Unsafe sex

Unsafe sex means penetrative sex without the use of condoms.

Bisexual men in the UK are twice as likely to follow safe sex procedures with their men partners than with women. The 6% of men who have both full vaginal intercourse with women and anal intercourse with men used safe sex procedures with eight of of 10 homosexual episodes and 4 out of 10 heterosexual encounters.

Thai men dislike condoms and see them as a restriction of freedom, the most important of which is sexual freedom. In a culture of sexual promiscuity, this is a very significant cause in the spread of AIDS amongst the entire Thai population. (In 1995 it is predicted that HIV incidence for Thai men and women will be equal, whereas in 1986 there were 17 male cases for every one female).

One good indicator of unprotected sex with multiple partners is infection with sexually transmitted infections (STIs) such as syphilis and gon-orrhoea. Using this indicator, evidence indicates that many drug injectors also have unprotected sex. Clearly, these people are at extraordinarily high risk of HIV infection because of their drug-injecting behaviour. The fact that they have unprotected sex would indicate that their sex partners are also at risk, whether or not they use drugs.