Speakers
Prof Linda-Gail Bekker
Prof Linda-Gail Bekker is the Chief Executive Officer of the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation and Director of the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre at the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, South Africa. Prof Bekker is a physician, scientist and infectious disease specialist. Her research interests include programmatic and action research around antiretroviral roll-out and TB integration, prevention of HIV in women, youth and MSM. Prof Bekker serves on numerous international scientific and advisory committees. She is a A+ rated scientist, has published >800 peer-reviewed papers.
Prof Eli Coleman (USA)
Keynote Speaker
Eli Coleman, PhD is professor and director emeritus of the Eli Coleman Institute for Sexual and Gender Health, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis. The naming the institute in his honor occurred on May 12, 2023. He is the author of numerous articles and books on compulsive sexual behavior, sexual offenders, sexual orientation, gender dysphoria, chemical dependency and family intimacy and on the psychological and pharmacological treatment of a variety of sexual dysfunctions and disorders. Professor Coleman is one of the founding editors of the International Journal of Transgenderism and is the founding and current editor of the International Journal of Sexual Health. He is one of the past-presidents of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality (SSSS), the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), the World Association for Sexual Health, the International Academy for Sex Research and the Society for Sex Therapy and Research. He has been a frequent technical consultant on sexual health issues to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Pan American Health Organization (the regional office of WHO), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He has been the recipient of numerous awards including the US Surgeon General's Exemplary Service Award for his role as senior scientist on Surgeon General's Call to Action to Promote Sexual Health and Responsible Sexual Behavior, released in 2001. He was given the Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award from the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality and the Alfred E. Kinsey Award by the Midcontinent Region of the SSSS in 2001 and in May of 2011, he received the John Money Award from the Eastern Region of the SSSS. In April, 2007, he was awarded the Gold Medal for his lifetime contributions to the field of sexual health by the World Association for Sexual Health. He was appointed the first endowed Chair in Sexual Health at the University of Minnesota Medical School in May 2007. In May of 2009, he was awarded the Masters and Johnson Award by the Society for Sex Therapy and Research. In 2019, he was honored as the inaugural United States Sexual Health Award at the National Sexual Health Conference (2019). In 2022, he was awarded the inaugural Gold Medal from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health.
Patsy de Lora
Patricia de Lora, affectionately known as Patsy, is the Founder and CEO of Partners in Sexual Health, its head office based in South Africa. Within her academic and professional career in Public Health, Cancer Research & Epidemiology, and Public Administration & Governance, she is a woman of multiple talents, pursuits and ambitions. However, her greatest expertise revolves in the world of Sexual and Reproductive Health & Rights, especially on adolescents and youth. Her salient leadership qualities contributed to be the founder of the first and biggest SRH&R Youth Network in South Africa, called Siyakwazi Youth Network which led to the employment of 2000 youth to become food soldiers on SRH&R in South Africa. Patsy believes no young person should be left behind; she went further to developed in partnership with SAMRC and UNFPA, Africa’s first facilitator’s handbook and manuals focussing on access to Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) and services for Young People with Disabilities. No wonder the youth of Africa calls her Mama Youth!
Prof Elma de Vries
Elma de Vries, MBChB, MFamMed, FCFP(SA), PhD (Health Science Education) is a family physician who is passionate about the right to access healthcare for marginalised populations. She is the MBChB Programme Coordinator at the new medical school at Nelson Mandela University in Gqeberha, and enjoys the adventure of developing a new medical programme with a dynamic team. She is a co-author of the SAHCS Gender Affirming Guideline for South Africa and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) Standards of Care 8, and chairperson of the Professional Association for Transgender Health South Africa (PATHSA).
