Unsafe Sex Trend Among Students: Low Condom Use and Risks

Students

Zuzana Ľudviková’s photo

Safe sex is out

Zuzana Ľudviková’s photo

Only a third of RUG students always use a condom during sex, according to a UKrant poll among 425 respondents. The GGD warns about STDs, but students don’t seem to worry. ‘Sex with a condom is like going to a Taylor Swift concert with earplugs in.’

By Lotta Groenendaal and Ingrid Stefan

October 4 at 9:30 am.
Last modified on October 5, 2023
at 3:31 p.m.

October 4 at 9:30 AM.
Last modified on October 5,
at 15:31 PM.

‘If I wear a condom I can’t come, and then that’s the end of the fun, isn’t it?’

History student Tom – not his real name, by the way, because although he wants to talk about sex, he doesn’t want his friends to recognize him – makes no bones about it. He knows that there is a risk of a sexually transmitted disease or unwanted pregnancy, but he does not want to detract from the experience when he has sex. And so he only uses a condom if the girl insists on it. ‘Using condoms is just like sports: if you crash, you crash.’

Tom is one of the many students at the RUG who consciously choose to have unprotected sex. A survey that UKrant conducted among 425 students shows that only 30.8 percent of them always use a condom and 29.7 percent never at all. And although many of the respondents only have one partner, 7.5 percent of students who have multiple partners never use a condom.

And that’s a problem. Because not only are more and more people contracting an STD, the chance of pregnancy is also increasing, the GGD health service warns.

How often do you use a condom? (425 answers)

Always / AlwaysMost of the time / Most of the timeSometimes / SometimesNever / Never29.9%20.2%19.1%30.8%Always / Always131Most of the time / Most of the time81Sometimes / Sometimes86Never / Never127

127 (29,9%)

Always / AlwaysMost of the timeSometimes /SometimesNever / Never29.9%20.2%19.1%30.8%Always / Always131Most of the time81Sometimes / Sometimes86Never / Never127

Never / Never

Of the students who completed the survey, 20 percent only use a condom occasionally. Of respondents who had more than twenty bed partners in the past year, only three out of eleven say they always use a condom.

Worrying

Unsafe sex is a trend that the research Sex under 25 of Rutgers, Soa Aids Nederland and the GGD already noted in 2017: 40 percent of Dutch young people between the ages of 12 and 25 did not use condoms at the time. More recent figures won’t be available until next year, but the signs are worrying.

“People around me don’t think condoms are cool,” says Jada, a recent mathematician. ‘They are very nonchalant about sex and STDs. For example, I have a friend who never uses a condom. She called me last night very proudly to tell me that she had finally used one, and I congratulated her on that. I don’t think that’s really the intention.’

Most of the time I was too drunk to use a condom

Jada has also had unprotected sex in the past. In those cases, her partners simply assumed they wouldn’t use a condom and she went along with it. “I once had a partner who couldn’t stay hard when he wore a condom,” she says.

Or take Hans, an arts student. He is currently in a steady relationship, but even before that he almost never used a condom – even though he regularly picked up sex partners in clubs and bars. “Most of the time I was too drunk for it.”

And that is no exception. 19.1 percent of students who completed the survey indicated that they do not have safe sex when drunk or high. “It can cause your boundaries to blur,” explains Marion Kasemir, social nurse with the sexual health team of the GGD.

Ruining the atmosphere

Another reason that is often mentioned is that respondents do not have a condom with them if necessary. And many students – 13.5 percent – ​​called condoms ‘ruining the atmosphere’. “I can’t stand the smell of condoms,” one of them explains. “That ruins the atmosphere and makes me feel dirty.”

Most students without a steady partner who do not use a condom indicate that they leave out the rubber because otherwise they feel less. ‘Skin-to-skin contact is the best thing ever. Without a condom I feel a stronger emotional connection,” says Tom.

Do you ask your sexual partners if they use contraception? (416 answers)

Yes, always / Yes, alwaysSometimes / SometimesNo / No41.6%16.8%41.6%Yes, always / Yes, always173Sometimes / Sometimes70No / No173

Nee / No

Yes, always / Yes,alwaysSometimes /SometimesNo / No41.6%16.8%41.6%Yes, always / Yes, always173Sometimes / Sometimes70No / No173

Nee / No

Medical student Matthew usually uses a condom, but he also understands why others don’t. “Sex with a condom on feels like a very mediocre handjob,” he says. “It’s like fucking a plastic bag.”

Without a condom I feel a stronger emotional bond

Luuk, who is also studying medicine, only uses them occasionally. ‘Students will remain students, no matter how much they have learned about the importance of sexual health.’

