We Deserve Chlamydia Care: Paying Attention to Chlamydia Testing and Management Needs of Disabled IBPOC Trans and Cis Queer Women, Femme-Presenting Two-Spirit, and Non-binary Individuals in Ontario
Even though chlamydia is the most commonly reported bacterial STI in Canada, research has historically focused on cis men and cis women only, failing to examine the experiences of people of different genders and those who are marginalized by intersecting systems of colonization, racism, ableism, sexism, transmisogyny, and heteropatriarchy to name a few. This huge research gap is a problem because chlamydia can be serious if left undiagnosed and untreated!
This is why it’s more important than ever to ensure equal access to testing and care.
To that end, researchers from Wilfrid Laurier University (Maryam Khan and Ciann L. Wilson), Dalhousie University (Eli Manning) and University of Victoria (Nathan J. Lachowsky), in partnership with Community-Based Research Centre (CBRC) and supported by funding from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, co-led a research project to examine how well Ontario's current practices for chlamydia testing and care work for disabled Indigenous, Black, and People of Colour (IBPOC) women and gender-diverse communities.
The findings from We Deserve Chlamydia Care are shared through three complementary community reports. The main report presents findings from all participant interviews, highlighting experiences of accessing chlamydia testing and care across Ontario, along with key recommendations for improving services. A second report, developed in collaboration with CBRC’s Two-Spirit Program team, presents methods and findings specific to Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer participants, centering culturally grounded and community-led approaches to sexual healthcare. A third report, authored by Tega Ubor (a Community Advisory Board member), highlights participants’ experiences of self-advocacy and shares community-informed strategies for navigating care.
Read all the reports here:
- We Deserve Chlamydia Care: Community Report
- We Deserve Chlamydia Care: Two-Spirit-specific methods and findings
- Reclaiming Autonomy: A Community Outlook
This study has been approved by Wilfrid Laurier University’s Research Ethics Board (REB # 8772) and is supported by a team of Community Advisors to whom we owe a great debt of gratitude.
Some of our Community Advisors wish to remain anonymous. Those who have given us their permission to acknowledge them publicly are:
Tega Ubor
Aisha Salifu
Aisha is a Community Advisor at the Community-Based Research Centre (CBRC), where she is using her lived experiences and background in biotechnology to contribute and enhance public health initiatives. She is passionate about equitable healthcare and advancing inclusive and accessible sexual health services for marginalized communities. In her spare time, Aisha enjoys baking and painting.