Duduzile Dlamini
Duduzile Dlamini is a human rights defender and activist fighting for the decriminalisation of sex work. She is the current Advocacy Manager for the Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT). She began as a peer educator, progressed to program manager and eventually founded an organisation – Mothers for the Future, and the Sex Workers Empowerment project. She is also a Board Member of SHARISA – Sexual Health and Rights Initiative of South Africa. She has lectured at the South African College of Applied Psychology (SACAP) on Sex Work and Decriminalisation. She is also an active member of Civil Society on Parliament Watch. She has been nominated as International Ambassador of the Coalition of Children affected by HIV. Dudu is a member of the Advisory Committee for Global Promise. Dudu is a Tekano fellow, and she was the first ever recipient of the Prudence Mabele award at the 22nd International Aids Conference in Amsterdam in The Netherlands. Ms Dlamini holds a seat in the Parliamentary Joint Committee desk in South Africa and holds a chair in Civil Society Advisory for the United Nations. She is a member of the Working Committee on the National Strategic Plan for Gender-Based Violence in South Africa. She holding a sit in a CCM and Selected as a Sex Work leader from National Dialogue Steering Committee that is under Government of S.A
Dr Marlena du Toit
Dr Marlena du Toit is a specialist gynaecologist and sexual medicine practitioner based in Cape Town, South Africa. She completed her specialist training in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Stellenbosch University and is a Fellow of the European Committee of Sexual Medicine. Her clinical practice focuses on women's sexual health, intimacy concerns, and biopsychosocial approaches to sexual wellbeing across the lifespan. In addition to her clinical work, Dr du Toit serves as Program Director of the longitudinal Sexual Health Curriculum at Stellenbosch University's Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. She has led the development of innovative, sex-positive educational approaches that integrate sexual medicine, communication skills, reflection, and clinical reasoning across the undergraduate medical programme. Her scholarly interests include sexual health education, curriculum design, learner experiences, and the preparation of future healthcare professionals to provide inclusive, person-centred sexual healthcare. Dr du Toit is currently completing a Master of Philosophy in Health Professions Education, with research exploring medical students' experiences of learning within a longitudinal sexual health curriculum. She is passionate about advancing sexual health through both clinical care and transformative health professions education.
Dr Pieter Anton Ekermans
Dr Pieter Ekermans is a Clinical Pathologist by training. Since 2014 he has worked in private practice with a focus on infectious diseases. His particular interest is the diagnosis and management of nontuberculous mycobacteria. In the sexual health world, his interest is in the screening for sexually transmitted diseases, particularly in men who have sex with men.
Dr Chantal Fowler
Dr. Chantal Fowler is a Clinical Psychologist and Sexologist in private practice in Cape Town. After qualifying as a Clinical Psychologist at Stellenbosch University in 2017, she obtained further certification in Psycho-Sexology through the European Society for Sexual Medicine (ESSM), Budapest in 2020. Chantal was also certified in Gender affirming healthcare through the World Professional Association of Transgender Healthcare (WPATH) in Canada in 2021. She was awarded a PhD in Public Health from UCT, with a fellowship from Brown university in the USA in 2025. Dr. Fowler also serves as part-time co-lead for the pysch-care division of Afrikaburn, which is the African contingent of Burning Man. By night, she goes by Dr. Spice C, a burlesque performer for the Rouge Review burlesque dance company.
Dr Cole Goldberg
Dr Cole Goldberg is an Occupational Therapist with a PhD in Psychiatry and Mental Health. She is the founder and director of CGOT (Cole Goldberg Occupational Therapy) and co-founder of Lighthouse Learning Hub, an innovative neurodiversity-affirming educational and therapeutic model. Her work focuses on neurodiversity, mental health, executive functioning, and creating inclusive environments that supports her clients to thrive. She supervises her OTs weekly to ensure the whole team is aligned on values and making progress happen. Through her clinical work, leadership, speaking engagements, and program development, Cole is passionate about bridging the gap between research and practical, meaningful support. Outside of work, she enjoys reading, travel, ocean swims, and spending time with her four rescue dogs.
Prof Lisa Kaestner
Dr Lisa Kaestner is a specialist urological surgeon trained in minimally invasive (robotic and laparoscopic) urological surgery, endoscopic surgery for renal stone disease and benign prostate enlargement, reconstructive urology, and urogynaecological procedures. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Stellenbosch and postgraduate training at the University of Cape Town, earning her MMed in 2010 and PhD in 2022, with research focused on renal stone disease in the Western Cape. Dr Lisa led the reconstructive urology and renal stone unit at Groote Schuur Hospital from 2010 to 2024 and served as academic program director in the Division of Urology at the University of Cape Town from 2020 to 2024. In 2022, she became the first female Associate Professor of Urology in South Africa. She is a regular College of Urology examiner and currently serves as president of the College of Urology of South Africa.
Elliott Kotze
Elliott Kotze is a counselling psychologist in private practice, where he spends most of his time working with queer, trans, and/or neurodivergent adolescents and young adults. His adolescent work forms part of a larger project with Avri Spilka, aimed at rethinking and reimagining love and family. Elliott is the president of the South African Sexual Health Association where he gets to geek out about sex and pleasure with other professionals in the field. He believes psychologists should aim to work themselves out of a job, and when that day comes, he hopes to become a subsistence farmer.