But there are also students for whom condoms are simply not practical. “If you’re having vulva sex you can’t really use condoms,” explains lesbian second-year student Ana. ‘I don’t do that, and neither do my partners. It’s not that we don’t want to have safe sex, but they’re just not convenient.’

Bisexual students also indicate that condoms are more suitable for heterosexual sex.

Pregnancy

However, all that unprotected sex can have serious consequences. If you do not use another method of contraception, such as the pill, the woman can become pregnant. That happened to Tom and his girlfriend when his condom broke. She had to have an abortion, but that hasn’t changed Tom’s attitude toward condom use.

In his group of friends, the risk of pregnancy is not really discussed. ‘Most of my friends are probably more worried about giving a 20-minute presentation than about getting a girl pregnant. The chance of that is quite small if you leave church before singing and I would rather take that small risk than not have any fun from sex at all. Fucking with a condom is like going to a Taylor Swift concert with earplugs in.”

In the meantime, the GGD is seeing an increasing number of young people with gonorrhea. Of the students who responded to the survey, 13.7 percent reported having had an STD at least once – often chlamydia or gonorrhea, which together account for 81 percent of all STDs. “A buddy of mine had chlamydia and gonorrhea at the same time, so I thought twice,” says one of the students.

Have you ever had an STD? (424 answers)

Yes, several times / Yes, multiple timesYes, once / Yes, only onceMaybe – I have never been diagnosed / Maybe – never got properly diagnosedNo / No9.2%9.2%77.1%Yes, several times / Yes, multiple times19Yes , once / Yes, only once39Maybe – I have never had a diagnosis / Maybe – never got properly diagnosed39No / No327

327 (77,1%)

Yes, several times / Yes, multiple timesYes, once /Yes, only onceMaybe – I have never had a diagnosis / Maybe –never gotproperly diagnosed…No / No9.2%9.2%77.1%Yes, several times / Yes, multiple times19Yes , once / Yes, only once39Maybe – I have never had a diagnosis / Maybe – never got properly diagnosed39No / No327

properly diagn…

Uncomfortable

Yet 71 percent of students never ask for a STD test before going to bed with a new partner. And of the respondents who indicated that they never use a condom, 20 percent never ask for a test. “I can imagine that people find it uncomfortable,” Jada explains. ‘Although that is not necessary of course. I don’t want to be too strict and demand that from my partner. But maybe I just find it too scary to bring it up.’

The risk and discomfort do not outweigh the pleasure

‘Sex without a condom is a matter of trust,’ says Hans. And Matthew agrees. “If I’ve known someone for a while, a month or so, and we’ve had sex before, I just trust her word that she’s clean without having to see a test,” he says.

But perhaps the biggest problem is that students think that STDs can be easily treated. “The treatment is just one injection,” says a student. ‘And then you have to be careful what you do for seven days. This means that the risk and discomfort do not outweigh the pleasure.’

Invisible

Tom also sees the treatment of an STD as a minor inconvenience. “It sucks, but it’s only a few days.” In his circle of friends, they are more concerned about bed bugs than STDs. ‘The great thing about STDs is that no one sees them. No one knows what’s going on in your pants.’

Nurse Kasemir is concerned about that attitude. Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem and the increased burden on healthcare could make the already heavily burdened system even more creaky. In addition, you will never get rid of an HIV infection. ‘I’m concerned that students use condoms less often. I often hear that they want it, but that they find it difficult to start talking about it in practice.’

Students complain that it is difficult to get a test done. Because although the GGD offers free STD tests to young people under 25, gay men and sex workers, there are only a limited number of time slots available per week, Kasemir explains. You can also go to your doctor, but that will cost you 150 euros deductible.

Duration

For Jada, that was one of the reasons to change her behavior – in addition to the fact that she contracted genital herpes. ‘STD tests are more expensive than condoms, so it’s better to use condoms.’

Now she is looking for partners with whom she dares to talk about sex and contraceptives. ‘An easy way to bring it up is to put a few condoms on your bedside table. Then you immediately have an opening for conversation.’

Almost half of respondents who ever contracted an STD also changed their behavior afterwards. They, like Jada, indicate that they now choose their partners with more care and that they use a condom.

Kasemir has a tip for those students – for all students. ‘Make sure you have more than one condom, maybe three. That way you can use them in the evening and again the next morning if you want multiple sessions. Sex should be fun and carefree. And that fun can be ruined if you wake up and think: should I take an STD test now? Could I possibly be pregnant? Why didn’t I refuse?

A previous version of this article stated that interviewee Jada ‘had had a lot of unprotected sex. However, this turned out to concern a few cases and was adjusted by the editors.

Engels

2023-10-05 20:44:39
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