Safer Sex

(See also Sexually Transmitted Infections and HIV & AIDS sections)

STIs should not scare us away from having sex. Sex can be a way for us to explore ourselves and our connections with other people. It is healthy, natural, and can be downright fun. Good sex relieves stress, which can boost your immune system and help your body maintain its health. With the proper information, you can share great sex without sharing infections.

Safer sex does not have to be dull sex; it all depends on how you approach your body’s health. If taking care of your body feels like a chore, or you think you have little control over your body’s health, then it’s quite likely that you’ll consider safer sex the same way, and it will be a challenge to fit safer sex into your concept of hot sex. If this is true, it might be more worth your time and energy to consider counseling or other ways of changing your perception of your body; if you’re unhappy now, that does not mean you must continue to be unhappy. But if you love your body and think taking care of it is pretty sexy, then safer sex and hot sex will be one and the same.

Safer sex considers your overall health. Many STIs and other infections can lead to cancer and other illnesses if they are not treated. For example, head, neck, throat, cervical, and anal cancers have been linked to HPV.

Often, sexual activities are categorized by risk level, which refers to the likelihood of getting or passing on an STI. There are various categories, including no risk, low risk, and high risk, based on the theoretical possibility of getting an STI, and the number of proven infections transmitted by this behaviour. They are general guidelines, not formal medical or legal definitions.

Resources

• Get the facts about… condoms
• Using condoms
• Using internal condoms for anal sex
• Condoms Unwrapped: The ins and outs of condoms for gay and bisexual men
• How to talk about sex with sexual partners