Bruce Laing
Bruce Laing is a clinical psychologist and senior psychoanalytic candidate with SAPA/IPSO and works in private practice in Cape Town. He has presented at numerous conferences both locally and internationally and has taught psychoanalytic theory to both GRASP and the SAPI College.
Landa Mabenge
Landa Mabenge is completing a PhD in Public Health at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and holds an MA cum laude from the University of University (UK), where he was awarded a Top Sociology Scholar Award for 2020/21. He is an educationalist through his independent consultancy, Landa Mabenge Consulting, and is the author of Becoming Him: A Trans Memoir of Triumph. His interests lie in the area of inclusive primary healthcare for transgender and gender-diverse populations in South Africa’s public sector. This work is at the intersection of sexual health and gender affirming healthcare and draws on trans justice theory, the theory of structural injustice and the framework of intersectionality. Landa is Canon Collins Trust scholarship holder and is a recipient of the Trust’s most prestigious award: the 2024 Scholar’s Scholar Award. He is an alumnus of the US Mandela Washington Fellowship (MWF), UK Chevening Scholarship, and US Global Advocacy Fellowship programs.
Dr Itai Makone
Dr Itai Makone is a Policy Advice Researcher at The Policy Innovation Lab. She holds a PhD in Political Science from Stellenbosch University in South Africa. Itai’s PhD focused on political risk analysis in hybrid regimes. She is part of the Human Futures - AI Transitions in a Global Context research group hosted by the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study (SCAS), and it is executed in collaboration with its partners, Tokyo College and the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS). Itai has a wealth of experience in Academia as a Lecturer at Stellenbosch University and a Researcher at HUMA, University of Cape Town, and in public service as an Economist for the Ministry of Industry and Commerce in Zimbabwe. Her research interests include using AI for evidence-based policymaking, Responsible AI Ethics, AI policy, political risk analysis, and public policy.
Dr Ray Meas
Dr Ray Meas is a queer, Cape Town–based general practitioner registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA). He obtained his MBChB degree from Stellenbosch University in 2016 and has worked across diverse healthcare settings in South Africa, gaining experience in both public and private sectors. His practice in Strandfonetin on the Cape Flats covers acute and chronic disease management with special interests in child health, sexual and reproductive health, women’s health, LGBTQIA+ healthcare and mental health support. In 2023 he founded My Doctor Family Practice to deliver affordable, patient-centred care addressing gaps in the private healthcare system. Dr Meas is certified by the South African HIV Clinicians Society to provide gender-affirming healthcare and is committed to inclusive, safe, and respectful care for transgender and gender-diverse patients. His approach is holistic, evidence-based, and grounded in dignity and compassion. He places strong emphasis on counselling, patient education, and shared decision-making, empowering patients to take an active role in their health and wellbeing. His work reflects a commitment to equitable healthcare and improving quality of life before, during, and after illness.
Prof Shingai Mutambirwa
Prof. Shingai Mutambirwa holds an MMed (Urology) from Medunsa and FCS (Urol), qualifying in 1996. He is Head of the Department of Urology at Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital and Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University in Pretoria, a position he has held since 2008, where he is involved in undergraduate and postgraduate training in urology. He serves as a peer reviewer for the Journal of Urology, the African Journal of Urology, and Hindawi publications. He has authored over 80 peer-reviewed articles and 10 book chapters. He is a founding member of the Prostate Cancer Foundation of South Africa and serves as Senator (Urology) for the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa (CMSA). He has also served on advisory boards and as a Key Opinion Leader for multiple pharmaceutical companies, including Aspen, Astellas, Janssen (J&J), Bayer, Pfizer, and others.
Dan Neville
Dan Neville is the co-founder of Cerebral Circuit, a South African AI consultancy and product studio focused on practical applications of artificial intelligence. His work centres on helping organisations understand, design and implement AI systems in ways that are useful, responsible and grounded in real human needs. His background is in digital strategy, communications and behavioural change, with a particular interest in mass communication: how information spreads, how narratives shape behaviour, and how technology changes the relationship between people, institutions and the messages they receive. Dan is especially interested in how AI alters access to information, decision-making and human interaction and in separating what the technology can genuinely do from the hype surrounding it.
