/17 2:00 PM ET
• Next Mutual Aid 101 event, "Navigating Conflict" with Dean Spade on 11/20 at 3:00 PM ET
• Shareable's Mutual Aid 101 Toolkit
• Support The Response with a monthly or 1-time donation

Episode credits:

• Hosted and executive produced by Tom Llewellyn
• Produced and edited by Paige Kelly
• Theme Music by Cultivate Beats