Aware – Respectful – Inclusive: Research and practice considerations for diversity within sex, sexuality, gender, and other demographic variables

About this event

Webinar Overview: LGBTIQA+ people experience disproportionately high rates of disordered eating and eating disorders compared to the general population. Nearly 10% of the population self-identify as having a diverse gender and/or sexuality, and identification is expanding, with rates even higher among young people (up to 42% of Australian secondary students identify as non-heterosexual, 7% as trans or gender diverse). While eating disorders are present across all ages, risk is highest amongst younger adults. Despite this, eating disorder researchers and clinical services rarely collect accurate data regarding people’s sex, sexuality, and gender, thus limiting understanding and responsiveness to the needs of the community. This potentially impacts risk identification and further marginalises a community that regularly experiences stigma and discrimination within mental health services, and the need for awareness and action is only growing.

This webinar will focus on best practice data collection for sex, sexuality, and gender, including:

• Exploring bias and exclusion in research; including the history of exclusion of sex, sexuality, and gender diversity in research, and how this has contributed to the erasure of LGBTIQA+ people in research and healthcare.
• Why we need to consider sex and gender; highlighting the significance of defining and understanding terms such as intersex, and exploring evolving gender definitions, identities, and experiences.
• Consideration and application throughout the research process, from the research question through to design, including across methods, measures, recruitment, analysis, reporting and writing.

Overall, attendees will develop the skills to advocate for and provide education to support building more inclusive and intersectional research practices to create a fairer and more comprehensive understanding of human diversity.

Kai Schweizer is a trans person, AuDHDer, researcher, sexologist, and PhD student at the University of Western Australia and the Telethon Kids Institute. They are also a sessional academic at Curtin University and a Research Affiliate at the Inside Out Institute for Eating Disorders. Kai’s core research focus is the eating and exercise behaviours of trans and gender-diverse people. Their PhD project focuses on improving eating disorder treatment for trans and gender-diverse people.

Majella Jones is an Accredited Practising Dietitian (APD) and PhD student working out of Naarm (Melbourne), working from a lived experience approach as a queer nonbinary autistic person. They work primarily in trans health and nutrition, with a particular focus on neurodivergence, disability and chronic health, and eating differences/difficulties. They approach research, health care and support through identity-affirming, accessible care, including depathologising, intersectional, trauma-informed, harm-reductionist, anti-oppressive, and weight/body-inclusive approaches.