Dr Tracey Nupen
Dr Tracey Nupen is a Paediatrician with a postgraduate diploma in Paediatric Palliative Medicine from the University of Cape Town. She has over a decade of experience in this field and advocates strongly for the integration of a holistic care approach at all healthcare levels and for all ages. She works in the multidisciplinary clinic at Paedspal, a non-profit organisation in Cape Town. Paedspal serves families, children and adolescents navigating significant health-related symptoms. Tracey is a lecturer at UCT, teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate level in the Department of Paediatric and Child Health. She believes personhood should never be overshadowed by illness.
Arlynn Revell
Arlynn Revell is an academic, researcher, educator, and sexual health professional with more than twenty years of experience spanning sexuality, reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, education, and research. She holds master’s degrees in Family and Sexuality Studies (cum laude) from KU Leuven, Belgium, and in Human Ecology from the University of the Western Cape. Arlynn is currently affiliated with the Psychology Department at the University of Fort Hare, where she holds a DSI-NRF research position in Sexualities, Genders and Queer Studies, and has also worked with the University of Johannesburg and the University of the Western Cape. Her clinical experience includes work as a sexologist and counsellor at DISA Health Care Clinic in Johannesburg, and she served as an HIV/AIDS Consultant for TrustAfrica in Dakar, Senegal, coordinating HIV/AIDS programmes across Africa. A published academic, Arlynn has also written for magazines and newspapers, co-hosted a radio programme, and presented her work internationally, including in Cuba, Canada, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
Jason Ross
Jason Ross is a trained counselling psychologist. He originally specialised in sex therapy and has previously served on the executive board of SASHA. Over time, his work has extended beyond the scope of sexology to relationships, severe illness, injury, and trauma-related concerns. It was early in his career that it became clear to him that sex therapy, relationship therapy, and trauma counselling are not discrete or specialised domains, but strands running through all therapeutic work. Therapy consistently returns to the same terrain: the tension between fear and desire, the ways we come into being through others, and the enduring influence of trauma—especially the trauma of love gone wrong. His work resists diagnostics and rather than approaching distress as a malfunction to be corrected, he has turned towards philosophies that developed out of Existential Phenomenology in exploring an alternative (non-diagnostic) ways of practising. He recently completed a PhD in Philosophy & Psychoanalysis through the Global Centre for Advanced Studies (GCAS). His doctoral research offered a critical comparison between secular Buddhist methods and existential psychoanalysis - developing a form of contemplative existential analysis in which the self is approached not as an object or identity, but as the ongoing struggle to exist. He was also subsequently awarded a certificate in Negative Psychoanalysis under the supervision of philosopher and psychoanalyst, Prof Julie Reshe.
Dr Elna Rudolph
Dr Elna Rudolph is a globally recognised medical doctor and sexologist with more than fifteen years of dedicated experience in sexual medicine. She is the Clinical Head of My Sexual Health (MSH), and Director of the African Institute for Sexual and Gender Health and served as President of the World Association for Sexual Health from 2021 to 2025.
Dr Andrew Scheibe
Dr Andrew Scheibe is a medical doctor by training who works in key population programmes and policy in South Africa and the region. His work focuses on the intersections between infectious diseases, determinants of health, and rights, with a particular focus on substance use and harm reduction. He is a technical advisor for TB HIV Care, a researcher at the University of Pretoria’s Community Oriented Primary Care Research Unit and a consultant working for the South African Network of People Who Use Drugs and Population Services International.
Dr Anthony Smith
Dr Anthony Smith is a Family Doctor and Sexual Medicine practitioner in Cape Town, South Africa. He holds an MFamMed (University of Cape Town), an MSc in Medical Anthropology (University College London), and is a Fellow of the European Committee of Sexual Medicine (FECSM). He is a former National President of the Southern African Sexual Health Association and currently convenes the Working Committee developing the Postgraduate Diploma in Sexual Health for the College of Family Physicians of South Africa. Internationally, he serves on the Professional Education for Sexologists (PES) Committee of the World Association for Sexual Health and contributes to the European Sexual Medicine Network (ESMN) through the COST Action Working Group.
