Motivations regading Safer Sex

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• Individuals with casual partners are more likely to have cited the risk of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) than other Canadians.
  
• Those under the age of 25 are more likely to cite risk of STDs as the primary reason for engaging in safer sex (37 per cent do), while those age 25 to 34 and 35 to 44 are more likely to cite risk of pregnancy as the motivating factor (50 and 43 per cent, respectively).
  
• Those with children who are younger than teens are also more likely to cite risk of pregnancy as the primary reason for safer sex (48 per cent do), while those with no children are more likely to point to risk of STDs as the primary motivator (30 per cent do), a relationship that is likely driven by age of the respondent.
  
• Quebec residents are more likely to cite risk of HIV/AIDS as the primary reason for engaging in safer sex (16 per cent did).
  
• In terms of reasons not to practice safer sex, individuals with casual partners were more likely than individuals without casual partners to assume that partners did not have HIV/AIDS (14 per cent) or that they were not prepared for the encounter (11 per cent). Those without casual partners typically offered the explanation of having only one partner as their reason for not practicing safer sex (89 per cent).
  
• Women are more likely to cite having only one partner as a reason not to practice safer sex (90 per cent do). Those aged 25 to 34 are more likely to indicate trying to get pregnant as the reason not to (nine per cent do), while those aged 35 and over are more likely to indicate that they did not practice safer sex as they had only one partner.