Articles » Health-&-Fitness >> View Article
Safe sex with Condom By: Headly Pemberton
A new campaign has been launched to encourage young women to carry condoms, fronted by Cosmopolitan’s “Sexpert” Sarah Hedley. The campaign has been named “Condom Essential Wear” and is geared around breaking the taboo that women are not really expected to be the ones to carry prophylactics. The new drive has been boosted by a government-commissioned report on attitudes towards safe sex from researchers ICM which discovered that contrary to stereotypes, men actually find women who demand safe sex more attractive.
The results showed that 68% of those men polled thought that women who carried condoms were confident and “in control”, while a quarter of them preferred it when their partner brought up using condoms. Today’s women are twice more likely to take charge of protection than their mothers, with 31% of 18-24 carrying condoms when on a night out. This survey and others have shown the dramatic shift in sexual mores experienced by society over the past 30 years. The National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles, one of the most revealing insights into the nation’s sexual behaviours, revealed that women now were having more sexual partners than ever before but correspondingly were also engaging in increasingly risky sexual behaviour.
The drive to encourage women to be more proactive with condom use is necessary to minimise the risks that have come with the changes in our sexual behaviour. In the last ten years, rates of Chlamydia infection have nearly tripled, while Gonorrhoea is also prevalent. The government has created a special task force charged with lowering Chlamydia rates, the National Chlamydia Screening Program, but encouraging people to get tested is an uphill battle. Many Primary Care Trusts are following the lead of private internet STI clinics that offer STI home testing, where Chlamydia test kits are sent directly to people’s homes.They then send the sample back to the laboratory and receive their results either through a secure website or via a text message. Despite the ease of testing, uptake is still far below what it needs to be to make inroads into the rates of infection.
The prevalence of Chlamydia makes condom use central to prevention strategies. A large part of the problem with most STIs is that they are asymptomatic – 50% of people with Chlamydia have no reason to think they are infected. While the HIV crisis of the nineties frightened many into using condoms, since then awareness has faded. As Chlamydia often goes unnoticed and is not seen as overly dangerous, many, especially young men, choose to ignore the possibility they might catch it. However along with Gonorrhoea, if left untreated, both can have very severe consequences for fertility. They can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease, blocked fallopian tubes, ectopic pregnancy or miscarriage. If condoms fall off the agenda, the rates of infection will skyrocket, and experts have already predicted that an epidemic is not far off. One in ten young people aged between 18 and 24 are believed to be carrying the Chlamydia infection.
Hedley pointed out that condom use, or lack of condom use, is not just a case of being irresponsible but also of societal norms that need to change. “Many young women who get treated for a (STI) have had unprotected sex because they didn't have a condom to hand. They're often worried they'll be seen as 'easy' for carrying or suggesting using one.” The current campaign follows on from a series of radio adverts aimed at changing attitudes towards condoms amongst adolescents.
Headly Pemberton is a writer and a freelance journalist. He has published many articles on sexual health. For gonorrhoea, chlamydia or STI clinics he recommends you to visit: http://www.thesticlinic.com/
The results showed that 68% of those men polled thought that women who carried condoms were confident and “in control”, while a quarter of them preferred it when their partner brought up using condoms. Today’s women are twice more likely to take charge of protection than their mothers, with 31% of 18-24 carrying condoms when on a night out. This survey and others have shown the dramatic shift in sexual mores experienced by society over the past 30 years. The National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles, one of the most revealing insights into the nation’s sexual behaviours, revealed that women now were having more sexual partners than ever before but correspondingly were also engaging in increasingly risky sexual behaviour.
The drive to encourage women to be more proactive with condom use is necessary to minimise the risks that have come with the changes in our sexual behaviour. In the last ten years, rates of Chlamydia infection have nearly tripled, while Gonorrhoea is also prevalent. The government has created a special task force charged with lowering Chlamydia rates, the National Chlamydia Screening Program, but encouraging people to get tested is an uphill battle. Many Primary Care Trusts are following the lead of private internet STI clinics that offer STI home testing, where Chlamydia test kits are sent directly to people’s homes.They then send the sample back to the laboratory and receive their results either through a secure website or via a text message. Despite the ease of testing, uptake is still far below what it needs to be to make inroads into the rates of infection.
The prevalence of Chlamydia makes condom use central to prevention strategies. A large part of the problem with most STIs is that they are asymptomatic – 50% of people with Chlamydia have no reason to think they are infected. While the HIV crisis of the nineties frightened many into using condoms, since then awareness has faded. As Chlamydia often goes unnoticed and is not seen as overly dangerous, many, especially young men, choose to ignore the possibility they might catch it. However along with Gonorrhoea, if left untreated, both can have very severe consequences for fertility. They can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease, blocked fallopian tubes, ectopic pregnancy or miscarriage. If condoms fall off the agenda, the rates of infection will skyrocket, and experts have already predicted that an epidemic is not far off. One in ten young people aged between 18 and 24 are believed to be carrying the Chlamydia infection.
Hedley pointed out that condom use, or lack of condom use, is not just a case of being irresponsible but also of societal norms that need to change. “Many young women who get treated for a (STI) have had unprotected sex because they didn't have a condom to hand. They're often worried they'll be seen as 'easy' for carrying or suggesting using one.” The current campaign follows on from a series of radio adverts aimed at changing attitudes towards condoms amongst adolescents.
Headly Pemberton is a writer and a freelance journalist. He has published many articles on sexual health. For gonorrhoea, chlamydia or STI clinics he recommends you to visit: http://www.thesticlinic.com/
Total Views : 1 Word Count: 580 See All Articles By Headly Pemberton