The Shippensburg University Pride and Gender Equality (PAGE) Center held their Safe Sex Gab and Raffle on Oct. 9.
Miller Hoffman, director of the PAGE Center, expressed delight at the attendance of the event.
“We anticipated somewhere between five and 125 people,” Miller said while moving the event from its original location to a larger room. “Because when we hold safe sex talks, we get five, and when we hold sex toy raffles, we get 125.” The total headcount was 71 students.
Student presenters Cynthia Dodd and Karmen Alicea oversaw a slide presentation for the event, providing information on anatomy, contraception and common sexual dynamics.
Continuous and enthusiastic consent remains one of the prime topics of the hour in safe sex discussions on campus. Presenters emphasized and educated on the importance of unimpaired and enthusiastic agreement to all actions, regardless of the length of relationship between two parties.
Information about various contraceptive methods was also a focus of the presentation, ranging from the easily accessible internal/external condom to the less common and less effective birth control via breastfeeding. The PAGE center also offers various materials to promote safer sex on campus, and staff are able to direct students in need to resources that may not be stored in the center.
The open discussion and Q&A with the audience proved to be a massive success, with students becoming bolder as the evening went on. Information ranged from broader questions of anatomy to more niche and nuanced discussions of identity.
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