Scarleteen

Scarleteen contains thousands of original, comprehensive, and accurate sexuality, health and relationship⁠ articles, guides, factsheets and advice answers, based on the expressed needs of young people themselves and all available at no cost. Our widely inclusive, expansive content is thoughtfully written and edited by adult, emerging adult or teen writers, and regularly fact-checked and updated as needed with current, medically-accurate information.

Our message boards, live chat, text/SMS line and our reddit offer young people the ability to talk directly with one of our staff and members of our community at no cost to them. Our direct services are actively moderated to provide a safe, comfortable space and accurate, compassionately delivered information, staffed by our staff and trained peer volunteers. Our direct services are used for an array of questions and answers, long discussions, emotional support, help finding in-person care or other resources, and, in the services that are community based, to engage in safe, respectful peer-to-peer discussion. Our direct service interactions primarily inform our static content and outreach.

We frequently help our users find outside sexual⁠/reproductive healthcare services, mental healthcare, LGBTQIA+ support, local children and family services, sexual abuse⁠ and other crisis care, books, other websites, community centers and other resources. Staff can also be available to users to make screening/intake phone calls if they feel nervous about first calling themselves or if they are not sure a service is bonafide.

Scarleteen provides active, engaged mentorship and guidance for our volunteers and interns, and participates in and supports youth leadership events and initiatives outside the organization. Scarleteen is long considered by many to be a highly influential leader in progressive and inclusive sexuality education, and we have directly participated in and supported activism to influence and change public policy, like teaming up with the ACLU to fight the COPAexternal link, opens in a new tab.

An ideal learner at Scarleteen is a curious, open-minded young person—typically between the ages of 15 and 30—seeking honest, inclusive information about sex, relationships, bodies, and identity. They may be navigating these topics without access to comprehensive sex education elsewhere, and are looking for a space that respects their agency, affirms diverse experiences, and offers support without shame or judgment. Whether they’re LGBTQ+, disabled, questioning, or simply exploring, Scarleteen provides a welcoming, feminist-informed environment where they can learn with care, accuracy, and respect.

Scarleteen is not a fit for people who are looking for abstinence-only education, who are uncomfortable with LGBTQ+ inclusive content, or who expect sex education to align with conservative, religious, or non-scientific values. It may also not be the right space for adults seeking medical advice for themselves, parents trying to monitor or control a young person’s access to sex ed, or anyone unwilling to respect the autonomy and diversity of young people. Scarleteen’s approach is grounded in consent, agency, inclusion, and accurate information—not moral judgment or censorship.

We’ve been here providing comprehensive, inclusive and progressive sex⁠ and relationships information, education and support for young people all around the world since 1998, and around five million unique users a year visit our website to explore what we offer. We’ve got thousands of pages of carefully researched, written and curated information here, as well as several direct services for one-on-one support. We’ve been winning awards almost from the start because we put a lot of heart and care into what we do here, and we are and have always been deeply dedicated to doing the very best we can to provide young people with the information and support they need, and ask us for, throughout. We know how important this is, and we know how complicated it can be, too. We take what we do here very seriously, even at times when we’re being light or silly in some of our approach. We believe that healthy sexual development, and information and support that helps encourage it, is essential for sound health and quality of life for all people, of every age, sexuality or set of sexual⁠ and interpersonal choices. We want to do all we can to help young people feel good about their sexual selves, whoever they are, and to create and cultivate sexual lives, whatever they are, that are as happy, healthy and beneficial as possible.