Sexual health is something we should all think about.
This is important whether you are sexually active, believe yourself to be low risk or otherwise.
[1] In a report published by Yuh T, Micheni M, Selke S, Oluoch L, Kiptinness C, Magaret A, Chohan B, Ngure K, Wald A, Mugo NR and Roxby AC (2020) titled, Sexually Transmitted Infections Among Kenyan Adolescent Girls and Young Women With Limited Sexual Experience" they found high numbers of STIs, especially Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) which is not routinely screened for in many Kenyan institutions.
According to the World Health Organization there were an estimated 376 million new cases of four curable sexually transmitted infections (STIs), Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, Syphilis, and Trichomoniasis in 2016.
These figures show us that there is a need to introduce sexual and reproductive health education pre-sexual debut.
Being sexually healthy is about having the information and support you need to explore sexuality and relationships in a healthy, respectful and safe way.
When we talk about sexual health, we are not just talking about protecting yourself against sexually transmitted diseases and understanding your contraception options; it is also about caring for yourself in sexual relationships and feeling good about the decisions you make around sexual activity.
In our first article, https://www.kazentertainment.com/post/let-s-talk-about-consent-baby, I listed out a number of adjectives describing what consent is and what it is not.
Consent therefore means granting someone permission to do something or something to be done.
When sex is consensual, it means that all the parties involved have agreed to what they are doing and have given permission to do so.
Non-consensual sex or sex without permission is sexual assault.
We have started this in depth series on consent because rape culture is so deeply engrained in our society.
CHURCH EDUCATION LAWS ON SEXUAL ASSAULT MEDIA
We need to deconstruct consent beyond the ‘yes means means yes’ and ‘no means no’ narrative. This is not to say that these words do not carry any weight, quite the opposite.
What it means is that sexual activity should be an ongoing dialogue.
Consent should take into account numerous factors such as; who can give consent, what state were they in, power dynamics, comfort levels just to name a few.
Consent is therefore specific each time and always required.
Let’s take a look at the following scenarios;
You have matched with someone on tinder and have been chatting for a few days, at what point do you ask them about their sexual health?
You are in the club, there’s proper chemistry with the person you are dancing with. You decide to take the party home, at what point do you discuss sexual health?
You have not visited your gynecologist in 2yrs and you are about to have sex with a new partner, is it important to disclose this information?
You are a woman who mostly has sex with other women and non-men, how often do you get tested? How often do you ask your partners’ about their sexual health? At what point do you ask them about their sexual health?
You are in a polyamourous relationship, do you think your partners’ are entitled to know the sexual health status of each other?
Each situation in the above scenarios has a different answer and the truth is that there are no definitive right or wrong answers.
That is to say that there is no clear advice on what and when someone should say.
There are however best practices when it comes to sexual health and I shall list them below;
If you are sexually active, you should get tested AT LEAST once a year.
This is not dependent on whether you are monogamous, single or polyamorous.
You should get tested every time you switch partners or before you have sex with a new person.
If you have an STD and are about to engage in sexual activity, you should inform your partner(s) of your status.
Understand the risks of engaging in consensual unprotected sex and discuss them with your partner(s) before engaging in any sexual activity.
Consenting to protected sex is not consenting to unprotected sex.
Consenting to protected sex is not consenting to unprotected sex
Stealthing is the act of a person with a penis intentionally and secretly taking off a condom during sex although it had previously been agreed with their sexual partner that a condom will be worn.
Stealthing is considered non-consensual sex in many countries and should in fact be considered illegal everywhere.
Discuss sexual health before engaging in any sexual activity.
Safe sex is enjoyable, sustainable & practical.
Getting an untreatable STD does not mean that you cannot have safe sex anymore.
[2] We have come along way since the pleasure campaign was introduced as a tool to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
We can acknowledge that accessibility and inclusive sex education have failed to capture this (in recent times) as a tool to fight the spread of STDs but we are here to remind you that safe sex is good sex.
Safe sex is good sex
There are condoms that aren't made of latex for those who do not like the smell or feel of latex or are allergic to them, flavoured condoms were made for oral sex, the female condom is not as inaccessible and difficult to insert as you might believe, you can make dental dams at the comfort of your bed using your preferred condom brand.
We will actually be making a DIY video on this soon so stay tuned 😉
Let us normalize these practices for healthier sexual practices.
- Written by: Njeri Gachuhi