Vaginal sex happens when a partner’s penis is inserted into another partner’s vagina.
One way to have safer vaginal sex is to only have one STI-free sexual partner who only has sex with you. But, this plan isn’t foolproof. That’s because most people don’t know when they have infections. Another reason is that some people aren’t as honest as they should be. In fact, about 1 out of 3 people will say they don’t have an infection when they know they do, just to have sex.
The solution is to always use condoms when you have sex. Condoms work by forming a barrier between the penis and vagina. The barrier keeps one partner’s fluids from getting into or on the other. And condoms reduce the amount of skin-to-skin contact. Both fluids and skin-to-skin contact can spread STDs if one partner is infected.
There are two main kinds of condoms — male condoms and internal condoms.
- Male condoms are great safer sex tools for vaginal sex. They are easy to get at a pharmacy, grocery store, or at the health clinic. They are cheap. And they come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and textures.
- Internal condoms reduce your risk of infection too. Internal condoms aren’t quite as easy to find, but they are available in some drugstores and health clinics. You can also order them online if you can’t find them where you live. Follow the instructions on the package for using internal condoms correctly.
For more information about making sex safer, visit Planned Parenthood.
