Third-year student Claire Banowsky loves talking about sex. She is one of approximately 45 Peer Health Educators that work for the Student Health Center to educate fellow students on a variety of topics including mental wellness, sleep, drugs and alcohol and, of course, safe sex.
“I love the idea of teaching peers, because I think it gets a lot more information across, and I think there’s a lot of weight carried when people your own age are telling you healthy behavior,” Banowsky said.
She also emphasises that the purpose of Peer Health Educators is not to try to tell students what to do, just to teach them how to do whatever they do safely. The safe-sex outreach program, Sexfest, covers the proper way to use contraceptives and barriers for a variety of sexual acts, as well as making sure that consent and trust are present throughout.
“My friends have joked I’m the sex-pert,” Banowsky said. “They just ask me questions. If they didn’t use a condom or something when having sex, then [they ask] what the options are. Or if they miss a birth control pill what the recommended time is, how you’re supposed to proceed from there.”
Banowsky is currently working to include more LGBTQ issues in the outreach programs, especially for asexual and aromantic individuals for whom she admits there is simply not a lot currently available.
“I think it’s important to talk about intimacy on a non-physical level,” she said. “I just don’t know where that conversation starts, unless just saying it’s okay to be intimate without sex. I think, oddly, that crosses over into the mental wellness one, because I think that a lot of self-doubt can come from thinking something’s wrong with you.”
However, Banowsky, and the Peer Health Educators in general, emphasize that non-physical intimacy and a focus on the mental side of relationships can benefit everyone.
“It’s entirely up to you if and when to have sex,” Banowsky said. “The whole standard of ‘the third date is when it’s okay’ is arbitrary. There’s a mental aspect of it. Sex is about trust and establishing a physical intimate connection, and so when you feel that trust with anyone that’s okay.”
The biggest misconceptions Banowsky would like to clear up?
“‘Double bagging only works at the grocery store,’ is what we like to tell people,” she said. “Putting two on actually increases friction and causes more ruptures. Don’t buy an extra-large condom just because you think you need an extra-large condom. Condoms expire. I think the biggest thing is people have condoms, but misuse [them]. We’re all college students at a great university, we all know safe sex involves condom usage, but proper usage — you don’t even think about that.”
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