You can reduce your risk of contracting an STD by keeping your partner's bodily fluids out of your body, and asking your partner to avoid YOUR bodily fluids. This includes semen, vaginal fluids, blood and fluid from STD sores. Aside from abstinence, the only proven method that can help to protect against STDs is the male latex condom or the female condom. When used correctly, both male and female condoms can reduce the transmission of HIV, gonorrhea, syphilis, Chlamydia, trichomoniasis, and pelvic inflammatory disease. They can also offer limited protection against other STDs, like HPV, herpes, and bacteria vaginosis. In general, condoms are more effective at protecting against diseases transmitted through bodily secretions, like HIV, than illness transmitted by skin-to-skin contact, like HPV. For a condom to be effective, it MUST be put on correctly. Condoms should be put on before any sexual contact is made. To put on a condom, unwrap the package and hold the condom up to the light. Make sure that there are no rips or tears in the latex. Then, unroll the condom over the erect penis to the penis's base. Leave about half an inch of space in the tip of the condom for semen. Immediately after ejaculation, a man should hold the condom's rim at the base of the penis and exit his partner.