Sex isn’t just penetrative vaginal sex. It can also include oral sex, anal sex and masturbation.  Safer sex does not mean less pleasurable sex. It simply means taking a couple of steps to reduce the risk of your body fluids and partner’s body fluids (semen, vaginal fluids and blood) from coming into contact.

No form of sexual contact is entirely without risk of catching an STI or having an unwanted pregnancy. However, you can massively reduce your risk with a few easy steps. These include reducing your number of partners, always using a condom, making sure the condom you use has a quality kite mark, avoid sharing sex toys, not letting alcohol or drugs impair your decisions and only ever having sex if you want to. To find out more read our Safe Sex Guide.