Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2008. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Bangkok Post - July 11, 2008
Few paid attention when the Public Health Ministry announced in May that there are now more than one million people with HIV and Aids in Thailand, with unprotected sex as the main cause and women as the main target of concern. Of the 14,000 new infections, one-third of them are young women and housewives who dared not ask for safe sex.
And the Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol University, recently told the public that unsafe sex is now the norm among our youngsters, making them extremely vulnerable to HIV and Aids.
Condom use is the most practical way to prevent new infections. Our intensive campaigns to boost condom use in the 1980s made Thailand a success story in Aids prevention. But we can no longer rest on those laurels. A relapse of the condom campaign, the lack of state budget for free condoms, and society's resistance to sex education and easy access to condoms for youngsters have all led to high-risk sexual behaviour that entail tragic consequences.
The risks are evident from a study on the Thai's first sexual experience. According to researchers Kritaya Archavanitkul, Chuenruthai Kanchanachitra and Wasana Im-em, 70% of men and 82% of women did not use condoms with their first sexual partners. Reflecting sexual double standards, the majority of women said they had their first sex with boyfriends or husbands, but only 10% of the men said they had their first sex with their wives. More than half of the men said they did it with their female friends, while about 12% said they did it with sex workers.
The study shows a clear shift in sexual behaviour among different generations of men. For those over 59, more than half said they had their first sex with their wives, followed by sex workers. For those between 39 and 43, nearly half of them did it with sex workers, reflecting a boom in the commercial sex industry.
For those growing up after the outbreak of Aids, however, the majority of them said they did it first with their female friends. Buying sex took a dive following the anti-Aids campaigns focusing on sex workers.
Meanwhile, only 10% of the men said they had first sex with women who are now their wives, reflecting a more liberal attitude towards sex among the young generation.
Although sexual behaviour has changed, what remains constant is the resistance to condom use in intimate relationships. This is evident among sex workers. While the percentage of condom use with their clients is near 100%, many do not use it with their steady boyfriends because condoms have become the symbol of lack of love and trust.
It is not only the government's condom campaigns focusing on sex workers that has made the public equate the Aids threats with sexual promiscuity.
The crux of the problem is the unequal gender relations from double sexual standards which condone men's irresponsible sex while extolling the virginity cult for women. This prevents women from seeking protected sex for fear of appearing sexually experienced and unfit for men's commitment.
To defuse the Aids time-bomb, we not only need to make condoms more easily accessible for young people, we need to address the cultural values that perpetuate unequal gender relations. If not, the safe sex message will remain unheard.
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