page_title: Sexual ethics
section_title: Public health
hierarchical_section_title: Sexual ethics / Individuals and societies / Public health
caption_attribution_description: Prevention of AIDS in Chad (Africa)
context_page_description: Sexual ethics or sex ethics is the study of ethics in relation to human sexuality, and sexual behavior. Sexual ethics seeks to understand, evaluate, and critique the conduct of interpersonal relationships and sexual activities from social, cultural, and philosophical perspectives. Sexual ethics involve issues such as gender identification, sexual orientation, consent, sexual relations, and procreation. Sex has historically been an issue of great importance to people in cultures all over the world, and as such is a pertinent topic of discussion and study. As sex is a social practice that varies widely in the ways that it is understood, performed, and discussed, there is much to be said for a critical and comprehensive study of sexual ethics and norms.
  Historically, the prevailing notions of what was deemed as sexually ethical have been tied to religious values. More recently, the feminist movement has emphasized personal choice and consent in sexual activities.
context_section_description: In countries where public health is considered a public concern, there is also the issue of how sex impacts the health of individuals. In such circumstances, where there are health impacts resulting from certain sexual activities, there is the question of whether individuals have an ethical responsibility to the public at large for their behavior. Such concerns might involve the regular periodic testing for sexually transmitted diseases, disclosure of infection with sexually transmitted diseases, responsibility for taking safer sex precautions, ethics of sex without using contraception, leading to an increased level of unplanned pregnancies and unwanted children, and just what amount of personal care an individual needs to take in order to meet his or her requisite contribution to the general health of a nation's citizens.
caption: A billboard in Chad encouraging fidelity, abstinence, and condom use to help prevent AIDS
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