Sex Education for You

How do you get HIV? HIV is found in the following bodily fluids of someone living with the virus: blood semen and pre-seminal fluid ('pre-cum') rectal fluids/anal mucous vaginal fluids breastmilk. For you to get HIV, these bodily fluids need to get into your blood through a mucous membrane (for example, the lining of the vagina, rectum, or the opening of the penis), via shared injecting equipment, or through broken skin (such as cuts or sores in the mouth or tears around the anus). There is not enough HIV virus in other bodily fluids, like saliva, sweat or urine, to transmit it from one person to another. Someone living with HIV who has an ‘undetectable’ viral load, meaning effective treatment has lowered the amount of virus in their blood to levels where it cannot be detected by a normal blood test, cannot pass on HIV. A person living with HIV with a detectable viral load can pass the virus to others whether they have symptoms or not. HI...

Teenage relationships and sex education. For Sexual Assault Awareness Month, we’re asking  teenage sex education  experts about how to teach teens to make healthy choices. The issue of sexual assault prevention remains controversial, given the stigma attached to teaching young people about sex. For example, while Virginia managed to pass a bill just this year mandating teaching consent to high school students, many were disappointed that the state Senate killed the part of the bill requiring sex education classes to cover sexual assault and domestic abuse. And yet much of the work of prevention requires education. M.A. Sullivan has served as a sexual health educator at UVA and in area schools for over 30 years. We met with Sullivan and 4 th -year UVA medical student, Brian Wakefield, at the UVA Teen and Young Adult Health Center to learn about the risks and challenges today’s middle and high school kids face when it comes to adopting healthy sexual ...

Is porn harmful? The evidence, the myths and the unknowns Pornography is now only an internet search away, and is becoming ever more immersive. How is it changing people’s behaviour, relationships and desires? F Few things are truly universal. But while people across the world speak different languages, eat different foods and even feel different emotions, millions across the world watch porn. Despite being so widely consumed, porn is maligned as the source of society’s ills. It’s even been labelled a public health hazard by politicians in Utah. Porn has transformed over the past few decades, due to the availability of the internet and faster web connections. It is also becoming more immersive than ever before. Take virtual reality. Earlier this year, researchers from Newcastle University in the UK pointed out that VR changes the experience of porn from detached observer to protagonist. They warned that this has the potential to blur the line betw...