Editing Safe sex (section)

==History==
{{More citations needed|section|date=March 2018}}
Although strategies for avoiding STIs like [[syphilis]] and [[gonorrhea]] have existed for centuries and the term "safe sex" existed in English as early as the 1930s, the use of the term to refer to STI-risk reduction dates to the mid-1980s in the United States. It emerged in response to the [[AIDS crisis|HIV/AIDS crisis]].<ref>{{cite magazine | vauthors = Stephey MJ |title=A Brief History of Safe Sex |url=http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1866044,00.html |magazine=Time |access-date=14 September 2018 |date=11 December 2008 |quote=In the 1540s, an Italian doctor named Gabriele Fallopius — the same man who discovered and subsequently named the Fallopian tubes of the female anatomy — wrote about syphilis, advocating the use of layered linen during intercourse for more "adventurous" (read: promiscuous) men. Legendary lover Casanova wrote about his pitfalls with medieval condoms made of dried sheep gut, referring to them as "dead skins" in his memoir. Even so, condoms made of animal intestine — known as "French letters" in England and la capote anglaise (English riding coats) in France — remained popular for centuries, though always expensive and never easy to obtain, meaning the devices were often reused.}}</ref><ref name="phrases.org.uk">{{cite web |title=The meaning and origin of the expression: Safe sex |url=https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/309375.html |website=The Phrase Finder |access-date=14 September 2018}}</ref>

A year before the HIV virus was isolated and named, the San Francisco chapter of the [[Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence]] published a small pamphlet titled ''[[Play Fair!]]'' out of concern over widespread STIs among the city's gay male population. It specifically named illnesses (Kaposi's sarcoma and pneumocystis pneumonia) that would later be understood as symptoms of advanced HIV disease (or [[AIDS]]). The pamphlet advocated a range of safe-sex practices, including abstinence, condoms, personal hygiene, use of personal lubricants, and STI testing/treatment. It took a casual, sex-positive approach while also emphasizing personal and social responsibility. In May 1983—the same month HIV was isolated and named in France—the New York City-based HIV/AIDS activists Richard Berkowitz and Michael Callen published similar advice in their booklet, ''[[How to Have Sex in an Epidemic: One Approach]]''. Both publications included recommendations that are now standard advice for reducing STI (including HIV) risks.<ref>{{cite web | vauthors = Sonnabend J |title=How to have sex in an epidemic: 30th anniversary |url=https://www.poz.com/blog/how-to-have-sex-in-a |website=POZ |access-date=14 September 2018|date=17 May 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Merson MH, O'Malley J, Serwadda D, Apisuk C | title = The history and challenge of HIV prevention | journal = Lancet | volume = 372 | issue = 9637 | pages = 475–88 | date = August 2008 | pmid = 18687461 | doi = 10.1016/S0140-6736(08)60884-3 | url = https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(08)60884-3 | s2cid = 26554589 }}</ref><ref name="Berkowitz 2">{{cite book | vauthors = Berkowitz R |title=Stayin' Alive: The Invention of Safe Sex |date=2003 |publisher=WestView |location=Boulder, CO |isbn=9780813340920}}</ref>
[[File:A black woman with one hand on her arm looks directly at Wellcome L0052333.jpg|thumb|right|upright|A poster promotes condom use.]]
Safe sex as a form of STI risk reduction appeared in journalism as early as 1984, in the British publication ''The Daily Intelligencer'': "The goal is to reach about 50 million people with messages about safe sex and AIDS education."<ref name="phrases.org.uk"/>

Although ''safe sex'' is used by individuals to refer to protection against both [[pregnancy]] and HIV/AIDS or other STI transmissions, the term was born in response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. It is believed that the term ''safe sex'' was used in the professional literature in 1984, in the content of a paper on the psychological effect that HIV/AIDS may have on gay and bisexual men.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Blair TR | title = Safe Sex in the 1970s: Community Practitioners on the Eve of AIDS | journal = American Journal of Public Health | volume = 107 | issue = 6 | pages = 872–879 | date = June 2017 | pmid = 28426312 | pmc = 5425850 | doi = 10.2105/AJPH.2017.303704 }}</ref>

