Before we get started, let’s address the elephant in the room: STIs do not make someone dirty, gross, or inhuman. In fact…

I had Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) my freshman year of college. This is the first time I’ve told anyone other than the partner I had at the time and my current gyno… who I just told last year. I wasn’t the smartest person when it came to risk-aware sex and using barriers at the time.

I’ll go into why I didn’t talk about it before below. Instead of getting treatment for it, I scrapped off the warts which is as painful as it sounds. It hurt to pee for like a week because of the sting on all those small wounds. Even now, I will get itching around my labia where the HPV hit the most. I’ve never had another breakout and none of my pap smears have come back abnormal or showing signs of HPV. My gyno and I have decided the infection cleared up on its own, thankfully.

So, there you go. You know a vagina-owner who has dealt with HPV.

Heads up for hella gendered language in the references below. Apparently, the field of statistics isn’t aware of how gendering these statistics might be harmful. [insert eye roll here]

Barriers to Treatment

Access to Healthcare

One of the biggest barriers to getting diagnosed and treated for an STI is not having access to healthcare. This could be because of a lack of providers where someone lives, age, family or culture, finances, abuse, and a lot more.

Lack of Sexual Education

People might not realize that what’s going on with them isn’t normal. Thanks to the state of sexual education in most places, there are a lot of people who aren’t familiar with the ‘normal’ functions of their sexual organs, let alone are aware of what types of symptoms may be cause for concern. This is especially true in spaces like the Deep Southern United States where people don’t talk about HIV/AIDS but have some of the highest infection rates.

On top of that, most people do not have symptoms of STIs, especially during the early parts of infection.

Confidentiality

Many people may fear seeking medical attention due to concerns about privacy. Maybe someone with an STI is a minor who doesn’t want their parents to know they’re sexually active and can’t seek medical care without using their parents’ insurance. Perhaps someone is having an affair in a monogamous relationship and isn’t able to seek help.

Lack of Screening

For many people, there’s no automatic testing. Many penis-owners aren’t tested for some STIs due to the invasiveness of testing. Married people are assumed to be monogamous, meaning you have to ask for specific screening. On top of that, many health care providers aren’t aware of the need to test marginalized groups like trans women of color.

Stigma

Last but not least, the stigma is awful. People assume that you’re dirty, unclean, gross, an abomination, etc. There’s a lot of victim-blaming with anything around sex. Get pregnant? It’s your fault as the uterus-owner. Got HIV? It’s because you’re a slut. Infections happen and they’re just a part of life – some stay with your forever and others clear up.

For me, the stigma is what made it so that I didn’t talk about this for the last eleven years. I was worried about what exactly I had and what treatment would entail, especially since I didn’t have medical care at the time.

Statistics

According to the World Health Organization, more than ONE MILLION new STIs are acquired every day globally. Many people do not experience symptoms – or symptoms that are alarming – with STIs. That’s part of why testing is so integral to diagnosis and treatment.

Half of new STI cases happen in very young populations – 15-24. That same age group winds up with five times the rates of Chlamydia, four times the rate of Gonorrhea, and three times the rate of Syphilis as the general population.

Over three-quarters of women living with Chlamydia aren’t aware they have it. Did you know 35% of the Americans who have Herpes don’t know it? About 33% of people who have Syphilis aren’t aware of their status. One-fifth of all Americans with HIV/AIDS are unaware they have it.

Around 44% of the half million people living with HIV/AIDS are African American. Many statistics don’t even include race, socioeconomic status, location, or gender.

The Good News

Most STIs are fully curable – Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, and Syphilis are the main ones. Others include Trichomoniasis, Molluscum Contagiosum Virus, Mycoplasma Genitalium, Crabs, and Scabies. Note that scabies isn’t just an STI but a general transmittable parasite.

Antivirals can help treat and manage Herpes, Hepatitis B, and HIV/AIDS.

Vaccines exist to help protect you against Hepatitis B and HPV. HPV can cause genital warts, cancer, and fertility issues for people of any gender.

Barriers like internal condoms, external condoms, gloves, capes, finger cots, and dental dams can all reduce the risk of STI transmission. On top of that, HIV/AIDS can be prevented by using Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) or Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP). Learn more about those here.

Tips

Get tested regularly. All the time! Make sure to get tested between partners or before you couple up with someone new.

Be risk-aware and utilize barriers and treatments as needed.

Remember that being on immunosuppressants may increase your risk of snagging an STI. Even if it doesn’t, it can make the severity of any infections much worse.

References

• https://www.stdtestexpress.com/std-facts/
• http://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/sexually-transmitted-infections-(stis)
• https://www.cdc.gov/std/hiv/stdfact-std-hiv.htm