Safer sex is all about protecting yourself and your partners from sexually transmitted infections. Safer sex helps you stay healthy and can even make sex better.
Source: Planned Parenthood
Source: John Hopkins Medicine
For more information on how to practice safe sex please visit:
Safer Sex Guidelines from Johns Hopkins Medicine
Having unprotected sex which includes any genital skin-to-skin contact and or exchange of sexual fluids puts you at risk for sexually transmitted infections. Unprotected sex can lead to unplanned pregnancy.
Source: DX Saver
If you are sexually active, getting tested for STI's is one of the most important things you can do to protect your health - and the health of any sexual partners. Left untreated STI's can cause serious consequences:
Source: CDC
Consent is an agreement between participants to engage in sexual activity. Consent should be clearly and freely communicated. A verbal and affirmative expression of consent can help both you and your partner to understand and respect each other’s boundaries.
Consent cannot be given by individuals who are underage, intoxicated or incapacitated by drugs or alcohol, or asleep or unconscious. If someone agrees to an activity under pressure of intimidation or threat, that isn’t considered consent because it was not given freely. Unequal power dynamics, such as engaging in sexual activity with an employee or student, also mean that consent cannot be freely given.
Source: RAINN
Blurred Lines: Rethinking Sex, Power, and Consent on Campus by
Draws on research at college and university campuses to explore the topics of sex, consent, and sexual assault, discussing statistics about the prevalence of campus rape, and offering advice on how to make college a safer experience.
Lived Through This: Listening to the Stories of Sexual Violence Survivors by
In these pages you'll meet a community of rape and sexual violence survivors who have been shaped, but refuse to be defined, by their histories of violence.
Judging Victims: Why We Stigmatize Survivors, and How They Reclaim Respect by
Jennifer Dunn critically examines why we stigmatize survivors of rape, battering, incest, and clergy abuse - and how they reclaim their identities.
Source: CDC
All adults and adolescents from ages 13 to 64 should be tested at least once for HIV.
All sexually active women younger than 25 years should be tested for gonorrhea and chlamydia every year. Women 25 years and older with risk factors such as new or multiple sex partners or a sex partner who has an STD should also be tested for gonorrhea and chlamydia every year.
Everyone who is pregnant should be tested for syphilis, HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C starting early in pregnancy. Those at risk for infection should also be tested for chlamydia and gonorrhea starting early in pregnancy. Repeat testing may be needed in some cases.
All sexually active gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men should be tested:
Anyone who engages in sexual behaviors that could place them at risk for infection or shares injection drug equipment should get tested for HIV at least once a year.
People who have had oral or anal sex should talk with their healthcare provider about throat and rectal testing options.
Source: CDC
Source: CDC
Immediately go to a safe place. This may be a friend's room, MTSU University Police, the Murfreesboro police station, the hospital, or another place where you feel safe and are safe from harm.
Call someone to be with you. Call a friend, a family member, or someone else you can trust to be with you. You can call MTSU University Police at 911 or 615-898-2424. You may also call the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Program at 615-896-7377 (24-hour crisis line: 615-494-9262 or 615-896-2012) where volunteers are available 24 hours a day to respond.
Preserve physical evidence. Do not shower, bathe, douche, or otherwise clean yourself. If possible, do not urinate. Do not eat, drink liquids, smoke, or brush your teeth if oral contact took place. If you must change your clothes, save all clothing you were wearing at the time of the assault. If you have changed your clothes, place the clothing in a paper bag (plastic may destroy important evidence). Do not disturb anything in the area where the assault occurred. Following these directions will assist in proving the offense and in obtaining orders of protection.
Get medical attention. Physical safety and medical attention are of primary importance. You could be physically injured, become pregnant, or have been exposed to a sexually transmitted disease. Medical attention is available at St. Thomas Rutherford Hospital 615-396-4100, or MTSU Student Health Services, 615-898-2988. If done promptly, a medical examination can obtain important evidence should you decide to prosecute.
Write down as much as you can remember about the assailant and the assault. If you decide to report or press charges, you will have the details to give the police.
Seek counseling. Whether or not you report the assault or prosecute, a trained counselor can help you with the emotional trauma of an assault. Confidential emergency and follow-up counseling are available through MTSU Counseling Services, 615-898-2670 and the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Program, 615-896-7377.
Source: MTSU
