TMBR: people should not be having sex with strangers

Disclaimer:

• I am not saying you should only have sex after you're married
• I am not saying casual sex is bad
• This applies to men and women

It just boggles how people seem so cavalier about their own sexual health. You wouldn't give someone you've known less than a half hour or just via the internet your credit card, or your keys. But yet you (you, as in some people) willingly go home with perfect strangers despite the fact that your credit card and keys are much easier to replace than your health and/or life.

A stranger has no loyalty to you. You have no reason to trust anything they say. They may have an STD and not tell you. You may get lucky and get something like gonorrhea when is curable, or you could get herpes, hep, or HIV. And yes, I know that knowingly transmitting HIV is illegal but so are burglary and credit card fraud--my point is, it could happen. Sure, you could use birth control or a condom, but those aren't a 100%.

It could be worse. They could be a psychopath and rape or kill you. They could rob you (there was an article I read about a woman who would set up dates with guys and show up at their place with a bunch of thugs and they would rob the potential date).

At least if you know the person you're about to have sex with, to the point where you have some degree of trust in them, or at least know enough about them to hold them accountable, you can do your best to ensure if something bad happens, you can do something about it. Minimizing unknowns is a strategy that we use to navigate our world, I don't know why it goes out the window when it comes to sex.

I had this concern after talking to a few of my friends who engage in casual sex, one is a girl and one is a guy, but I would be extremely worried for both. And with the rise of hookup apps like tinder, I don't understand why more people don't take a hand in their own security.

Obviously, if something bad happens, it is the fault of the person who did it. But just because burglary is illegal doesn't mean we don't all lock our doors. We all have to be responsible for our safety and security.