sex: 2011

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If a couple is going to have sex, it’s important for them to talk things over first. They need to discuss topics like their sexual boundaries and how they can protect themselves. Talking about STDs is an important part of this conversation. Remember, though, that since others can’t always be accurate about their STD status—especially because they may not even know they have one—using condoms for protection is very important.
Of course, if you have an STD, it’s good to be honest. Not only will it help you take the right precautions to protect your health and your partner’s health—by either abstaining from
intercourse until an outbreak is over or practicing safer sex—it also shows your partner that you care about and respect him or her. Chances are, your partner will appreciate your truthfulness and reciprocate, and such honesty may even strengthen the emotional
bond between you.
Here are some tips that professionals offer about how to talk about sex. Choose a time and place that’s relaxed and comfortable before you get intimate (ideally that means before you take your clothes off!). Be sure to know plenty of important facts so that you can answer any questions your partner may have. You might want to start the conversation on a positive note—for example, by telling your partner that you really care for him or her and that’s why you want to discuss something important. If part of what you want to tell your partner is about an STD you have, you might say that last year, you found out you carry HPV, or that you just learned that you have chlamydia and you want him or her to get checked out. If you have genital herpes, you might explain that you sometimes get sores in the genital area.
Keep it simple and just give the facts about symptoms, treatment,
how the disease is spread, and how you can protect each other. This is a difficult conversation that will likely stir up a lot
of emotions, but try to think of it as simply sharing vital
information. Then give your partner some time and space to digest the news. After all, it probably took you a while when you first heard. Offer to provide more information or an STD hotline number. With time, most people take the news pretty well and don’t let it stand in the way of the relationship. (And if they don’t take it well, it’s better to find out before the relationship goes too far.) With everything that’s been learned in recent years about STDs and their transmission, it’s entirely possible for people with an STD to have a satisfying sex life without passing the infection to their partners.
Whether or not you’re sexually active, now you have the facts you need to protect yourself. The next step is putting this
information into practice. Communicate with your partner about your choices. Take precautions to avoid unintended pregnancy and lower your risk of getting an STD. Your health is entirely in your hands. So whatever you decide to do, make choices that you can enjoy and feel good about—today, tomorrow, and the next day.
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HOW TO TALK TO YOUR PARTNER
WHETHER YOU CHOOSE TO HAVE SEX OR NOT, IT IS IMPORTANT TO BE ABLE TO TALK ABOUT SEX. HAVING DIRECT CONVERSATIONS ABOUT SEX CAN BE UNCOMFORTABLE BUT IT DOES GET EASIER IF YOU ARE CONFIDENT ABOUT YOUR FACTS. BOTTOM LINE: WHEN IT COMES TO SEX, GOOD COMMUNICATION IS IMPORTANT, WITH FRIENDS, HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS, PARENTS AND FAMILY, AS WELL AS YOUR BOYFRIEND OR GIRLFRIEND.
THINK.MTV.COM

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REMOVING A CONDOM Immediately after ejaculation, the penis should be slowly withdrawn before it loses its erection. The base of the condom should be held against the penis to avoid slippage or spilling any semen as it’s withdrawn. The condom should be wrapped in tissue and thrown away in the garbage (not in the toilet, or it may clog).
PROTECTION DURING ORAL SEX According to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it is possible to get HIV and other STDs during oral sex. That’s because viruses can enter
the body through tiny cuts or sores in the mouth. The CDC
recommends you use a latex or polyurethane condom for oral sex on a penis. For oral sex on a vagina or an anus, the CDC says to use a latex barrier (such as a natural rubber latex sheet, a dental dam or a cut-open condom that makes a square) between your mouth and your partner’s genitals. A latex barrier such as a dental dam reduces the risk of blood or vaginal fluids entering your mouth. Plastic food wrap also can be used as a barrier.

