Last sex session with a non-steady sex partner

• Author: Ford Hickson - Axel J. Schmidt - David S. Reid - Peter Weatherburn - Ulrich Marcus - Susanne B. Schink
• Pages: 138-156

EMIS-2017 – The European Men-Who -Have-Sex-With-Men Internet Surv ey TECHNICAL REPORT

138

9. Last sex session with a non-steady sex

partner

Three quarters (75%) of a ll respondents reported h aving had sex with a no n-steady male partner in th e last 12

months. This chapter presents information on the last sexual encounter with one or more non-steady male sex

partners provided by the 94 643 men who reported havin g had sex with a non-steady male par tner in the last year.

For this chapter these men ar e the denominator. Men who responded ‘no’ to th e question ‘In the last 12 months,

have you had any kind of sex with a non-steady male partner?’ (31 663) w ere excluded from this chapter.

9.1 Summary

• The number of partners invo lved – 78% of the most recent sexual encounters with a non-steady sex partner

involved two people, the respon dent and one other man. Reporting multi-partner (gro up) sex was more

common with increasing age, among participants w ith diagnosed HIV, an d between non-steady partner s who

had had sex with each other before.

• Where they initially met p artner(s) – most non-steady sex partn ers had initially been met onl ine (68%), at

gay sex venues (17%) or gay social venues (15% ). The way in which non-steady sex partn ers were met was

very similar across most demographics but varied according to age and HIV status: For those wh o met their

partners online, smartpho ne apps were the most popular method (58%), especially in western European

countries. Online platforms other than apps were more popular in most eastern and south-eastern European

countries.

• Where the sex took place – approximately 80% of sexual encounters with male non-steady partner s occurred

in private homes or a ho tel room, with the rema inder mainly reporting sex in a public space su ch as a sauna,

backroom or cruising site. Sexual risk-taking was more common a mong participants meeti ng in gay sex

venues than those meeting onlin e.

• Sex acts during the sexual session – the standard sexual reperto ire in these encounters f eatured

masturbation, oral sex and an al intercourse. In all, 74% rep orted anal intercourse: 34% receptive only, 28%

insertive only, and 12% both in the same sessio n.

• Condom use – among participants without diagnosed HIV, about 60% of those having had their most recent

anal intercourse with a non-steady partner had protected themsel ves with a condom and/or anti-retrovirals

(PrEP). Participants diagn osed with HIV mostly relied on effective trea tment and/or condom use when anal

intercourse occurred.

• HIV status communication and assumptions – sero-status disclosure was most com mon among participants

whose most recent HIV test r esult was negative, but the majority of encounters with a male non-steady

partner did not involve discussions about HIV status.

• Substance use before or du ring the session – just under half of the sexual encounters with non-steady sex

partners involved the us e of at least one subst ance, most commonly alc ohol, nitrite inhaler s, erectile

dysfunction medication o r cannabis. Sexualised drug use and injecting d rug use were strongly associated with

multi-partner sex, and more c ommonly reported by par ticipants with diagnosed HIV.

• Satisfaction with the specific sexual encounter – on a scale from 1 (worst) to 10 ( best) the average sexua l

satisfaction score for the last encounter with a male non-steady partner was 6.7.

9.2 Number of partners and having had sex with these

partners previously

9.2.1 Number of partners involved

Among respondents who had had a non-stead y sex partner in the last year, a large majority (78%; country ranges

64–89%) reported that the la st sexual encounter with a non-steady sexua l partner had been a tw osome between

the respondent and this m an. The encounter had b een between the respondent , his steady partner and one non-

steady sex partner (three some) in 7% of cases; b etween the respondent an d two non-steady sex partn ers

(threesome) in 8%; and b etween the respondent and three or more other partner s (group sex) in 7% o f cases.

TECHNICAL REPORT EMIS-2017 – The European Men-W ho-Have-Sex-With-Men Internet S urvey

139

Table 9.1 Number of partners involved in last non-steady encounter

Number of partners involved in last non-steady encounter

(N=94 643, missing=0)

%

It was just me and him

78.1

It was me, my steady partn er and a non-steady partner (a threesome)

7.0

It was me and two non-stea dy partners (a threesom e)

7.8

It was me and three or mo re other people

7.1

TOTAL

100.0

The percentage of responden ts who reported multi-partn er sex (>2 persons involv ed) during the last sex s ession

with a non-steady sex partner is di splayed in Table 9.1 and by country in Section 9.8.

Multiple partner sex was mo re common (>25%) in th e Netherlands, Malta, Poland, the Czech Republic, Belgi um,

Slovakia, Russia, and Ukraine.

The distribution of partn er numbers by age grou p shows that multi-partner sex increases with age an d reaches a

maximum of around 25% in the age groups 40 through 59 years.

Multi-partner sex sessions – pa rticularly group sex – were a lso more common among m en who reported a previous

HIV diagnosis (35% multi-part ner sex among men with diagnosed HIV versus 15% among men who se most recent

HIV test was negative.)

9.2.2 Had there been sex with this partner/these partners before?

Most sex with non-steady pa rtners was with men th at the respondents had no t met before; almost two th irds

(62%) of all encounters w ere reported to be with a partner they had no t sex with before. Of all encounters with

non-steady sex partners, 15% reported that the sex was wit h a partner they had m et once before and 23% w ith

partners they had met more than once before. Group s ex and threesomes with two non-steady sex partner s were

more common with partners who had been met before.

Figure 9.1 Prior encounters with sex partners by type of non-steady sexual partnership (N=94 450)

Men with a previous HIV d iagnosis were more likely to report sex sessions wit h partners they already h ad sex with

in the past than men whose most recent HIV test was ne gative (43% versus 38%).

The percentage of most rec ent non-steady partner sex ses sions that involved only non-steady partners who had

been met for the first tim e is displayed by country i n Table 9.14.

9.3 How and where non-steady partners were met

9.3.1 Where did the partners meet first?

The most common place for the men to meet their most recent non-stea dy sex partner(s) for t he first time was via

a mobile phone app (40% ), followed by elsewhere o n the Internet (28%). This question was answered by 94 550

respondents, but since som e of the encounters wer e with multiple partn ers, men could indicat e the first meeting

place for all the partner s involved in that session, w hich produced 100 387 responses.

64% 67%

52% 51%

12% 13%

27% 26%

24% 21% 21% 23%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Just me and him Me, my steady

partner and a non-

steady partner

Me and two non-

steady partners

Me and three or

more other partners

Met more than once

Met once before

First meeting