Study reveals young Brits' attitudes to safe-sex

New research today reveals that, while young people in Britain are happily sowing their wild oats, a shocking number still have unprotected sex, despite HIV and AIDS topping their list of worries when it comes to sex.

The study commissioned by The Body Shop and MTV Networks UK & Ireland reveals 63% of sexually active 16-24s admit to having had unprotected sex and a third (33%) of these have had unprotected sex with 2 or more partners. It appears that women aged 16-24 in the UK feel that it is the man’s responsibility to carry a condom, with only 15% of women saying that they do carry one.

The research unveiled that more than half (53%) of 16-24s say that they have had casual sex - with someone whom they are not dating, and more than half (56%) say they would bed their date on or before the third date - the third date now more commonly known as “the sex date”.

The survey supports the launch of The Body Shop and MTV ‘Get Lippy’ UK campaign to raise awareness and prevention of HIV and Aids amongst 15-24 year olds. The campaign will also be raising funds through the sale of The Body Shop Limited Edition Guarana Lip Butter for the Staying Alive Foundation to finance HIV and AIDS educational projects .

It seems the younger generation is now more at ease with having sex at a younger age and more liberal regarding the number of sexual partners someone has had, with nearly two-thirds (63%) of 16 to 19 year-olds say it is acceptable to have slept with more than five people by the age of 21, compared to only 40% for people in their early 30s

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Other survey findings:
- One-in-four (24%) 16-24 year olds say that they could have sex with someone they didn’t know/trust
- More than 1 in 5 (22%) 16 -24 year olds have lost their virginity before the age of 16
- More than 1 in 5 (22%) of 16-24 year olds think sex is merely a physical act
- 20% of 16-24s have had 6 or more sexual partners

Toby Morgan, Values Manager for The Body Shop UK & RoI, commented: “These survey results prove that young people’s behaviour is still not in line with awareness, or their own personal concerns about being infected with HIV. It is vital that we continue to educate and motivate young people to protect themselves against infection. By partnering with MTV our goal is to communicate prevention messages to help young people in understand that AIDS is an issue that affects them.”

While many young people believe HIV will never touch their lives, globally over 40 million people live with HIV and AIDS. Shockingly, half of all new HIV infections are among young adults under 25 – it is estimated every 15 seconds a person aged 15-24 becomes infected with HIV/AIDS.

The ‘Get Lippy’ campaign has already attracted celebrity supporters including Estelle and Annie Lennox.