Soliciting Sex on the Internet: What Are the Risks for Sexually Transmitted Diseases and HIV?

Background: Strategies to meet sex partners have been augmented by the Internet. This medium is an environment of potential risk for acquiring or transmitting sexually transmitted disease (STD). Goal: To document how the Internet is used to find sex partners and what risks such activity poses for ST...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sexually transmitted diseases 2000-10, Vol.27 (9), p.545-550
Main Authors: BULL, SHEANA S., McFARLANE, MARY
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
Female
General aspects
HIV
HIV Infections - prevention & control
Human immunodeficiency virus
Human infectious diseases. Experimental studies and models
Humans
Infectious diseases
Internet
Male
Medical sciences
Risk assessment
Risk-Taking
Sexual Behavior
Sexually transmitted diseases
Sexually Transmitted Diseases - prevention & control
STD
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Summary:Background: Strategies to meet sex partners have been augmented by the Internet. This medium is an environment of potential risk for acquiring or transmitting sexually transmitted disease (STD). Goal: To document how the Internet is used to find sex partners and what risks such activity poses for STD infection. Study Design: Participant observations of 175 chat rooms targeting men who have sex with men (MSM), heterosexuals, and couples seeking sex partners. Results: Findings indicate evidence of past meetings (9% of MSM-room observations, 15% of couple-room observations) and solicitation of sex (9% of heterosexual-room observations, 17% of MSM-room observations, 36% of couple-room observations) by members of these groups. Safer sex or risk-reduction behaviors were not frequently mentioned, but were sometimes acknowledged through solicitation of drug-free and disease-free partners. Conclusions: Because people can use the Internet to solicit sex partners, it is a risk environment for sexually transmitted diseases. The Internet offers fast and efficient encounters resulting in sexual contact, which may translate into more efficient disease transmission. However, the Internet also offers many possibilities for innovative technologic approaches to promote STD and HIV prevention.
ISSN:0148-5717
1537-4521
DOI:10.1097/00007435-200010000-00008