Avri Spilka
Avri is a Counselling Psychologist in private practice in Johannesburg and co-Director of the Southern African Sexual Health Association (SASHA). She sees individuals, couples and polycules for psychotherapy, and has a special interest in issues of erotic, sexual and relational liberation. Her background spans (photo)journalism, advocacy and activism, community psychology, and sexology. Her greatest pleasure, provocation and praxis continue to be her family and children; a daily reminder and inspiration to work toward justice for all families. She is excited to be engaged with Elliott in queering and rethinking family and love, and to be convening this year’s SASHA conference: Into The Fray: Provocations and Possibilities in Sexual Health.
Prof Sally Swartz
Emeritus Associate Professor Sally Swartz (University of Cape Town) is a practicing psychoanalytic psychotherapist. She has a particular interest in the field of relational psychoanalytic theory. Recent papers have had decolonisation of mind as a central focus. She has published widely in the areas of history of psychiatry, colonialism and relational psychoanalytic practice. She is the author of three monographs. Homeless Wanderers: Movement and Mental Illness in the Cape Colony in the Nineteenth Century was published in 2015, and Ruthless Winnicott: The Role of Ruthlessness in Psychoanalysis and Political Protest in 2019. In 2022 she published Psychoanalysis and Colonialism: A Contemporary Introduction.
Lisa Welsh
Lisa Welsh is an accredited sex educator, who serves as Communications Lead for both My Sexual Health and the World Association for Sexual Health (WAS), and Marketing Manager for SASHA. She is also a trained SAR facilitator and has supported SASHA with comms for the last 2 conferences. Her personal brand centres on men's sexual wellness. Through His Library on substack, she runs an online publication offering shame-free sex education to men who are actively seeking honest, substantive information about their own bodies and desires. This work sits at the heart of what she will address in her presentation: the specific challenges, contributions, and evolving legitimacy of non-clinical practitioners in a field that is still defining its own professional boundaries. As someone who has spent years building credibility across clinical, media, and educational landscapes simultaneously, Lisa brings a practitioner's perspective on what it actually takes to earn trust and occupy useful space outside the clinical frame. Her public education work is extensive. She has appeared on Radio 702 more than twenty times, as well as on Power 987, 5FM, Metro FM, East Coast Radio, and CapeTalk, and has been featured in Glamour SA, Glamour UK, News24, IOL, and The Citizen. She has spoken at events nationally and internationally, and has been a guest on various podcasts including Shameless Sex. Lisa is based on the KwaZulu-Natal coast of South Africa.
PANELLIST
Sharon Cox
Sharon Cox is a human rights activist, facilitator and ordained minister with more than two decades of experience working in the LGBTIQ+ sector. Her work has focused on advancing the dignity, rights and safety of LGBTIQ+ people through advocacy, training and engagement with communities and institutions. Sharon has worked at the intersection of sexuality, gender and faith, challenging religious narratives that have contributed to the exclusion and marginalisation of LGBTIQ+ people. She was also an applicant in South Africa's landmark 2006 same-sex marriage case, selected to participate because of her faith-based position in support of marriage equality.
Alecia du Toit
Alecia du Toit is a South African filmmaker and director of For The Bible Tells Her So, a documentary currently in production exploring the influence of Christianity on gender and gender-based violence in South Africa. Her work investigates the ways religious teachings can and have shaped attitudes towards women, LGBTQ+ people, and power, while asking what accountability and reform can look like within faith communities. She challenges systems and institutions that have access to vulnerable people and is committed to ensuring that those entrusted with their care, protection, and spiritual guidance are held to appropriate standards.
Josie Peres (Jo)
Josie Peres (Jo) is an Associate Producer for 1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture and co-host of the 1946 Culture Shift Tour Podcast, leading conversations on faith, justice, truth, and healing. Now based in the UK, Jo also works in Higher Education and has a background in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI). Growing up in apartheid South Africa shaped their commitment to advancing social justice, human rights, and LGBTQ+ equality. Jo serves on the Board of UK Black Pride and previously served on the Board of Kaleidoscope Trust, championing the empowerment of marginalised communities and challenging injustice.
Sharon "Rocky" Roggio
Sharon "Rocky" Roggio is an award-winning American filmmaker, creative producer, and impact strategist best known as the director of 1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture. With a background spanning major film, television, and commercial productions, Roggio combines storytelling, audience engagement, and grassroots organizing to drive social change. Through the global 1946 Impact Campaign and The Culture Shift Tour podcast, she convenes scholars, faith leaders, activists, and communities to challenge misinformation, foster dialogue, and advance LGBTQIA+ inclusion. Her work demonstrates how independent films can become catalysts for cultural transformation, civic engagement, and human rights advocacy around the world.
