Western Washington University’s Counseling and Wellness Center is on a mission to promote sexual health on campus by mailing free ‘Pleasure Packages’ to students while supplies last.
These packages can include condoms, dental dams, lube, disposable gloves and more.
Fifth-year Katie Caulfield said she agrees with this initiative and that safe-sex practices are important and should be promoted on campus.
“Getting as many [supplies] that you personally need, I think, is really effective,” Caulfield said. “And I’ve seen firsthand that it’s caused people to make better choices.”
Caulfield also said there have been opportunities to get free condoms on campus in the past, but they weren’t as accessible.
“I guess it kind of depends on where you live, but my resident advisor would give out free condoms in a bowl,” she said. “It’d be great if there were something easier to access.”
According to a survey done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2017, only 14.4% of women and 27.4% of men ages 20 to 24 use a condom “most of the time.”
That same survey found that 41.8% of women and 20.4% of men used a condom “none of the time.”
College students are even more unlikely to practice safe sex if products, like condoms and dental dams, are inaccessible to them, whether that be because of finances or inconvenience.
To get your Pleasure Package, visit the Counseling and Wellness Center’s website and fill out the form provided. The website also says that when you need a refill, you can order again, and they will do their best to continue filling all orders as long as supplies last.
Isabella Loy (she/her) is one of two copy editors for The Front this quarter. She's a fourth-year transfer student majoring in news/ed journalism with a concentration in Religious Studies. She has also worked on publications at her community college and at Western's magazine, Klipsun. You can reach her at isabellaloy.thefront@gmail.com.
