Gender minorities and cervical screening

As a trans man and staff member at Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa, I want to take the opportunity during Cervical Screening Awareness Month to highlight the unique challenges faced by my community. 
  
According to the 2018 Counting Ourselves report, approximately 23% of transgender men either believe they don’t need cervical screening or are unsure whether they need to be screened. The truth is that anyone who has a cervix, or vagina, needs to be screened to reduce their risk of cervical cancer.  
 
The National Cervical Screening Programme was set up to notify everyone with a female gender marker about screening, but this has led to AFAB trans men and non-binary people missing out on crucial information about their healthcare. Luckily, a solution exists: your healthcare provider can manually enter your assigned sex at birth into the National Cervical Screening Programme, which means you can be notified about when you next need to be screened. 
 
Cervical screening has a reputation for being an invasive process, but with the recent introduction of self-testing for HPV, a simple vaginal swab has replaced the need for a smear test for most people. The best part of this is that, with some instructions from a nurse or doctor, you can do the test yourself. If there’s no HPV detected, no one needs to look any closer – and if there is, you can catch and treat it a lot sooner. 
 
The gender diverse community also faces psychological barriers to healthcare. The Counting Ourselves report found that, of those who delay screening, 30% do so out of worry about being treated differently on account of their identity, and 35% due to other reasons, including anxiety, lack of information, and discomfort due to gender dysphoria.  Certainly, many trans and non-binary individuals, including myself and many of my friends, fear being treated differently – worse – by healthcare providers when it comes to their sexual health. This can make the idea of cervical screening a daunting one. 
  
To anyone who is anxious about accessing sexual healthcare, especially cervical screening, I recommend speaking frankly to your healthcare provider, discussing your fears openly, and respecting yourself by finding a provider who respects your gender identity, instead of avoiding the healthcare you may need. 
  
Remember – cervical screening is a tool you can use to receive necessary healthcare, not a reflection of who you are.

– Anonymous
  
Learn more about cervical screening
Read Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa’s position statement on sexual orientation and gender identity