[1][2][3] Born in Cambridge, Owens gained a degree in zoology from Exeter University, and then worked in ecology in Africa and Trinidad.

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.

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 November 2009, a conference with the title "Disability: Sex, Relationships and Pleasure" was held by SHADA with the Royal Society of Medicine.

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.