IRMA Survey On Rect Douching and Enemas in 5 Languages - Please Participate!

IRMA and researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Public Health are conducting a brief survey to help better understand the types of products people use rectally for anal sex including lubricants and enemas or douches.

Take the survey in English, Spanish, French, Chinese, or Russian.

We're trying to gain a better understanding of rectal practices and behaviors that may affect the risk for sexually transmitted infections among people who practice anal intercourse and hope you - yes YOU - will fill out this brief anonymous survey (estimated time to complete: less than 15 minutes).

Please take the survey NOW and share this link widely!

[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Survey reveals gaps in HIV programming for MSM

Via PlusNews.

A new global survey of more than 5,000 men who have sex with men (MSM) reveals a marginalized group of people with little access to basic HIV prevention tools such as condoms and few means to learn about HIV.

Conducted by the Global Forum on MSM & HIV between 24 June and 17 August 2010, the survey sought to highlight key gaps in global efforts to provide MSM with evidence-informed HIV prevention services. More than 1,000 of the study participants - drawn from all over the world - were health workers; 22 percent reported being HIV-positive.

The authors recommend expanding access to HIV prevention services for MSM across the globe, more focus on promoting awareness of emerging HIV prevention interventions and more robust and sustained stigma-reduction efforts. Some of the major findings of the survey include:

Access to health services - Fifty-three percent of participants said they could easily access testing for sexually transmitted infections, while 51 percent said they had easy access to HIV counseling; 47 percent found STI treatment easily accessible.

Just 36 percent of MSM surveyed reported having easy access to HIV treatment, while 27 percent said it was available but difficult to access, was not available or had never heard of HIV treatment.

Access to HIV prevention - Free condoms were easily accessible only to 44 percent of participants, while just 29 percent could obtain lubricant.

Just 30 percent of participants reported easy access to each of the basic HIV prevention services, including behavioural HIV/AIDS interventions, HIV education materials, mental health services, free or low-cost medical care, media campaigns focused on reducing HIV, and laws/policies to ensure access to HIV prevention.

Just 25 percent said they had access to sex education.

Stigma - Africa reported the highest levels of stigma and external homophobia, followed by the Middle East, Asia-Pacific, Central/South America and the Caribbean, which all reported similar levels of stigma. Australia and New Zealand reported the lowest levels of stigma and external homophobia.

MSM from Africa and the Asia-Pacific region reported the highest levels of internalized homophobia.

Read the rest here.

[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

More Teen Virgins? Not So Fast

Via RHrealitycheck.org, by Martha Kempner

In 2006–2008, 29 percent of females and 27 percent of males ages 15 to 24 reported that they had never had sexual contact with another person. This was a small but statistically significant change from 2002 when it was 22 percent for both males and females.

Many teens are making responsible decisions when it comes to their sexual behavior; they delay sex, have fewer partners, and use contraception. And yet, we adults give them so little credit for behaving, in many ways, better than us.

AND THE SURVEY SAYS…

Traditionally, when thinking about sex and surveying individuals about their behavior, we have concentrated on penile-vaginal intercourse. This focus makes some sense from a public health perspective as it is the only behavior that can lead to both pregnancy and STDs. That said, other behaviors certainly carry a risk of STDs, and, the focus on vaginal sex by nature excludes all same-sex behavior. Still, I sense that the primary reason for this focus is something different—a societal understanding (however, inaccurate, incomplete, and exclusionary) that only penile-vaginal sex is sex.

There are lots of different theories about why the percentages of young people who had vaginal intercourse dropped during those years. Some argue that this is when teens started becoming highly aware of the risk of HIV and that a life-threatening STD was a game changer for teenagers.

Others credit sexuality education while still others undoubtedly credit abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. One mother of a teenager jokingly argued it was all because of video games, "if teens are really logging 30 hours a week of screen time, when would they possibly have time to have sex?" We may never really know but it is worth trying to understand as the numbers seem to have leveled out in recent years.


Read the full story
 
[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]