Moderators
Ronald Addinall
Ronald Addinall (He/They), gender nonbinary and queer identified, is a clinical social worker, sexologist and academic at UCT with over 30 years professional practice experience across many fields in social work such as generic social work, the specialist fields of military social work, occupational social work, medical social work, clinical social work, social work supervision & social work management. Now in 2026 he has 17-years’ experience as an academic lecturing in social work, clinical social work, and sexology at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. He has worked in settings such as Ysterplaat Air Force Base, 2 Military Hospital, United Nations & SANDF military health deployments in Burundi and the DRC, Triangle Project (an LGBTQIA NPO) and Genderdynamix (a Transgender Rights NPO). He further specialised as a sexologist and sex therapist, under the 24-year professional mentorship of Prof Clint Gould from the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality and the University of Pennsylvania in the United States. Ron established the first ever sexual health clinic in a military health setting at 2 Military Hospital which he managed for 10 years offering sex therapy, sexual health promotion, and sexual health prevention programmes. He developed an Introduction to Human Sexuality Workshop for Healthcare practitioners which he presented for several years throughout South Africa in the public, NPO and private health care sector. Ron is a founding member and past board member of the Southern African Sexual Health Association (SASHA) and a founding member and past board member of the Professional Association for Transgender Health South Africa (PATHSA). Ron is internationally and nationally regarded for his expertise in sex therapy and sexual health as well as in the specialised areas of Erotology, Transgender and Gender Diverse Gender Affirming Psychosocial Healthcare as well as Diverse Sexualities and Communities. He served on the Transgender Clinic Multi-disciplinary Team of Groote Schuur Hospital. He served on the WHO task team for South Africa for the Clinical Utility research on the ICD-11 diagnostic criteria for Gender Incongruence and Paraphilias. Ron served as a specialist member of the research and writing team who, under the auspices of the HIV Clinicians Society, published the first ever Gender Affirming Healthcare Guidelines for South Africa in 2021. In April 2022 Ron was invited to serve on the Transgender and Gender Diversity Advisory Committee of the World Association for Sexual Health (WAS). He is a doctoral candidate working on his thesis titled: The Psychosocial Lived Experiences and Healthcare Needs of Transgender and Gender Diverse Persons in South Africa: A Phenomenological Study. For many years he has volunteered his clinical social work expertise and served as an ally and advocate, working with Transgender and Gender Diverse adults, adolescents, children, and their families including in the contexts of workplaces and schools.
Chant Malan
Chant is a clinical sexologist, counselling psychologist, researcher, and SASHA's Gauteng Chairperson. They came into psychology from a background in politics and philosophy, with a focus on queer, critical, feminist and fat studies. As a result, their work is intersectional, sex-positive and unafraid of the topics most people skirt.
Dr Robyn Milton
Dr Robyn Milton (she/they) is a generalist medical practitioner with special interests in sexual, hormonal and metabolic health. She spent her twenties chasing dopamine as an advanced life support paramedic, but has now hung up her steel toe boots in favour of barefoot shoes. Her practice stems from her own experience as someone with ADHD, anxiety and polycystic ovarian syndrome, and as a member of various alternative lifestyle communities - queer, non-monogamous and covered in tattoos, to name a few. She is a Resuscitation Council of South Africa faculty member and holds post-graduate diplomas in Obstetrics and Disability studies. Robyn aims to approach each clinical scenario with the individual in mind, with a focus on empowering each patient or student to make decisions with the best information available. Her approach will always be on providing a patient-centric preventative and holistic plan first. She believes that with the right care and support, all persons are able to embody their best selves. Robyn lives in Cape Town with her partner and their two cats, and when not working enjoys weightlifting, talking about psychedelic harm reduction, and lots and lots of indie music.
Avri Spilka
Avri is a Counselling Psychologist in private practice in Johannesburg and co-Director of the Southern African Sexual Health Association (SASHA). She sees individuals, couples and polycules for psychotherapy, and has a special interest in issues of erotic, sexual and relational liberation. Her background spans (photo)journalism, advocacy and activism, community psychology, and sexology. Her greatest pleasure, provocation and praxis continue to be her family and children; a daily reminder and inspiration to work toward justice for all families. She is excited to be engaged with Elliott in queering and rethinking family and love, and to be convening this year’s SASHA conference: Into The Fray: Provocations and Possibilities in Sexual Health.