‘SAFE’ SEX: ORAL SEX. ANAL SEX
This can only be safe if there is no transfer of fluids, either from the penis or the vagina. Using a condom can make this a safer technique when stimulating a man orally, but it is difficult to avoid vaginal secretions when stimulating a woman orally, so it cannot be called particularly safe.
Anal sex
This is the highest risk form of penetrative sex, as it involves tiny tears to the skin of the anus, even when using a lubricant, making it easier for bugs to get into the blood stream. It is also a way that other germs, like hepatitis A and diarrhoea-producing bugs can be spread around. You are not likely to get pregnant from anal sex, but you can catch diseases. Even with a condom it can still be a risky business, but we would recommend that if you do practice anal sex you always use a condom, and plenty of lubricant, and change the condom after it has been in the anus, before the penis goes anywhere else.
Other sex practices
There are other ways of enjoying sexual contact than simply having intercourse. If you don’t want to pass either semen or vaginal fluid from one person to another while still having satisfying ‘sex’, there are other things you can do.
Masturbation, which means manually stimulating sexual organs (clitoris, vagina, penis), is usually done by touching and rubbing. It can also be done with specially designed sex toys, including vibrators and dildoes. As long as everything that touches the genitals is clean, and no secretions are spread from one person to another, it is a (airly safe form of sexual contact. People can masturbate themselves, or couples can masturbate each other. Forms of ‘sex without penetration* (of a penis into a mouth, vagina or anus) are generally safe, and are often very satisfying for couples, as they rely more on touching and communicating than simply on sexual penetration.
By practising these you are DECREASING, not ELIMINATING your chances of catching something. Additional measures, such as both partners having an STD check can help to decrease this chance further.
Completely safe sex
One way to be 100 per cent sure that you will not catch an STD is to avoid sexual contact completely (abstinence). Fortunately there is another method which comes close to 100 per cent. If two non-infected people (who have had thorough STD checks) have a sexual relationship which is truly monogamous (neither have any sexual contact with any other person), their STD risk is negligible.
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