As Featured On BBC Woman's Hour! 📻

New Rules For Sex in Lockdown

New Rules For Sex in Lockdown

“‘Cos tonight baby, I wanna get freaky with you…” 

 

But better drink up before 10pm and you might wanna rain check if you’re not official-official

 

The Government’s guidance update this week could be considered a little confusing and so we’ve taken a look at what the new lockdown rules are actually saying about sex in lockdown. Previously, people in relationships who are living apart were only allowed to break social distancing guidelines if they formed a ‘sex bubble’ together. This applied to people living alone in single-adult households and single parents sharing custody of children under the age of 18. But if both parties live with anyone else (hello flat-shares/livin’ back with the parents), or there are more than one bf/gf/partner in any household they were unable to form a bubble.

 

 

As of September 2020, is casual sex is allowed in lockdown? 

Well, guidance updated this Tuesday in a Cabinet Office document titled, Meeting with others safely” states that social distancing norms aren’t necessary if it’s with “someone you’re in an established relationship with”. The refreshed document says that everyone should still be adopting the “hands, face, space slogan and if you’re residing in an area still under local restrictions, you’re going to need to consult specific guidelines for your ‘zone.’ However, if you’re not in one of these restricted areas, you’re now able to get it on with your partner, (even if you don’t live together). Basically, it looks like one night stands are still out but if you’re dating someone it’s a green light.

 

“If you’re in a relationship that is well established… what it means is people realising that coming into close contact with people from other households, then that is how the virus spreads.” - Health Secretary Matt Hancock

 

Okay cool, but what constitutes an established relationship? 

How many dates count? What if you’ve kissed but not actually had sex yet? Are long-distance couples allowed to travel to have sex? If you’ve ever been in a ‘what are we?’ kinda space, this is probably a little too real. That familiar ache in the pit of your stomach as you over-analyse texts, sexts and voice notes is BACK and now paired with the onus of whether you can get it on (or not) for the foreseeable future! Yay! It’s probably a good time to get honest with the person you’re dating to confirm how you both feel, whether you’re comfortable with the situation and if you agree that you’re in a ‘well established’ established relationship. 

 

(Image creditNetflix)  

 

And what about our poly-couples? Our DMs have been red hot with the same question: does the rule of six apply for multi-partner relationships? While we’re all busy figuring it out, peep Refinery 29’s article on how lockdown has affected relationships within the Polyamorous community here.

 

“It just means that people need to be careful, they need to be sensible.” - Health Secretary Matt Hancock

 

Sensible, you say… If you’re sexually active and not wanting to fall pregnant, reach for condoms - the most safe and effective form of non-hormonal contraception that also protects against STIs.

 

We're all clearly none the wiser so while you try and figure it out, we'll leave you with these err, interesting results from yougov's recent poll. 

 

 

 

Come join the conversation over on our HANX Life forum here.

 

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