Vienna 2010: Making safe 'sexy' to combat HIV

Submitted by Evelyn Harvey (Evelyn) about 2 months ago

As access the internet and mobiles spreads across the globe, porn travels with it, so that the majority of young men now view some form of erotic material before their first actual experience of sex. What does this mean for the safe sex message, as HIV, condoms and even consent don’t feature heavily in the majority of adult movies?

‘Whether or not we like it, a lot of people do learn about sex from porn. I just finished a book by my colleague Getnet Tadele about sexuality in Desse, Ethiopia, where he found that porn was basically the only form of sex education that young men received,’ commented Krissy Ferris of The Pleasure Project.

The Pleasure Project (www.thepleasureproject.org) championed sexual pleasure at the World AIDS Conference, Vienna, as an overlooked part of the response to HIV. Most new HIV infections are sexually transmitted, and despite advances in treatment, many do not receive the drugs they need to stay well.

Male or female condoms remain the only effective methods of prevention for oral or penetrative sex. However, whether from porn or from their peers, young men are getting an alternative message: that to use a condom will diminish their own or their partners’ pleasure. It’s an insidious message, and it’s not clear how to get past it. But focusing on the raison d’etre of watching porn, sexual pleasure, is one place to start.

"We believe that you can have safer sex if you know how to have good sex. Globally, HIV is primarily a sexually transmitted epidemic. Yet, at international events like the AIDS conference, it is rare to hear sex being discussed. If we are going to really address the HIV epidemic, we will need to address sexuality directly, and promote realistic safer sex options," states the Pleasure Project’s rationale.

One way to do this is to promote the creation and distribution of ‘safe’ porn. In an analogy, the value of harm reduction approaches to drug use is undisputed, with yet more evidence for the approach presented at AIDS 2010. While porn is nowhere near as damaging, it can become addictive and compulsive, in which case, could a similar approach work?

The Pleasure Project have worked with adult movie directors, actors and actresses to create exciting, sexy films that feature male and female condom use. (We’re talking about scenes where partners enjoy safe, creative, kinky, fun in bed together, not doctors with ‘use a condom, prevent HIV’ banners in the background.)

Of course, the porn industry is vast, and while money is made from it, unsafe sex will prevail. But if more stars and influential directors embraced safe, good, sex, it could have a wide-ranging impact on young people’s first experiences of sex.

"We've worked on a film called Modern Loving, which shows couples how to use both male and female condoms (among other sex techniques!). We've also worked with the director Anna Span on her films, some of which now use male and female condoms. Kink.com makes BDSM films that not only feature safe sex, but also include pre- and post- shoot interviews with the actors in which they negotiate what will happen in the scene - a great example of how you can obtain consent before a sexual act and still make it sexy," says Ferris.

Whether you enjoy porn or are revolted by it, it’s a fact of human existence and a powerful influence on millions of young men. It would be a brave international aid agency that decided to fund porn as part of its HIV prevention programs! But perhaps by taking a step away from the clinical, or the ridiculous (abstinence–only), and towards the erotic, safe sex can be made that much more appealing.

Keywords: AIDS AIDS 2010 condoms HIV prevention Sexual Education Vienna 2010

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