Hello and welcome to the eagerly anticipated results of our Western Eye Sex Survey 2008! We have been asking you to fill out our survey for the last three months and after hours of compiling stats and making pretty graphs, we can reveal that UWE students love sex. No shocks there perhaps, but what is worrying is the way you guys gamble with your sexual health.

Many see university as a time where it is more acceptable to have one night stands than at other times in life. This is certainly reflected in the results. 44% of students have had a one night stand. This percentage increases to 47.1% for men but drops in women to 41.3%.
Perhaps most worryingly is the fact that almost a quarter of students who admit to having had a one night stand have not used protection.  It appears than men at UWE are less worried about contracting an STD as nearly 30% of those questioned admit not using protection, compared to 18.6% of women.

This is a worrying statistic as your chances of getting an STD more than doubles to 19.7% if you have had a one night stand unprotected.
A male student who wished to remain unnamed said he was not surprised to hear this. “I think when you’re in the moment, especially if you’re drunk you can forget to use protection or just think that you’ll be fine.”
It is a worrying statement but representative of the change in many students’ thinking after a few pints.  With so many people having unprotected one night stands it is no wonder why nearly 10% of UWE students admitted they have had an STI such as Chlamydia, Gonorrhoea or Genital Warts.
In a break with popular perception and results from various national surveys, 65% of these who admitted to having some form of STI were women. This may cause many to think that women at UWE are more promiscuous or unlucky than their male counterparts, however Melanie Iddon, Chief Executive of Brook Young People’s Services points out that this is because:

“More women are tested than men. Men are just as likely to have an STI as women it is just they are unaware or are too scared to be tested.”

A female student expressed her shock that there are so many male students who may have an STI and not seeking treatment either because they don’t know or cannot bring themselves to be tested.

“It’s really worrying that there could be quite a few guys out there with STIs. I think we need to get rid of the stigma that goes along with having a sexually transmitted infection. People should treat sexual health like any other health problem. My friends and I often go to get tested regularly, not because we have lots of unprotected sex with multiple partners but because it’s just the mature and sensible thing to do. I wish more guys approached sexual health in the same way.”

The most common STI amongst students is Chlamydia and can cause lasting damage if left untreated.  In women the infection can lie dormant for several months before travelling through the cervix to infect the fallopian tubes leading to Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID). This can cause symptoms such as low abdominal pain, fever and painful sex. Many women have a less serious inflammation that produces few, if any symptoms. If untreated, PID can lead to blockage of the fallopian tubes which can result in infertility or may cause an ectopic pregnancy which can be very serious and even life-threatening.

It is estimated that 25% of all cases of infertility are due to Chlamydia infection.

Approximately 10% of all women who contract Chlamydia will become infertile as a result of PID. This equates to around 30,000 women a year becoming infertile.
In men Chlamydia can cause painful inflammation in one or both testicles. It’s thought that Chlamydia may also lead to reduced fertility or infertility in men, however less is known about whether this happens.

A study in 2007 revealed that men carrying the infection produced sperm with 80% more physical abnormalities and 10% less mobility. Following treatment it was found that the DNA damage in the men’s sperm had typically fallen by over 35%.
As well as giving some insight into the sexual health of students at UWE the survey also revealed that men and women have different attitudes towards sex and relationships.

Around 47% of men consider themselves to be in some sort of relationship whereas around 64% of women say they are in either a casual or serious relationship.
However it seems that women are more likely to cheat on their partners. Almost 38% of women have admitted to cheating in the past compared to 29% of men.
A male student was surprised by this statistic.

“I think the common perception is that it’s blokes who are more likely to cheat on their partners so I think this goes to show that girls are just as , if not more likely to cheat.”

One of the most depressing statistics (for men) suggests that men at UWE aren’t having as much sex as they’d like, in comparison to their female counterparts.

33% of men admit that they ‘hardly ever’ have sex whereas 34.9% of women say they have sex 3-4 times a week.

All young people can order free Chlamydia testing kits online at
www.freetest.me.uk