SHEC: Sex life reality check

Nima Nahiddi
SHEC

Going through SHEC’s SEX 101 pamphlet, I was surprised by the fact that 40% of university students have not had sex within the past six months. Movies and TV shows give us a picture of high school and university students having frequent – if not outrageously unrealistic – hook ups. And although I know that real life isn’t anything like Glee or Gossip Girl, maybe all this time I’ve been subconsciously influenced by the media into thinking that many of my peers are like the actors I see everyday on screen.

I decided to look around for more statistics about the sex lives of Canadian university students and get a better picture of what really makes up the average student’s lifestyle.

The most recent survey I found was a joint publication by Trojan Condoms and SIECCAN (The Sex Information and Education Council of Canada), which was full of mixed signals. Trojan Condoms is a huge corporation, with a specific agenda to sell more products. But, SIECCAN seems like a reliable scholarly journal that specifically publishes research on Canadian sexual health. Assuming they’re reliable, here are some of the statistics that I thought were particularly interesting:

• 67% of men and 80% of women surveyed said they were ‘happy’ or ‘very happy’ with their sex lives.
• 34% of students described their most recent sexual encounter as being casual.
• 25% of participants never had sex.
• Only 51% of those engaging in sexual activities were using condoms.

It is nice to know that the majority of participants felt good about their sex lives (this includes those who choose not to have sex) and thought that having or abstaining from sex positively affects their overall health. These numbers paint a picture of a very sex-positive environment in Canadian universities.  Moreover, the number of ‘casual’ sexual encounters was surprisingly lower than I had expected (maybe I need to change what kind of TV I watch).

At first, I thought the fact that only one half of participants use condoms was a very low statistic. Perhaps this was Trojan’s ploy to get us all to buy more condoms?

The study notes that the main motivation for condom use is birth control, and so I can understand that there are other methods of birth control. I personally know a few couples in monogamous relationships that choose a hormonal contraceptive method over condoms. If most people who are having sex are exclusive, then why is this cause of concern?

As many news articles around the study suggest, condoms are not only for birth control but the best method of STI prevention. With the recent rise of chlamydia and gonorrhoea – both of which don’t often have signs or symptoms – it seems as though condom use should be on the rise for Canadian university students. At this point, I realized Trojan’s marketing campaign has worked very effectively on me. However, there’s also an alternative message that I received from the study: get an STI check before you stop using condoms with your partners. Even if you only have one partner at the time, you can still give or get STIs from past experiences. You can also never be certain that your partner is only engaged with you – especially since you can both have different definitions of the term “exclusive relationship.”

I decided to go check out Trojan’s website to get more information on condoms. Underneath the flashy condom and sex product advertisement, there’s a link to their website “weknowsex.ca”. This turned out to be an amusing and informative experience. I recommend it for individuals who want very basic information about sex and STIs. The website is also very easily navigable.  It felt very honest that the first fact to appear was “only way to stay 100% safe is to not have any type of sex. Otherwise, stay protected.” Even if the Trojan-SIECCAN study was commissioned to boost sales, I feel as though their goal of “be safe, instead of sorry” also benefits those who choose to buy their product.

P.S. Remember to visit SHEC if you want more information about birth control methods, STIs, condom use, free lube and free condoms!