Glossary

There are ways to have sexual contact that allow little to no chance of getting a sexually transmitted disease. These include properly using latex condoms and other moisture barriers, mutual or self-masturbation, and abstinence from sexual contact.

Another word for spit. It is the fluid in a person's mouth. Most STDs can not be spread by a person's saliva.

A pad of cotton with a strip of tape on one side that a woman can stick onto her underwear during her period. This soaks up the flow of blood that comes out of her vagina.

The soft sac of wrinkled skin that cover, hold, and protect a man's testicles.

The clear, whitish liquid that squirts out of a man's penis when he ejaculates. It is sticky. There are sperm in the semen. Semen gives the sperm something to swim in, otherwise they couldn't move around. There are about one million inside one drop of semen. Slang terms: Jism, cum, juice, jit.

This means many things. Sex can be another word for gender. Or sex can be any activity that causes someone to have a good feeling inside his or her body or genitals. It could be kissing, hugging, body rubbing, touching or sexual intercourse.

Another word for genitals.

Things that people might buy in a store and use during sex with themselves or with another person. They could be dildos, handcuffs or costumes.

Another word for prostitute.

When someone mistreats another person in a sexual way. It is wrong for someone to sexually abuse another person. Sexual abuse happens whenever someone touches or does something to the private parts/genitals of another person's body that person does not want her/him to do.

Sexual abuse also happens when someone makes another person touch or do something to her/his private parts/genitals that they do not want to do. This "someone" could be someone the person knows, someone the person loves, or a stranger.

Rape is one kind of sexual abuse. However, sexual abuse does not mean just forced sexual intercourse or activity, it can also include unwanted touching, fondling, watching, and talking in a sexual way. It can also include people forcing others to look at their genitals.

Another way to explain being with someone in a close, physical way.

A strong interest or attraction for another person. Sexual desire is how the body feels that person. It is not the same as love. People can have sexual desire with or without love. Many people are happiest when they have both love and sexual desire.

The wetness that comes out of a man or a woman's genitals. For men it is semen and pre-seminal fluid and for women it is vaginal and cervical secretions. These sexual fluids have HIV in them if the person is infected.

Any type of activity that involves the sharing of body fluids, or the penetration of an oriface (the mouth, vagina, or anus) between two or more people. Sexual intercourse can describe when a man puts his penis inside a person's anus or inside a woman's vagina. Sexual intercourse also includes oral sex (when someone licks or sucks another person's genitals). People can get STDs, including HIV, if they do this without a safe barrier that prevents the fluids from getting from one person to another.

Whether people are homosexual, heterosexual or bisexual. A person can not choose their sexual orientation. Their body chooses it for them before they start to have sex or even before they start going through puberty. Sexual orientation might even be figured out before birth, just like gender.

A good feeling that people get when they have sex with someone else or are physically close to another person.

Everything in our daily lives that makes us attractive and sexual humans. It is made up of gender, sexual desire and feelings, and sexual contact.

An infection that is passed from one person to another through sexual contact. This could happen during unprotected oral, anal or vaginal sex or other close contact with another person. STDs are caused by germs like bacteria and viruses which like to grow in warm, moist places of people's bodies.

Many times there are no symptoms so people do not even know if they have one. Even if a person doesn't know they have a STD they can still give the germs to someone else. Many STDs can harm the body permanently without showing symptoms. Women and girls might not be able to have children. Some STDs can be passed on to the fetus during pregnancy. Some can cause death.

STDs do not go away by themselves. People shouldn't wait too long to get checked. Some diseases have cures but others don't. There are about 30 different kinds of sexually transmitted diseases. Most birth control does not protect a person from the germs of STDs. Some of these include the pill, withdrawal, sterilization, and spermicide. Only latex condoms can reduce the risk of getting an STD.

Could refer to: 1) anal sex; 2) oral-anal contact; 3) oral-genital; 4) sexual acts with animals; 5) or a vague term for "unnatural" sexual acts. Also called "buggery."

A spot on the body made by an ulcer, being rubbed or a cut that hasn't healed. A sore is an opening on the body that germs, including HIV, could get into.

A sample.

Little tiny living things that are made in a man's testicles. If you were to look at them under a microscope you would think they look like tadpoles because they have tails to help them swim. There are sperm swimming around in the semen and pre-seminal fluid. People can't see them. When a man ejaculates, semen squirts out of his penis. If this happens in or near a female's vagina, the sperm can swim around and try to find an egg. If a sperm does and then gets inside of the woman's egg she becomes pregnant. Sperm can live in the vagina up to five days. If a male doesn't ejaculate then the sperm is soaked up by his own body.

A chemical that kills sperm. People can buy it without a doctor's prescription as a foam, cream or jelly. Spermicide can be placed on the outside of a condom or inside a woman's vagina. This helps to stop pregnancy. It cannot be used by itself to stop HIV from getting into someone else's body. Spermicide can be used with a latex condom. A spermicide is not a lubricant but it is found in many brands of lubricants. Some people may be allergic to one or more chemicals in spermicide.

Birth control that kills sperm. A woman puts it into her vagina before vaginal sex. Sponges alone do not protect a man or a woman from getting STDs. They only stop pregnancy.

A permanent kind of contraception. Usually older people do this when they do not want to have any more children. It is a simple operation that stops egg and sperm from meeting each other. Sterilization can be done to a man or a woman.

When a fetus dies before or during childbirth.

Someone who has a sexual and emotional attraction for members of the opposite sex. Another word for "heterosexual."

A sign or a signal. Medically speaking, a symptom is something that a person can notice about him or her self or about someone else that is a sign of a disease. Common symptoms for STDs include bumps, blisters, or warts near the genitals, burning sensation when a person urinates, or a discharge or drip from the genitals. Many people with STDs may not have any signs or symptoms. There is no sure way to tell if someone has an STD by looking at a their body or their genitals. Only a medical test can tell a person for sure.

A collection/group of many diseases and illnesses. They would be different for each person. AIDS is a syndrome because people die from different diseases and illnesses, not from AIDS. For people with AIDS, the syndrome is like a cycle of illnesses that they can't break free from.