[[File:Low risk isn't no risk. Wellcome L0052075.jpg|thumb|right|upright|A poster aimed at lesbians says "Low risk isn't no risk". It uses the expression "safer sex".]]
A year later, the same term appeared in an article in ''[[The New York Times]].'' This article emphasized that most specialists advised their AIDS patients to practice safe sex. The concept included limiting the number of sexual partners, using prophylactics, avoiding bodily fluid exchange, and resisting the use of [[drug]]s that reduced inhibitions for high-risk sexual behavior.<ref name="A">{{cite web|url=http://www.csuchico.edu/cjhp/4/1/109-118-moskowitz.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060812073450/http://www.csuchico.edu/cjhp/4/1/109-118-moskowitz.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=12 August 2006|title=How Do Californians Define Safe Sex?|access-date=28 July 2010}}</ref> Moreover, in 1985, the first safe sex guidelines were established by the 'Coalition for Sexual Responsibilities'.{{Who|date=August 2010}} According to these guidelines, safe sex was practiced by using [[condom]]s also when engaging in [[Anal sex|anal]] or [[oral sex]].<ref>{{cite news | vauthors = Gross J |title= Homosexuals Stepping Up AIDS Education  |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1985/09/22/nyregion/homosexuals-stepping-up-aids-education.html |access-date=26 September 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=22 September 1985}}</ref>

Although the term ''safe sex'' was primarily used in reference to sexual activity between men, in 1986 the concept was spread to the general population. Various programs were developed with the aim of promoting safe sex practices among college students. These programs were focused on promoting the use of the condom, a better knowledge about the partner's sexual history and limiting the number of [[sexual partner]]s. The first book on this subject appeared in the same year. The book was entitled "Safe Sex in the Age of AIDS", and had 88 pages that described both positive and negative approaches to sexual life.{{Citation needed|date=August 2010}} Sexual behavior could be safe ([[kiss]]ing, [[hug]]ging, [[massage]], [[Non-penetrative sex|body-to-body rubbing]], [[mutual masturbation]], [[exhibitionism]], [[phone sex]], and use of separate [[sex toy]]s); possibly safe (use of condoms); or unsafe.<ref name="A"/>

In 1997, specialists in this matter promoted the use of condoms as the most accessible safe sex method (besides abstinence) and they called for [[TV commercials]] featuring condoms. During the same year, the [[Catholic Church]] in the United States issued their own "safer sex" guidelines on which condoms were listed, though two years later the [[Holy See|Vatican]] urged [[chastity]] and [[heterosexual]] marriage, attacking the American Catholic bishops' guidelines.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

A study carried out in 2006 by Californian specialists showed that the most common definitions of safe sex are condom use (68% of the interviewed subjects), abstinence (31.1% of the interviewed subjects), monogamy (28.4% of the interviewed subjects) and safe partner (18.7% of the interviewed subjects).<ref name="A"/>

The term ''safer sex'' in Canada and the United States has gained greater use by health workers, reflecting that risk of transmission of sexually transmitted infections in various [[Human sexual activity|sexual activities]] is a [[Continuum (theory)|continuum]]. The term ''safe sex'' is still in common use in the United Kingdom,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/sexual-health/|title=Sexual Health|date=26 April 2018|publisher=[[NHS]]|access-date=2019-04-08}}</ref> Australia and New Zealand.

"Safer sex" is thought to be a more aggressive term which may make it more obvious to individuals that any type of sexual activity carries a certain degree of risk.

The term ''safe love'' has also been used, notably by the French [[Sidaction]] in the promotion of men's underpants incorporating a condom pocket and including the red ribbon symbol in the design, which were sold to support the charity.