STI Awareness Month: The reality condom is a safe alternative for sex work

For sex workers, condom usage is extremely important to protect themselves against HIV and STIs, but in reality, this doesn’t always happen. A customer might pay much more for sex without a condom then sex with a condom, and depending on the day a sex worker has, the decision to not wear a condom may be one of necessity, then one of safety. Wearing a condom might be more risky in the short term if a sex worker is threatened with violence, or a sex worker has had something to drink.  Based on these barriers, for sex workers to exclusively use the male condom during sexual contact might be unrealistic, unsafe, and a question of survival.

If You Give a Teen a Condom

One of the hottest debates among school administrators, parents, and politicians is sex education, specifically information about safer sex, in schools. If you give a teenager a condom, are you promoting promiscuity? Are we inviting unplanned pregnancy and STIs into teen’s lives by acknowledging the fact that they might be interested in sex?

Simply put: No. Duh.

National Condom Month 2013: Condoms as a Rite of Passage? Absolutely!

National Condom Month is always my favorite blog of the year to write.

The condom. All sorts of shapes, sizes, colors (even glow-in-the-dark). Ribbed or plain. Lubed or not. Latex or plastic (and natural skin, although that variety isn’t as effective as the others against sexually transmitted infections).

Wrapping It Up Still Feels Good – Why the Bad Rap?

We’ve all heard it before – sex with condoms isn’t as good as sex without condoms.

However, a new study by ASHA board member Dr. Debby Herbenick and other researchers from Indiana University’s Center for Sexual Health Promotion shows that condoms’ bad rap might be unwarranted.

Turning the Tide on HIV

Reports of dramatic decline in sexual risks among black youth is certainly news that brings cheer and deserves universal appreciation. The advances made by a community that has been disproportionately affected by the scourge of HIV/AIDS are certainly encouraging. The data covering 1991 to 2011 was presented by Dr Laura Kann, Ph.D., Chief, Surveillance and Evaluation Research Branch, Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) at the XIX International AIDS Conference held on July 25, 2012, at Washington, D.C.