13

METHOD
SUCCESS RATE
BENEFITS
DRAWBACKS
HOW TO GET IT
10
A woman uses spermicide to
coat the inside and outer edge
of this dome-shaped silicone
or latex cup with a flexible rim. Then she inserts it into the back
of her vagina so that it covers the
cervix, where it blocks sperm.
With typical use, 16 women out
of 100 will become pregnant in one year. With perfect use, six women out of 100 will become pregnant in one year.
It can be put in place up to six hours before intercourse and can stay there for 24 hours (though fresh spermicide should be applied each time you have intercourse).
Won’t effectively protect against most STDs, including HIV, and
can increase the risk of urinary tract infections and toxic shock
syndrome. Don’t use oil-based lubricants, as they can damage
the diaphragm. Can be messy (thanks to the spermicide) and clumsy to use until you get the hang of it. Also, it has to stay in place for six hours after the last
act of intercourse and then
needs to be washed thoroughly with soap and water.
Through a prescription from
a health care provider; the cost
is about $30 to $50 plus the
cost of spermicide and the exam
and fitting for the diaphragm.
A replacement every two years
is recommended.
A woman uses spermicide to coat the inside of this hat-shaped silicone rubber cap. Then she inserts it into the back of her vagina so that it covers the
cervix, where it blocks sperm.
With typical use, 20 women out of
100 will become pregnant in one
year. With perfect use, nine women out of 100 will become pregnant.
Can be worn for up to 48 hours. An attached strap aids in removal.
Does not protect against STDs, including HIV. Must stay in place for six hours after last act of intercourse. It only comes in three sizes, so it may not be an option for everyone. Some women or their partners may feel discomf

12

11

BIRTH CONTROL PILLS
THE PATCH
(Ortho Evra)
DEPO-PROVERA
THE RING
(Nuva Ring)
A woman takes a pill that
contains either a combination
of artificial estrogen and progestin or progestin only, every day. The pill works by preventing ovulation, increasing cervical mucus to
block sperm and creating a thin
uterine environment.
With typical use, eight women in 100 become pregnant in one year. With perfect use, less than one woman in 100 will become
pregnant in one year.
If taken correctly, the pill provides non-stop protection from pregnancy. It can also make a woman’s periods more regular, reduce cramps, and shorten or lighten her period.
Offers no protection against STDs, including HIV. Possible side effects: nausea, headaches and moodiness. If you miss two or more daily pills during a cycle, or you are late starting a new cycle of pills, you should use a back-up method of birth control until you have taken seven consecutive pills.
Through a prescription from a health care provider; the cost runs $15 to $35 a month depending on the pill brand, plus the cost of the visit to your health care provider and an examination if needed.
The woman wears one patch for seven days, three weeks in a row, and then goes one seven-day week without the patch. The patch releases estrogen and progestin and works by preventing ovulation, increasing cervical mucus to block sperm and creating a thin uterine environment.
No studies have yet been published, but it is assumed that with typical use, the patch would be more effective than a birth control pill; typical use of the pill results in eight out of 100 women becoming pregnant in one year. With perfect use of the patch, less than one woman in 100 will become pregnant.
Weekly dosing and the ability to visually verify the patch is in place make it more likely to be used
successfully. Women may also experience more regular, lighter
or shorter periods.
Provides no protection against STDs, including HIV. Requires a back-up method for the first seven days unless started on the first
day of menstruation. May cause local skin irritation or rash, vaginal
spotting, nausea, headaches, or moodiness. When worn, the patch may be difficult to hide. Smokers should not use the patch.
Requires a prescription. Cost is $30-$35 per month, plus a visit
to a physician.
A flexible, soft ring that releases synthetic estrogen and progestin
to prevent pregnancy. The ring
is inserted in the vagina, where
it remains for 21 days. It is then removed and kept out for seven days.
No studies have yet been published, but it is assumed that with typical use, the ring would be more
effective than a birth control pill; typical use of the pill results in eight out of 100 women becoming pregnant in one year. With perfect
use of the ring, less than one woman in 100 will become pregnant.
Effective immediately and easy to confirm it is in place.
Does not protect against STDs, including HIV. The ring should be kept refrigerated to prolong its life. Side effects may include nausea, headaches and vaginal discomfort. Smokers should not use the ring.
Requires a prescription. Cost is $30-$35 per month, plus a visit
to a physician.
A woman gets an intramuscular shot of the artificial hormone
progestin every three months
(12 weeks) which keeps her from getting pregnant.
With typical use, three women out of 100 will get pregnant in one year. With perfect use, less than one woman in 100 will become pregnant in a year using this method.
Once you get the shot, you don’t have to think about birth control for three months.
Offers no protection against STDs, including HIV, and can cause weight gain, irregular periods,
and depression.
Requires a

