We are used to seeing Dulce Candy talking about beauty, but beauty comes second to health, which is why she’s teamed up with the American Sexual Health Association (ASHA) to talk about getting tested for STD’s with the YES Means TEST campaign. Dulce contracted chlamydia, gonorrhea, and human papillomavirus (HPV) when she was 18 years old and fortunately, she had symptoms, even though she didn’t get tested until she was in the Army and she was required to do a physical prior to her deployment.
“I experienced terrible abdominal cramping, burning, and a painful sensation while going to the bathroom,” she says. Her first reaction was that she had these three scary diseases running through her body, but luckily because of that mandatory test, she got the treatment she needed to get rid of these STD’s. She took pills to get rid of the chlamydia and gonorrhea, but for the HPV, she actually had to get surgery to remove part of her cervix because it had cancerous cells.
“People think that it’s not going to happen to you and it also has this negative connotation that if you get an STD that you are dirty, society calls us sluts and that’s not true, that’s not what we are,” she says. The YES Means TEST campaign aims to get rid of the stigma behind STDs, especially since 1 in 2 sexually active people get an STD by the age of 25 and shockingly, less than 12% get tested. “I had no idea that 1 out of 2 people is affected by STDs, and also that Hispanic and African American women are at a higher risk for infection. It’s important we all stay protected!” When it comes to chlamydia, Hispanics are 2 times more likely to have chlamydia than white people and the gonorrhea statistics are no better, since Hispanics are 1.8 times more like to have gonorrhea than whites.
“By sharing my story, I hope that people will learn how to respect themselves enough to know the importance of getting tested and how easily it can be done,” she says. Dulce Candy is passionate about making this less of a taboo topic since it happens to almost everyone. “I also want women to have conversations about STDs with their friends and not be ashamed to admit it. The more we talk about this subject, the more people will be aware of the fact that STDs are on the rise and that we need to actively get tested and treated in order to stop it.”
STD testing can be quick, easy, confidential, free or low-cost, and common STDs, such as chlamydia or gonorrhea, are usually effectively treated with antibiotics. For more information about STDs, YES Means TEST or how and where to get tested, please visit www.YESmeansTEST.org.