Sense Project

Here are a couple of questions and answers we got recently in our anonymous questions box to the right ->  Great questions about pregnancy risks and birth control pills!  Hope this helps, and keep ‘em coming…

Q: can you get pregnant if a guy fingers you with sperm on his hand?

For pregnancy to occur, sperm has get inside the vagina or on the vulva (where semen could be pushed into the vagina through intercourse, touching etc.). If someone has semen on their hand, and it is still wet, and then fingers someone else, then yes, there is a pregnancy risk there. However, sperm have a hard time surviving once the semen has dried up, so pregnancy is pretty unlikely if the person had semen on their hand that had dried up. Either way, there are a few ways you can reduce this risk: hand-washing is a quick and easy way to make sure there’s no remaining ejaculate around, or use gloves and lube for fingering. If you’re concerned about pregnancy in general, check out this post for some different birth control ideas. The more you know about your body and how pregnancy happens, the better!

Q: My boyfriend is moving away for a year, and we won’t be seeing each other much. Is it safe for me to stop taking birth control for the year he is away, and then start again when he comes back? Are there bad side effects from going off the pill?

The Pill is a reversible form of contraception – meaning that once you stop taking it, your body resumes its natural cycles and you are able to get pregnant. It’s safe to stop taking it whenever you want to stop taking it, just remember that it may take awhile for your body to adjust. When you first go on the Pill, your body is adjusting to the new levels of hormones in your system. Read the rest of this entry »

We are still getting more and more questions in our “Ask Anything” question box to the right! –> Sense volunteer Liam tackled today’s question…

Q: My boyfriend and I are planning our first time. I’ve been looking into birth control and trying to figure out which one will be best, but besides that, we’re both virgins and neither of us really know what to expect. I want this to be special. Advice?

After much time spent dwelling on what I would say to two people about to have sex for the first time, I was able to narrow my characteristic longwindedness down to 3 topics: Communication/Consent; Safer Sex/Birth Control; Pleasure.

–Communication/Consent—

Communicating about sex is really a win-win: you can make sure that your partner is consenting and into it as well as maximize the pleasure of everybody involved. From a super practical standpoint, communicating might look like saying things along the lines of “is it cool if I take off your pants”, “oh my god, what you just did felt amazing”, “Could you go a little slower”, “Stop for a second, I need a break”, or seriously a bazillion other things. I generally shy away from making sweeping generalizations BUT sex will probably be better if you know that your partner is listening and responding to you and would stop as soon you asked. To make communicating easier, some people like to use code words that you and your partner can come up with beforehand. A really common set is the traffic light system where ‘green’ means everything is fantastic, ‘yellow’ means turn it down a bit, and ‘red’ means stop immediately. Coming up with code words can also be a helpful way to start a conversation about sex, consent, and boundaries with your partner.

Read the rest of this entry »

We are getting more and more questions in our “Ask Anything” question box to the right! –> Stay tuned for more questions & answers coming up next week!  Julia, a very special Sense volunteer, answered today’s question…

Q: how can I have safe sex without getting pregnant?

There are several ways you can negotiate safer sex without getting pregnant.

Condoms are the only form of contraception that also prevent the transmission of Sexually Transmitted Infections [STIs]. They are easy to use, easy to find and cheap, and you may even be able to get them for free at many locations, such as clinics and youth community centres like Head & Hands! They are mostly made of latex, but may also be made out of polyurethane and other hypo-allergenic products. They are available in many varieties, including lubricated and non-lubricated, ribbed, coloured, flavoured, etc. Water-based lubricants can also be used with condoms to make penetration way smoother and reduce the risk of condom breakage.

There are many other forms of contraception available that prevent unwanted pregnancies. For example, the Pill, the patch, the ring, and the Depo Provera injection are all forms of contraception that use hormones to prevent pregnancy. IUDs (Intra-Uterine Devices) are inserted into the uterus, and you have the option of having an IUD that also releases hormones. You need a prescription for all of these, which means a visit to your local clinic, sexual health clinic, or family doctor. The diaphragm and cervical cap are barrier methods that prevent sperm from entering the uterus, and you can call different clinics to see if they offer fittings.  Check out this handy chart from Planned Parenthood for more information about these different birth control methods!  It’s important to remember that none of these options protect against the transmission of STIs, so you can pair them with condoms to make sex safer. 

If you don’t want to use condoms and would like to use one of these other contraceptives to prevent pregnancies, there are still many ways to have safer sex. Using lube will reduce vaginal (or anal) tearing during penetrative sex, and this may reduce the chance of transmitting STIs. Communicating with your sexual partner(s) about sexual history and getting tested regularly are great ways to have safer sex. Finally, choosing to do only certain sexual acts that are both low risk for STI transmission and no risk for pregnancy is a great option - for example, hand jobs, grinding, making out and kissing!

A Switzerland company manufactures condoms for 12-year-old boys, and plans to distribute them outside of Switzerland. While it’s only a minority of 12-year-olds that are sexually active (and the sex is typically very occasional), I believe safer sex supplies should still be available for them, and a condom that fits your penis size is also great if you want to practice with it, which we always encourage people to do in workshops.

A standard condom has a diameter of 52mm in comparison with the Hotshot’s 45mm. Both are the same length – 190mm.

According to a study of 13 to 20-year-olds, a quarter said that a standard condom was too large.

Hilary Pannack, of teenage pregnancy charity Straight Talking Peer Education, said: ‘We know young people are having sex and if this is what it takes to protect them, we need to go along with it.’

Condoms in ‘extra small’ for boys age 12 set for Britain’s shelves soon @ Mail Online

Myth Bustin’ Question I

Animals do not engage in homosexual behaviour; therefore, homosexuality is not natural.

FALSE!

First, what does “natural” even mean? If we’re talking about animals, scientists have known for a long time that many species engage in homosexual sex. Yeah, that’s right; we’re talking about dwarf chimpanzees, dolphins, killer whales, lions and many many others. Some animals form lifelong bonds with another animal of the same sex in the same way that other members of their species form lifelong bonds with a mate of the opposite sex.

Here are some interesting links pertaining to homosexual sex in the animal kingdom:

Homosexual Activity Among Animals Stirs Debate (National Geographic)

Homosexual Behaviour Widespread in Animals According to New Study (Telegraph.co.uk)

1500 Species Practice Homosexuality (The Medical News)

Now, if we’re talking about human beings, we need to remember that many things/ behaviours/ beliefs that are considered “natural” today weren’t considered that way not so long ago. For a very long time, the Catholic Church, for instance, tried to prevent people from using contraception because it wasn’t considered “natural” and therefore, wrong.

So, this means that the “natural” argument simply doesn’t fly!