NORTHBRIDGE-based SHQ (Sexual Health Quarters) is using National Condom Day to highlight the importance of confidence and consent.
With research showing many are not using condoms regularly and feel pressure when it comes to having sex, February 14 will see SHQ launch a state-wide campaign to raise awareness of safe sex.
Spokeswoman Rebecca Smith told Guardian Express that “this year’s focus on confidence and consent is aimed at helping people feel more assertive when it comes to making decisions about sex, and in raising the topic of condoms and safe sex with a partner”.
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READ NOW“Taking place on Valentine’s Day, a time when the focus is on romance and intimacy, NCD is an ideal opportunity to promote healthy relationships, and remind people about the risks of sexually transmissible infections (STIs),” she said.
Ms Smith said recent research showed many young people had difficulties using condoms correctly.
“Often people are unprepared and haven’t experienced using condoms or don’t have any ready at the time of intercourse,” she said.
“Practising putting on and taking off condoms, alone or with a partner, and always having some handy means you will be less likely to have a mishap, or have sex without one.
“Talk about safe sex early on, before getting intimate, and make sure you’re both having a good time.”
Ms Smith said that National Condom Day was also a good reminder for people to get tested if they’d had unprotected sex in the past, including oral sex.