10

YOU FIND OUT THAT YOU ARE PREGNANT In this situation you
essentially have three options to consider: to continue the
pregnancy and keep the baby, to have the baby and put it up for
adoption, or to have an abortion. These are big decisions; take
your time, and talk with your family or other trusted advisers.
If you want to discuss your choice with a clinician, Planned
Parenthood offers pregnancy options counseling at their
local clinics.
YOU MAY THINK IT CAN’T HAPPEN TO YOU, BUT EVERY YEAR THERE ARE ALMOST 3 MILLION UNINTENDED PREGNANCIES IN THIS COUNTRY. AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE THE PROBLEM IS ESPECIALLY SERIOUS. EACH YEAR NEARLY
1 MILLION YOUNG WOMEN AGED 15 TO 19 GET PREGNANT; THAT’S A LITTLE MORE THAN ONE IN EVERY NINE TEENAGERS. EIGHTY PERCENT OF THESE PREGNANCIES ARE UNPLANNED

09

PROTECT YOURSELF For those who are sexually active, the best protection against STDs, including HIV, is to use condoms during each and every act of intercourse. Not only does the consistent and correct use of condoms offer protection against HIV, it can also reduce the risk for many other STDs. Condoms also provide effective protection against pregnancy. But to be doubly safe, your best protection against pregnancy and disease is to use condoms with another method, such as oral contraceptives

08

Unintended pregnancy can have serious consequences for women and men, including decreased chances of finishing school, an
unstable financial future, and risks for the mother’s health, not to mention for the baby’s health and development.
YOU THINK YOU MAY BE PREGNANT If you have had sexual intercourse
and you’ve missed your period, especially if your breasts are tender or swollen or you feel tired or sick to your stomach, you may be pregnant. If you think you might be pregnant, you need to get a pregnancy test right away to find out for sure. You
can arrange an appointment to see your health care provider,
or buy a home pregnancy test at a drugstore, supermarket or
online. (They run $8 to $20 and you should follow the instructions
carefully.) To find a clinic or provider near you, see Hotlines and Websites section of this guide

07

Fundamentally, it’s your body and it’s up to you what you do with it. It may surprise you to know that most teens today aren’t
sexually active. If you choose to have sex, you need to make
informed choices to protect yourself from sexually transmitted
diseases (STDs) including HIV—the virus that causes AIDS—as
well as accidental pregnancy. You also need to be prepared for the emotions that having sex can stir up.
Making smart decisions is easier than you might think—all it takes is a little foresight and planning before you are in the heat of the moment. Make the effort to safeguard your physical and emotional health, both now and for the long

06

Sex can be one of life’s most fulfilling experiences. But whether or not you’re sexually active, there is information you should have to help you set your own boundaries and make your own choices about sexual activity.
These days, what you don’t know about sex can hurt you, so you’ll want to get the facts—and fast. Whether or not you’re currently having sex with someone, you probably have lots of questions about how to protect yourself and your partner. Fortunately, we have some answers.
Fundamentally, it’s

05

As the attentive reader has noted, higher sex ratios would trivially raise the crime rate
if men are more crime-prone than women, since a higher sex ratio implies more men (per
capita). However, assuming that average male propensity to commit crime was unchanged,
it is easy to see that a one percent increase in the fraction of men could at most result in a
one percent increase in crime. In fact, the elasticity of crime with respect to the sex ratio
exceeding 0.5 would indicate that crime rose not only because of more men, but also because
men became more crime prone (see derivation in the Appendix).
Our estimated elasticities are well above 0.5 and thus support the more interesting proposition
that crime rose not only because of more men, but also because men got more crime
prone. This raises the question why male sex ratios would have this effect. While there
are several possibilities, e.g., peer group effects, marriage market related mechanisms seem
first order (if only for the fact that if it were not for reproduction, sexes would be of little
relevance). High sex ratios imply

