STD Prevention: Behavior Change

Safer Sex - Historical Notes

Types of Guidelines: 2. Specific Guidelines
Specific guidelines are indispensable for sexually active subgroups, such as adolescents, sex workers, intravenous drug users, migrants, or various sexual and ethnic minorities. Such minorities require approaches on their own terms: Sexual minorities like “swingers”, sadomasochists, fetishists and others, often live in a sexual world of their own with special customs and special jargons. This is even more true of migrants and ethnic minorities which often speak only the language of their original homeland and who may also have religious and moral convictions quite different from those of the majority in their new country. Even adolescents often have their own lingo, as do sex workers, drug users and many other groups at risk. In short: In order to reach these groups with the message of “safer sex”, one must devise strategies suited to their particular life-styles. Needless to say, this can be done only with their advice and full cooperation. Indeed, when detailed descriptions of unconventional behavior are required, health officials often delegate the task of designing and distributing such materials to the groups themselves.The government provides the funding, but does not directly appear as the author.

Three examples of specific guidelines:
1. For women in general (USA) 2. For lesbians (USA) 3. For adolescents (Germany) - Click on pictures