S to the T to the I
May 2021
Hey There Caddyshackers
Straight up, Give me an S, give me a T, give me an I, what does it spell?
STI!
Well technically it spells nothing as it’s an acronym… but hey!
STI, or Sexually Transmissible Infections are the basis for what we do here at the Caddyshack, so this month we thought we’d let them have their moment.
STI or STD?
You may have heard the term STDs or Sexually Transmittable Diseases, particularly if you watch American movies or TV shows. In Australia we prefer the term STI as this reflects the reality that not all infections turn into a disease.
Disease implies, very ill, difficult to treat and long term. Whilst this is true for some sexually transmitted viruses, bacteria, parasites or fungi, most of these conditions are more infection based, in that they are easy to treat or manage and don’t have to lead to long term damage or illnesses if diagnosed and treated early.
For most, they say infection is the initial cause of illness, disease is what happens if the illness goes left untreated.
Look at us being all scientific!
STI Stigma
To get serious with this stuff, we really need to talk about stigma and discrimination.
The language we use around STIs is often negative, implying they are dirty, or that they only happen to people who have multiple partners, or that they’re incurable, shameful and lifelong.
As long as we use negative language, stigma and discrimination remains.
STIs do not discriminate, people do!
Let’s face facts. Many people at some part of their sexual journey find themselves testing positive for an STI. It only takes 1 act of unprotected sex. You could be 17, 38, single, married, have had 1 partner or 100, the possibility is there.
So what do we do about this?
Let’s change up the language!
Let’s encourage and celebrate condom use as a form of prevention (as in- you want to have casual sex without a condom, why don’t you just sneeze in my face?).
Let’s talk about getting regular sexual health check ups the way we talk about regular dentist appointments.
Let’s see a positive test result as a way of educating ourselves and taking back some power and control over the decisions that we make.
This is the stuff that we work towards one email, one conversation, one webinar, one blog and one outreach at a time.
Walk with us, small ripples will eventually lead to waves.
Get the lowdown on STIs
Join Naomi and Naomi (aka Nay & Nomes) for their STI 101 webinar on Tues 22nd June.
What we are loving right now
We are always loving Nurse Nettie on Play Safe NSW. Got a question about STIs? Ask Nurse Nettie online!
Wanna know if you could have an STI? Take the 30 second quiz to find out!
Check out the Play Safe instagram, link tree & website.
While we are talking about socials… If you aren’t following us on instagram already - get on it!
We have a story highlight with specific info on STIs for all you science nerds.
Until next time,
Peace, Love & Protection
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