Prevention · Education · Support · Referrals

Serving the mountain communities of Banff, Canmore, Kananaskis
Lake Louise, Exshaw and Morley

Free
condoms
are
available
at the
following
locations:

AIDS Bow
Valley

The
Living
Room

The
Banff
YWCA

The Banff
Centre

Lube and
dental dams
are also
available at the
AIDS Bow Valley
office
302 Buffalo St.

RISK REDUCTION

We all make decisions about risk everyday and everyone determines what are acceptable levels of risk for them. Different sexual activities have different levels of risk for HIV/STD transmission. Know your risks and make educated choices about your acceptable levels of risk and your safer sex practices. Set your own limits and stick to them.

In order to reduce your risk you can choose to abstain from certain or all risky activities (i.e. sex, needle sharing, tattooing, piercing) or to modify your risky behaviors (i.e. though condom use, reducing the number of your sexual contacts, cleaning your needles).

Before you have sex:

• Think about safer sex.
• Set your limits.
• Get a supply of lubricant and condoms or other barriers, and be sure they are easy to find when you need them.
• Talk to your partners so they know your limits.
• Get tested if you feel you have been exposed to HIV of STD   through unsafe sex, sharing or unsafe body art, see your doctor, call or visit the STD clinic 1-800-772-2437 in Edmonton or 403-944-7575 in Calgary.
• Stick to your limits. Don't let alcohol or drugs or an attractive partner allow you to forget to protect yourself.

 

- How does HIV spread during sex?

To spread HIV during sex, HIV infection in blood or sexual fluids must be transmitted to someone. Sexual fluids come for a man's penis for from a woman’s vagina, either, before, during, of after orgasm. HIV can be transmitted when infected fluids gets into someone's body.

You can't spread HIV if there is no HIV infection. If you and your partners are not infected with HIV, there is no risk. If there is contact with blood or sexual fluids, there is no risk. HIV needs to get into the body for infection to occur.

Safer sex guidelines are ways to reduce the risk of spreading HIV during sexual activity.

- How risky is it?

Safe activities have no risk for spreading HIV. Abstinence (never having sex) is 100% safe. Sex with just one partner is safe as long as neither of you is infected and if neither one of you have ever had sex with anyone else.

Fantasy, masturbation or hand jobs (where you keep your fluids to yourself), sexy talk, and non-sexual massage are also safe. These activities avoid contact with blood or sexual fluids, so there is no risk of transmitting HIV.

To be safe, assume that your sex partners are infected with HIV. You can't tell if people are infected by how they look. They could be lying if they tell you that they are not infected especially if they want to have sex with you. Or they could be infected and unaware of it. Some people got HIV from their steady partners who were unfaithful "just once".

Even people who have had a negative test might be infected. They might have been infected after they got tested, of they might have been tested too soon after they were exposed to HIV. Remember none of us know if we are negative unless we have been tested or if we have never been exposed to another person's blood of sexual bodily fluids. See Testing Info page for more information.

- Unsafe Activities:

Unsafe sex has a high risk of spreading HIV. The greatest risk is when blood or sexual fluid touches the soft, moist areas (mucous membrane) inside the rectum, vagina, mouth, nose, or at the tip of the penis. These can be damages easily, which gives HIV a way to get into the body.

Vaginal of rectal intercourse without protection is very unsafe. Sexual fluids enter the body, and wherever a man's penis is inserted, it can cause small tears that make HIV infection more likely. The receptive partner is more likely to be infected, although HIV might be able to enter the penis, epically if it has contact with HIV infected blood or vaginal fluids for a long time or if it has any open sores. Uncircumcised males may be at higher risk for infection than circumcised males.

- Safer Activities:

Most sexual activity carries some risk of spreading HIV. To reduce the risk, make it more difficult for blood of sexual fluid to get into your body.

Be aware of your body and your partner's. Cuts, sores, or bleeding gums increase the risk of spreading HIV. Rough physical activity also increases the risk. Even small injuries give HIV a way to get into the body.

- Protection:

Use a barrier to prevent contact with blood or sexual fluid. Remember that the body's natural barrier is the skin. If you don’t have any cuts or sores, your skin will protect you against infection. However, HIV can get into the body though the mucous membranes.

The most common artificial barrier is a condom for men. You can also use a female condom to protect the vagina or rectum during intercourse. See our condom page for more information on condoms.

Lubricants can increase sexual stimulation. They also reduce the chance that condoms or other barriers will break due to friction. Oil-based lubricants like Vaseline, oils, or creams can damage condoms and other latex barriers. Be sure to always use water based lubricants. Saliva may be used to reactivate water based lube or is lube is unavailable.

Oral sex has some risk of transmitting HIV, especially if sexual fluids get into the mouth and if there are bleeding gums, exposed roots or sores in the mouth. Pieces of latex or plastic wrap (non-microwave) over the vagina, or condoms over the penis, can be used as barriers during oral sex. Condoms without lubricants are best for oral sex. Most lubricants taste awful. Wait at least 20 minutes before engaging in oral sex after flossing of brushing.

- What if both people are already infected?

Some people who are HIV-infected don't see the need to follow safer sex guidelines when they are sexual with other infected people. However, it still makes sense to "play safe". If you don't, you could be exposed to other STD. If you already have HIV, these diseases can be more serious.

Also, it may be possible to be "re-infected" with a different strain of HIV, or with HIV that is already resistant to some antiviral medications. These reasons for safer sex are very controversial. Although some researchers and doctors think these risks are real, there is no scientific proof. Because of ethical concerns, it may be impossible to design a research study to find out for sure.

- Set your limits.

Decide how much risk you are willing to take. Know how much protection you want to use during different kinds of sexual activity.

- The bottom line:

HIV infection can occur during sexual activity. Sex is safe only if there is no exchange of blood or sexual fluids, or no way for HIV to get into the body.

You can reduce the risk of infection if you avoid unsafe activities. Decide on your limits and stick to them.

 

My Safer Sex Bill of Rights:

1. I have the right to my own body, and all of its sensations, including pleasure and pain.
2. I have the right to think my own thoughts, whatever they may be.
3. I have the right to feel the full spectrum of my own emotions: excitement, joy and anger, sorrow and depression, love and fear. And I have the right to feel these whether or not my feeling them is acceptable to others.
4. I have the right to acknowledge my memories, whether they're of delight or abuse, and a right to base present sexual decision on my memories.
5. I have a right to be sexual at all ages and stages of my life, and a right to choose how I define my sexuality, how I wish to express it, and with whom.
6. I have the right to expect that my sexual partner respect my body, thought, emotion, and general well being - and a right to insist on respect for these, if necessary.
7. I have a right to ask for what I want.
8. I have a right to say NO to any sexual encounter that feels unsatisfying or threatening at any time, whether physically, emotionally, or spiritually.
9. I have a right to say YES to pleasure that physically, emotionally, or spiritually safe.
10. I have the right to feel good about saying YES and NO and a right to not feel fear, guilt, or obligation.