Safe sex is defined as "Sexual activity engaged in by people who have taken precautions to protect themselves against sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS." This is also referred to as safer sex, or protected sex, while unsafe sex or unprotected sex is sexual activity engaged in by people who have not taken precautions to protect themselves against sexually transmitted infections. Some sources suggest the use of safer sex is preferable to safe sex, as this reflects that risk is reduced, not avoided.
Safe sex practices became more prominent in the late 1980s as a result of the AIDS epidemic. Promoting safe sex is now a principal aim of sex education. From the viewpoint of society, safe sex can be regarded as a harm reduction strategy aimed at reducing risks.
The risk reduction of safe sex is not absolute; for example the reduced risk to the receptive partner of acquiring HIV from HIV seropositive partners not wearing condoms to compared to when they wear them is estimated to be about a four- to fivefold.
Although some safe sex practices can be used as contraception, most forms of contraception don't protect against all or any STIs; likewise, some safe sex practices, like partner selection and low risk sex behavior, aren't effective forms of contraception.
No comments:
Post a Comment