Students host Valentines Day event to promote safe sex | The Triangle

Students host Valentines Day event to promote safe sex

Photograph by Mrigna Gupta for The Triangle

In celebration of Valentine’s Day, two graduate student organizations partnered up to host a Valentine’s Day Safer Sex Event table in Nesbitt Hall Feb. 11 and 13.

The Maternal and Child Health Student Organization and the Drexel Preconception Peer Educators handed out candy and goodie bags in exchange for answering a sexual health trivia question. The table offered educational materials on safe sex, and goodie bags filled with free condoms and lubricant, each containing a fun fact about sexual health.

The students representing the organizations emphasized their desire to work together to bring sexual health education to conversation this Valentine’s Day.

“We have a vested interest in protecting people’s sexual health,” Sarah Ehsan, a table representative, said.

Revathi Varanasi, another student volunteering at the table, commented on their desire to focus on education.

“This is about destigmatizing the conversation about sex,” Varanasi added.

Drexel PPE states in their mission on their DragonLink page that the goal of the organization is to “disseminate essential preconception health messages with a commitment to lowering the high infant mortality rates among racial and ethnic minorities.”

The student volunteers all mentioned that the table had seen many happy visitors and that many had learned a new fact or two while visiting.

Free STI screenings for all are available with no appointment needed at the Drexel Women’s Care Center, located just a block away from the center city Dragon shuttle stop from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Fridays. The WCC also provides a full range of gynecological and obstetric care, including annual exams, pap smears, and birth control consultations.

Free external and internal condoms, as well as condom-compatible lubricants, are available at the Drexel Student Health Center, where walk-in STI screenings are also available 5 to 6 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays.

Additional resources for sexual health education, STI screenings and free contraceptives are available throughout Philadelphia. For members of the LGBTQ community, the Mazzoni Center offers STI screening from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday at their Washington West Project Location at 12th and Locust. Planned Parenthood also offers confidential STI testing and accepts several major health insurances, though an appointment is recommended.

Photograph by Mrigna Gupta for The Triangle