By Raeghan Hilton and Sydney Fairbanks / Jambar Contributors
Safe sex resources are available both locally and on the Youngstown State University campus, including educational opportunities and free condoms.
Practicing safe sex is important for avoiding unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases and sexually transmitted infections.
Joy Tang, associate professor in the department of psychological sciences and counseling, said people often underestimate the probability of contracting an STI.
“We tend to kind of focus on the partner in front of us and think, ‘What are the chances that they could give us anything?’ What research has shown is that actually is the wrong way to calculate the probability, ” Tang said. “The probability of catching STIs from their current partner is actually the compounding probability of this partner and all the previous sexual history of this partner and their previous partners.”
When practicing safe sex, Tang said it is also important to have strong communication and make good decisions.
“We should think about it beyond the act itself. Maybe we should think about the relationship partner. Are we choosing, perhaps, safe partners to partner with? In order to have these intimate relationships with. Maybe we can think about communication with our partner so that we can take preventative measures before the act, so that we can make the best choice in the moment,” Tang said.
Another preventative measure people can take is staying educated. YSU offers courses about human sexuality and intimate relationships that students can take to stay informed.
Sofie Myers, Student Government Association vice president, said SGA hosts a safe sex week around Valentine’s Day to promote ongoing education.
“We’ll partner with different groups around campus to make sure students have information packets, any extra materials that they might need or just a safe space to ask questions or talk about it with people who know what they’re talking about and can give them the answers that they need,” Myers said.
Myers said YSU also offers year-round resources like free condoms.
“I know that in the library and some of the dorm areas they have free condoms available all the time. There is a group on campus called Pro-Choice Penguins and they have a lot of safe sex materials, condoms and things like that,” Myers said.
Students can also find free menstrual products in some of the women’s bathrooms as part of the SGA’s initiative called Aunt Flow.
“Right now we’re really working on maintaining and keeping [the Aunt Flow displays] filled, keeping them nice and clean, making sure they’re not damaged,” Myers said.
Myers said the SGA is searching for ways to make the Aunt Flow dispensers accessible across all of campus and any ways they can improve upon it.
“There was a push to make things like menstrual products accessible. I know there’s a lot surrounding that, like the pink tax, it’s just something extra that women have to pay for that is kinda hard to get whenever you’re a struggling college student,” Myers said.
The dispensers can be found in womens bathrooms in the Cushwa Hall, Beeghly Hall and Kilcawley Center buildings as well as the William F. Maag Jr. Library.