Tuppy Owens | |
|---|---|
 Tuppy Owens in 1998 | |
| Born | Rosalind Mary Owens 12 November 1944 |
| Occupation(s) | Writer, therapist, campaigner |
| Years active | 1970–present |
Rosalind Mary Owens (born 12 November 1944), known as Tuppy Owens, is an English sex therapist, consultant, campaigner, writer and former adult model.[1][2][3]
Born in Cambridge, Owens gained a degree in zoology from Exeter University, and then worked in ecology in Africa and Trinidad.[1] She settled in London, and worked as a scientific administrator at the Natural Environment Research Council.[4] Then, in the late 1960s, she established a sex education book publishing company, for which she wrote and published The Sex Maniac's Diary[5] successfully between 1972 and 1995, and which she operated as a thriving business from her Mayfair flat[4] — for example, the 1975 Sex Maniac's Diary was launched in August 1974 with a reception at the Bristol Hotel in London which was reported on the following day in the Financial Times.[6]
From 1974, Owens also began lecturing on the subject of sex.[7] In 1975, she appeared in the Dutch pornographic film Sensations.[8] From 1984, the Sex Maniac's Diary was published as The Safer Sex Maniac's Diary and provided the first visual instructions to the public on how to put a condom on securely; it also reviewed condoms and offered safer sex advice, all at the beginning of the outbreak of HIV.[9]
In 1979, Owens started the Outsiders Club for socially and physically disabled people to find partners. She was helped by Nigel Verbeek, who had recently lost his sight. Both worked voluntarily, which Owens continues to do today. Outsiders is a club providing peer support to members, an online Clubhouse, and monthly lunches around the country.
In order to ensure that she answered the members' questions with accuracy, Owens trained as a sex therapist at St George's Hospital Medical School in London, where she gained a diploma in Human Sexuality in 1986.[2] She was also subsequently awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco.[2] In 2009, Owens was named one of the Family Planning Association's 80 most influential achievers in the field of family planning.
For disabled men and women who want to learn what pleasures their bodies are capable of enjoying, and how to please a partner, Owens set up the TLC Trust website, where they can find responsible, safe sexual services.
In 1981, Owens appeared in the English pornographic film Lady Victoria's Training, which was produced by Mike Freeman/Videx and featured Simon Lindsay Honey, who went on to work as a porn producer and actor under the pseudonym Ben Dover.[10][3]
In the 1990s, after more than 30 years living in London, Owens moved to a croft in the north of Scotland.[11]
In 2005, Owens founded the Sexual Health and Disability Alliance (SHADA)[1] to bring together health professionals interested in sex and disability. In November 2009, a conference with the title "Disability: Sex, Relationships and Pleasure" was held by SHADA with the Royal Society of Medicine.[12] Owens produced the Sexual Respect Tool Kit, and started the sexual advocacy service, ASAP. She also answers the Sex and Disability Helpline. Her book "Supporting Disabled People with their Sexual Lives" was published by Jessica Kingsley on 19 November 2014.
Owens remains active in running Outsiders.[13] At the same time, she also advises the promoter of the Sexual Freedom Ball to fund Outsiders, and the organisers of the fundraiser, The Erotic Awards,[14] now called The Sexual Services and Entertainment Awards.
Owens is now the chair of the Sexual Freedom Coalition.[15] Back in the 90s Owens worked campaigning with Prostitution Pride, parades through London, which were funded by Arcadia events in North London.
Owens has been working with Designability (formerly the Bath Institute of Medical Engineering) in the hope that they will be able to create sex toys that can be used by disabled people who, without them, cannot masturbate.[16]
Owens will be the editor of a forthcoming website, The School of Sex for Disabled People, which is being created by sexually experienced disabled people and those who provide them with sexual services. She is currently writing her autobiography.
Owens has won the 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award from the European Lifestyles Awards. She is also a Winner of the Innovation Award of Sexual Health and Human Rights UNESCO 2015. She was a finalist (Lifetime Achievement) in the Directory of Social Change Awards 2015.[17]
