During Gynaecological Cancer Awareness Month this September, one of our collaborative posts with Dr Aziza Sesay and the NHS Instagram account was flagged as ‘sensitive content’.

This video reel features a crochet vulva and a step-by-step guide on how to check your vulva for symptoms of vulval cancer. The warning stated it was hidden because “people might find the content upsetting.” Let’s be clear, this content isn’t ‘upsetting’, it’s potentially lifesaving information. Just as breast checks save lives, so too can vulva checks. 

We often see and hear phrases like ‘language matters’ and ‘knowledge is power’ in discussions about health education and self-advocacy. But what happens when you’re faced with a choice: either use the correct language and imagery, or risk your content being hidden or less visible? How can we talk effectively about gynae health without using the very words or practical examples, like ‘vagina’ or ‘vulva’, that are essential to understanding it? 

This censorship example isn’t an isolated incident, the campaign CensHERship highlights multiple examples of the censorship of women’s health and sexual wellness content online, it is also the very reason Dr Aziza started her own campaign, ‘They are not bad words’.  

Our aim at Eve is to share vital health information to raise awareness of the five gynaecological cancers. Social media plays a key role in that, and as a charity, we use it to put out life-saving gynae health information. A job that is becoming increasingly difficult with the censorship of gynae health online. Censorship directly goes against our mission of trying to reduce shame and stigma. One of the reasons censorship and taboos persist is because gynae anatomy continues to be distorted and sexualised, even within the context of health.  

We understand the ongoing tension that people face in the digital landscape, constantly weighing the cost-benefit of self-censorship against the need to be clear, normalise the correct anatomical language, and destigmatise gynae health. But without demonstrating how to talk about our gynae health and their signs and symptoms, we risk disempowering people from accessing  lifechanging and lifesaving support when they need it. 

Online, we see compromises made to discuss gynae health topics, replacing letters with numbers or symbols (vulv@, vag1na). We see images of grapefruit or flowers instead of vulvas. What message does this send about taboos and stigma? 

Replacing the correct anatomical language with slang, euphemisms, or using alternative images undermines real-life examples that encourage open, informed and taboo-busting conversations. By not talking openly about gynae health, we risk reinforcing the shame and stigma we seek to put an end to.  

The everyday impact is profound, being able to understand your body, pick up on symptoms, and accurately describe them to a doctor could make all the difference in detecting cancer early. There’s a big difference in how easily the doctor can help you and know what is wrong if you’re able to describe your symptoms properly – pain in the vulva is very different to a pain ‘down there’ (is that the anus, vulva, vagina, perineum, glutes, penis, testicles?). 

Team Eve has and will always commit to using the correct anatomical language when speaking about gynaecological anatomy, even if that comes with limitations. Because, right now, women and people with gynae organs are dying every day because they don’t know what signs to look out for, or the stigma and embarrassment that society places on these cancers is preventing them from seeking help. This information isn’t ‘sensitive content’, it’s lifesaving.