Even is you asked your partner about previous sexual experience before having unprotected sex, you might not be in the clear. One study has found that 43% or men and 10% of women reported lying to their sexual partners in order to have sex (Crawford and Desiderato, 1995). It seems then that the only sure way to be safe is to use condoms every time, so why don't college students use them?
Protecting Against the Risk
To protect yourself against the risk (pregnancy, STDs, or HIV infection) you need five things (DeLamater, John. Personal correspondence. 4/11/01):
-Awareness of the risk. You cannot, and will not, protect yourself against risks you don't know about. You have to know about STDs, how they are transmitted, and how they can be protected against.
-Knowledge of ways to reduce/eliminate the risk. Abstinence is the most obvious and the safest. Condoms, when used correctly, are extremely effective. To learn more about condoms and their correct usage go to Williams college peer health website at http://wso.williams.edu/orgs/peerh/. This website also contains information on STDs (so go there if you are not aware of how risky STD's are to your health).
-You must be motivated to avoid the risk. In most cases, this is where college students lie. They are well educated, so they know about the risks and how to prevent them, but they are not motivated to do anything about it. See Motivation for more on how this is a major factor for college students, and what things can change motivation.
-You must have access to risk prevention behavior/devices. On Williams Campus, condoms can be bought for a low price from PEER HEALTH, or can be obtained free, in the entryway to the Thomson Health Center.
-You must have a cooperative partner. Although many students may feel that not using protection shows their partner that they trust them, any person that cares about you does not want you to be unhealthy. Furthermore, although you may be able to trust your partner, how do you know you can trust what their last partner told them? Unless your partner has been tested for STDs since their last sexual encounter, you can never really know.
What are the most important factors to most college students?
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