04

is heavily influenced by internal migration, and migrants may both have a direct impact on
criminality and is driven by factors likely related to crime such as the economic climate of
the province. Our projection uses those 2 to 27 years old in the 1990 census, where the
16-25 sex ratio in say, Sichuan province in 1988 is calculated as the sex ratio among those
18 to 27 year old in Sichuan in the 1990 census. On the other end, the sex ratio of 16-25
years old in Sichuan in 2004 is calculated as the sex ratio of those 2-11 years old in the 1990
census. These projected sex ratios likely reflect the sex ratios at birth fairly closely for two
reasons. First, internal migration was heavily regulated until the early 1990s. Second, even
with a so called floating population estimated in hundred millions, migration before age 16
is negligible according to the data in the 2000 census.6 Nonetheless, as a falsification test,
we use the 2000 census to project sex ratios that would reflect actual sex ratios (inclusive
of domestic migration) more closely, and we find that this sex ratio

03

Our identification strategy would be undermined if, for instance, the family planning
policies in place 16-25 years ago were bundled with other policies that affected crime with
an approximate 16-25 years lag. As is well known, the same period saw transformative
market-oriented reforms, and it is conceivable that past “reform mindedness” impacted both
sex ratios and crime. To address this concern, we include as a covariate a measure of the
openness of the province (foreign direct investments, export and import, as share of GDP),
and our main result remains robust. Moreover, if the relationship between crime and sex
ratios were spurious, the sex ratio of 10-15 years old would also be able to predict crime
rates, which we do not find.
Another concern is that the data on violent and property crime reflect province-level “fight
crime” drives rather than underlying criminal activity. To address this concern, we look at
corruption. A general law and order zeal would affect corruption statistics as well; while
there is little reason for the sex ratio of young adults to affect corruption rates

02

Employing province-level annual data covering the period 1988-2004,4 we find – by OLS
and instrumenting using the one-child policy programs – that sex ratios raised crime rates,
and estimate an elasticity of about 3.7 percent. Since the 16-25 sex ratio have risen by 4%
(from 1.053 in 1988 to 1.095 in 2004) and crime rates by 82.4% over the same period, this
suggests that the rise in sex ratios can account for up to one-sixth (14.8/82.4) of the overall
rise in criminality during the study period. Our point estimate is robust to the inclusion of
a number of province level covariates that may conceivably influence crime, such as income,
employment rate, education, inequality, and urbanization rate, and a battery of robustness
checks briefly outlined below.
Our empirical strategy is to regress (province-year) arrest rates5 on the sex ratio

sona

In 1979, as part and parcel of a massive effort to lift the country out of poverty, China’s

leaders launched the one-child policy. Ultra-sound B machines (for prenatal screening) and

induced abortions came to feature prominently in the arsenal employed to reduce the number

and improve the quality of births (Zeng et al. (1993)). As is widely known by now, to many

Chinese, quality rhymes with son (Zeng et al. (1993); Chu (2001); PRC (2002); Yang &

Chen (2004); Das Gupta (2005)).1 In 2005, the sex ratio at birth exceeded 120 boys per 100

girls, implying a one-million surplus of boys in that cohort alone.

These developments have been a source of concern for a number of reasons. Notably, the

prospect of hordes of young men with little or no possibility of marriage looms large (e.g.,

Hudson & Den Boer (2004)). Between 1988 and 2004, the sex ratio (men to women) for the

16-25 year old cohort went from 1.053 to 1.095 (see Figure 1), implying an almost doubling

of “surplus” men. And judging by the 2005 by-census (Li (2007)), this trend will continue

until at least 2020.

The last decades also saw a dramatic increase in crime. Between 1988 and 2004, criminal

offenses rose at an annual rate of 13.6% (Hu (2006)), and arrest rates were up by 82.4%

(Figure 2), albeit from a low level.2 Breakdowns by age and gender are limited, but in

2000, 90% of all arrestees were men (Law Yearbook of China (2001)); and the overwhelming

1This is evident in a Chinese saying “Raising a daughter is like watering a plant in another man’s garden.”

An old Cantonese saying is “A daughter is a thief.”

2Crime rates are still low in international comparison.

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