Background to the Research

• The aim of this research was to ascertain the sexual attitudes and lifestyles of young people in NI.
  

Research Approach

• Over 1000 14-25 year olds completed the survey. 41.4% of the respondents were male, 58.6% were female, and 45% were Protestant, 38.7% were Catholic.
• In addition, 71 focus groups took place and 15 in-depth interviews.
  

Main Findings

Sex Education

• The main source of advice on sex comes from young people's friends (four out of five young people reported this). School, books, magazines and TV/radio are rated before mothers (fifth place) and fathers (seventh place).
• Young men reported receiving less sex education than young women. At school, over a third received no classes on menstruation and 1 in 5 received no classes on pregnancy. At home, less than a quarter of men felt able to confide in a parent about sex.
• Over half of respondents could name HIV/AIDS as a sexually transmitted infection, but less than a quarter could name any other infection.
• Young people felt that schools did not cover many subjects in sex education. Sexual feelings and emotions were rarely discussed, with nearly all of those of those asked wanting to know more about this.

Sexual Attitudes

• Over half of those asked said emotional maturity rather than age should be the deciding factor in age of first sex. Over 40% of those who said age was important chose 16 as the right age for first sex.
• Nearly two-thirds of young people agreed there was nothing wrong with sex before marriage. 1 in 10 young people thought that sex before marriage was always wrong.
• Less than a third of young people disapproved of one-night stands, however, two-thirds disapproved of sex outside steady relationships, having more than one sexual partner at a time, anonymous sex or sex with a prostitute.
• Nearly a third of those asked said access to abortion should be made easier.

Sexual Intercourse

• Over a third of young people had sex before 17 (the legal age of consent). Over a quarter had sex before 16.
• Over half said they were happy with the timing of first sex, but over a quarter of young men and nearly a third of young women said they felt they had sex too early.
• Over half had first sex in a steady relationship, but only 15% said it was planned when it occurred. 1 in 10 young women felt pressurised into first sex.
• 1 in 4 men and 1 in 3 women said they were drunk at first sex.

Sexual Orientation

• Over half of all respondents said that sex between men was always or mostly wrong, and over a third said that sex between women is always or mostly wrong. Yet 1 in 10 young men and women reported having been attracted to a person of the same sex at least once.
• 11% of sexually active men and 4% of sexually active women said they had had sex with a same sex partner on at least one occasion.

Use of Contraception and Sexual Health Services

• Nearly three-quarters of young people used contraception at first sex. Condoms were used by two-thirds of people at first sex.
• Over three-quarters of those who first had sex when they were 16 or older used contraception compared to just over a third of those who first had sex before 16.
• Young people who could talk to their parents about sex were on average nearly twice as likely to use contraception at first sex.
• Nearly half of those questioned who were sexually active had used emergency contraception at least once. Three-quarters had no difficulty accessing it, although 1 in 5 found clinic opening times or the attitudes of staff offputting.
• Condoms are the most common method of contraception used by young people. Nearly two-thirds of young men preferred to buy them from a chemist, whereas nearly half of young women were happy to access them free from a family planning clinic.
• Over three-quarters of young people said they would find it easy to access contraception, but access was more difficult for those under 17.

Recommendations

• Community based sex education programmes for parents should be introduced, to enable them to provide positive sex education in the home.
• Schools must take positive action to ensure that homosexuality is addressed in the classroom, to help remove the stigma surrounding sexual lifestyles that are different to heterosexuality.
• The age of heterosexual and homosexual sexual consent should be reduced to 16.
• Schools must actively support teachers in the implementation of the guidance on Relationships and Sexuality Education, issued by the NI Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment.
• Peer sex education programmes should be developed throughout NI and receive statutory funding.
• Education strategies must particularly address the needs of young men with regards to personal and sexual relationships.
• Community based initiatives on personal development through sexual health should be introduced across NI.
• Confidential contraception services specifically for teenagers must be developed throughout NI.
• Sexual health services for young people should include testing for sexually transmitted infections.
• Policy makers should take into account the data from this research when developing and implementing future policies including setting funding priorities.
• The Towards Better Sexual Health survey should be repeated and implemented in 2006, and include men and women aged 25-55 years.