For some, the idea of a condom is uncomfortable, inhibitory to intimacy, disruptive and awkward, but for others, the idea of a condom is liberating, knowing that they’re safe to have a satisfying orgasm and better sex.

Young people in the United States are having less sex, according to a Los Angeles Times article published in 2023. Yet, about 50% of recent gonorrhea, syphilis and chlamydia cases were among those between 15 and 24 years old, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention STD surveillance reports.

Advancements in medicine like birth control pills, IUDs and “morning after pills,” have subsided some fears of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

However, the absence of condoms still has the potential to breed mistrust and fear according to Dr. Sonali Kulkarni, medical director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Division of HIV and STD programs in response to emailed questions from the Daily Trojan.

Despite there being fewer sexually active youth, among those who are sexually active, there has been a decline in the use of condoms amid an increase in other forms of contraception.

But each contraceptive wasn’t created to ward off every possible outcome. Pre-exposure prophylaxis, for example, reduces the risk of HIV transmission by 99% but it doesn’t prevent other sexually transmitted infections.

“Each prevention tool addresses a different part of sexual health,” said Kulkarni. “Each method has its own role. The risk for other STIs is still very real, and using a combination of prevention strategies … provides the strongest protection.” 

However, Chief Campus Health Officer Dr. Sarah Van Orman said due to stigmas and misinformation, the suggestion of preventative strategies, like condoms, becomes shocking, interrogative or accusatory.

Van Orman said, to some, screening for STIs implies that there must be something wrong with them or their sexual practices. Kulkarni said these accusatory beliefs often get translated into notions that condoms are “extra or unnecessary” in relationships. 

“For many couples, the conversation becomes less about health and more about what condoms symbolize: trust, intimacy or exclusivity,” Kulkarni said. 

Amid efforts to deprive access to abortions and contraception, and at a time when Van Orman says there is not enough comprehensive sex education and health literacy, media has played a role in shaping the way people approach sex.

“We live in an era where we can go on to many of our media channels, and people can get access to a lot of sexual material,” Van Orman said. “A lot of young adults and adolescents are receiving less structured, good sex information. … There’s a lot more access to sex information that’s unfiltered.”

Jana Alnajjar, advocacy liaison for the Student Assembly for Gender Empowerment, said other times it’s the shift in culture and the underlying message in popular media that impacts the way couples perceive condoms.

“Media is constantly shaping how we view and perceive certain topics, especially sex … There [are] certain songs [where] people are talking about [not using] a condom,” Alnajjar said. “The trend is to be single and [participate in] hookup culture.”

Havanna Flores, director of community outreach at SAGE, said having conversations is the best place to start to combat misunderstandings about contraceptives.

“Constantly having conversations and making it a point to talk about it [makes] other people feel like they can talk about it,” Flores said. “[These conversations] should be about whatever you want to say, whatever you feel, that it’s okay, because your feelings are valid, regardless of what [they are].”

Flores said that ensuring that a sense of community is present enables people to learn to communicate in conversations about sex. 

Flores said, if people were not raised in a community that encouraged them to talk about sex and were instead raised in a community that implied that the correct thing for them to do is to oblige to whatever their partner wants, that’s when it becomes even harder to communicate about sexual assault.

Alnajjar said that educating people about the resources available both on and off campus is paramount for students to make healthy choices in their sexual practices. Additionally, Van Orman said that by having different approaches to conversations about sex, like by making the experience funny, more people are open to participate.

“With a lot of marginalized communities, specifically lower socioeconomic communities, they are unaware of the resources available,” Alnajjar said.

Alnajjar said she is working on a project to try and increase affordability for contraceptives on campus and in the local community. Sometimes knowing about different contraceptives isn’t enough because the process to acquire them can be difficult or there are side effects, like with birth control, according to Alnajjar.

As such, physicians and educators like Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, a professor of clinical population and public health sciences and medicine, work to pin down patients’ concerns and transfer information about the different forms of condoms available to empower people to make healthy individual choices about their sexual practices.

“We’re trying to teach people how to enjoy sex, [but] we don’t give them enough of the skills and tools to know how to enjoy sex the best way they can,” Klausner said.

Having a sex-positive framework for education about safer sex practices promotes open communication that empowers people to make informed, confident decisions to keep young people and their partners healthy, Kulkarni said.

“Enjoy sex [and] consider different ways to protect yourself,” Klausner said.