Global Study: More Young People Are Having Unsafe Sex

Reuters reported that a study conducted to commemorate World Contraception Day has found that not only are more and more young people around the world having unprotected sex, but they don't have enough knowledge about safer sex and contraception. In Clueless or Clued Up: Your Right to be Informed about Contraception, researchers from Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals questioned more than 6,000 young people from 26 countries about their attitudes toward sex and contraception, and what they found was alarming.

• Among young people, unprotected sex with new partners had increased over the last three years 111 percent in France, 39 percent in the U.S. and 19 percent in Britain.
• In Europe, only half of respondents receive sex education from school, compared to three-quarters across Latin America, Asia Pacific and the U.S.
• More than a third of respondents in Egypt believe bathing or showering after sex will prevent pregnancy, and more than a quarter of those in Thailand and India believe that having intercourse during menstruation is an effective form of contraception.
• Forty two percent of respondents in Asia Pacific and 28 percent in Europe cited embarrassment about talking with a health care provider as a barrier to accessing contraceptives.

In a press release about the study, Denise Keller, a member of the World Contraception Day Task Force, said, "No matter where you are in the world, barriers exist which prevent teenagers from receiving trustworthy information about sex and contraception, which is probably why myths and misconceptions remain so widespread even today." She added, "When young people have access to contraceptive information and services, they can make choices that affect every aspect of their lives which is why it's so important that accurate and unbiased information is easily available for young people to obtain."

Read the entire report here.

Kellee Terrell is the former news editor for TheBody.com and TheBodyPRO.com.

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