People engage in non-penetrative sex for a variety of reasons, including as a form of foreplay or as a primary or preferred sexual act.[5][7]Heterosexual couples may engage in non-penetrative sex as an alternative to penile-vaginal penetration, to preserve virginity, or as a type of birth control.[7][8]Same-sex couples may also engage in non-penetrative sex to preserve virginity,[7][9][10] with gay males using it as an alternative to anal penetration.[7][9]
Although sexually transmitted infections (STIs) such as herpes, HPV, and pubic lice can be transmitted through non-penetrative genital-genital or genital-body sexual activity, non-penetrative sex may be used as a form of safer sex because it is less likely that body fluids (the main source of STI transmission) will be exchanged during the activities, especially with regard to aspects that are exclusively non-penetrative.[11][12][13]
^Robert Crooks; Karla Baur (2010). Our Sexuality. Cengage Learning. pp. 286–289. ISBN978-0-495-81294-4. Archived from the original on March 10, 2021. Retrieved August 30, 2012. Noncoital forms of sexual intimacy, which have been called outercourse, can be a viable form of birth control. Outercourse includes all avenues of sexual intimacy other than penile–vaginal intercourse, including kissing, touching, mutual masturbation, and oral and anal sex.
^Bryan Strong; Christine DeVault; Theodore F. Cohen (2010). The Marriage and Family Experience: Intimate Relationship in a Changing Society. Cengage Learning. p. 186. ISBN978-0-534-62425-5. Archived from the original on July 24, 2020. Retrieved October 8, 2011. Most people agree that we maintain virginity as long as we refrain from sexual (vaginal) intercourse. But occasionally we hear people speak of 'technical virginity' [...] Data indicate that 'a very significant proportion of teens ha[ve] had experience with oral sex, even if they haven't had sexual intercourse, and may think of themselves as virgins' [...] Other research, especially research looking into virginity loss, reports that 35% of virgins, defined as people who have never engaged in vaginal intercourse, have nonetheless engaged in one or more other forms of heterosexual sexual activity (e.g., oral sex, anal sex, or mutual masturbation).
^ abJoseph Gross, Michael (2003). Like a Virgin. The Advocate/Here Publishing. pp. 44–45. 0001-8996. Archived from the original on May 3, 2021. Retrieved March 12, 2011.