Frequency and Methods of Safer Sex

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• Of the individuals who reported casual partners, 44 per cent said that they practice safer sex all of the time and 23 per cent practice it most of the time (but 20 per cent of people with casual partners reported that they never practice safer sex). Similarly, 49 per cent of those with two partners practice safer sex all of the time and 44 per cent of those with three partners do the same. Another 22 per cent of people with two partners and 35 per cent of individuals with three partners practice safer sex most of the time.
  
• The groups that tend to report casual and multiple partners (i.e., youth, men and those with no children) are most likely to practice safe sex all or most of the time.
  
• The method of safer sex chosen by individuals with casual or multiple partners is almost always the use of a condom (according to 84 to 88 per cent of these segments of society).
  
• Men are more likely to report the use of a condom (75 per cent did), and women to report the use of the birth control pill (10 per cent). Youth are most likely to report the use of a condom or the birth control pill in the last year (84 and 16 per cent, respectively).

People who engaged in safer sex over the last year were then asked what their primary reason was for doing so, and those who did not were asked the primary reason for deciding not to practice safer sex. Risk of pregnancy was the primary reason for safer sex cited most often (by 35 per cent), followed by the risk of sexually transmitted diseases (27 per cent) or the risk of HIV/AIDS (cited by 10 per cent). A smaller number reported their primary reason for practicing safer sex was simply general responsibility (seven per cent), or due to their partner's request (four per cent).

The vast majority (87 per cent) of those who did not practice safer sex indicate that they did not do so because they have only one sexual partner. A small minority indicated that they are not at risk of STDs (four per cent), that their partner(s) have been recently tested for HIV/AIDS (one per cent), that they assume their partner(s) do not have HIV/AIDS (one per cent), that they were not prepared for safer sex (one per cent), or that they were trying to get pregnant (three per cent).