Hey Tilly! Thanks for bringing up this event of “Let’s Talk Month” to our attention. I certainly never heard of it before, and I think its’ a great idea, and even greater that you’re participating!

So, you want to know how to help your friend understand the importance of taking care of herself by practicing safer sex. Is this right? This relaxed attitude towards the need for protection is definitely something I have seen amongst my peers, too!

The key here is to educate our friends about the risks and responsibilities involved in having unprotected sexual contact, and even protected sexual contact. Does she feel comfortable talking to prospective partners about their sexual history? Does she have access to or know what type of protection she may need? Does she understand the nature of the STIs that are out there?

As of CDC data from 2007 (source), there are 19 million new instances of sexually transmitted infections every year, and half are within the age group of 15-24 years of age. However, the CDC acknowledges that the rates of these STIs are probably higher because most instances are not diagnosed.

What does this mean? Basically, there are a lot of people out there who have STIs and a lot, if not more, who have STIs and don’t know it, and are spreading it through risky sexual behavior! This is because of a lot of STIs are asymptomatic: someone can be a carrier without showing the symptoms of it. Some of these silent STIs include gonorrhea and Chlamydia, which if left untreated, can leave a woman unfertile and led to chronic pelvic pain, known as Pelvic Inflammatory Disease. Some one may even have HIV and be asymptomatic.

Another STI that may be silent is HPV, the virus that includes some strands that cause cervical, oral or anal cancer, as well as genital warts. The thing about HPV is it cannot be entirely prevented by condom use, since it is spread by skin-to-skin contact. There is currently no HPV test for men (in case your friend wants to get sexually involved with males).

Some other things unprotected sex can cause:

-Unplanned Pregnancy  

-Stress

Your friend, just as most young people, needs to understand that at the end of the day she is the only one responsible and looking out for her own sexual well-being. While talking with a prospective partner, he/she may confide that they are clean and have no symptoms and truly believe this is the case without knowing that they have a silent infection, or just an undiagnosed one. That’s why protection, knowledge and partner communication in this area is so important!

Let your friend know you care about her and that she is dear to you, and that’s why you want her to have a fun AND safe sex life! Instead of finding out the hard, expensive and emotionally difficult way your friend can educate herself on the risks that exist and make safer, informed choices about her sex life. She’s pretty lucky to have such a thoughtful friend! I hope this helps! Please let me know if something isn’t clear!

Some links:

STI info: http://www.mysistahs.org/health/STI/index.htm

Great article on prevention: http://www.mysistahs.org/health/STI/prevention.htm

Having the talk with partners: http://www.mysistahs.org/features/partnercommunication.htm

Contrapception: http://www.mysistahs.org/health/contraception.htm