Students take stupid sex risks

05 May 2015 - 08:58 By POPPY LOUW

Drug- and alcohol-fuelled sex romps are putting the lives of students in danger. Male students who sleep with men are increasingly at risk .Research into the sexual behaviour of students nationally has found that sex with someone other than a primary partner was common (71.9%) among men who have sex with men.Released at the University of South Africa yesterday, data collected for the National Student Sexual Health HIV Knowledge, Attitude and Behaviour Survey indicated that one in five male students who had sex with men had used alcohol or drugs the last time they had intercourse.More than half had used alcohol or drugs during sex, and 5.1% said they did so "most of the time".The male-on-male sex group constituted 10% of the almost 9000 students surveyed at 14 universities.About half (47.9%) of the male students who had sex with men reported having had at least one male sex partner in the past year, and almost 5% admitted to having more than nine male sex partners in 2013.Anal sex was practised by male students who had sex with men (nearly 40%). About one-third of male students who had sex with men reported that they also had vaginal sex.According to UNAids, 19.1% of South Africans aged from 15 to 49 have HIV-Aids and about 200000 die each year of the disease.The risky sexual behaviour identified included:Unprotected anal and/or vaginal sex;Low rates of lubricant use during penetrative anal sex;Unknown STI and HIV status;Multiple sexual partners; andForced sex and sexual violence.The study, which focused on male students who had sex with men, was conducted online with students at universities including Cape Town, the Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape and Stellenbosch.Ramneek Ahluwalia, of the Higher Education and Training HIV-Aids Programme, said students, staff and university management "should act decisively to strengthen the response to stigma and discrimination challenges" on campuses.Just over 7.5% of male students who had sex with men said they felt higher education institutions were unsafe for them.More than one in 10 of the male students who had sex with men had reportedly been forced to have sex against their will.About 3% of the students indicated that they had threatened to use force to get someone to have sex against his or her will...

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