London: Seven out of ten single women regularly practice unprotected sex, a new study has revealed.
The report, released on Wednesday, of women between the ages of 18 and 40 found that a large percentage adopt a ‘head in the sand’ approach to sexually transmitted diseases.
The figures showed that average single woman has had unprotected sex 11 times with a total of four different men.
Research also found that one third of women get ‘swept away in the moment’ and forget about using condoms.
One in five said that they trust their sexual partners not to give them an infection.
Eighteen percent of single girls said that they are often too drunk to use contraception - and 8 percent said that they ‘just don’t like using condoms’.
Dr Tony Steele, co-founder of online doctor and pharmacy DrFox.co.uk, which carried out a survey of 2,000 women’s attitudes to sex, emphasised that having unprotected sex is a sure-fire way to increase the chances of contracting a sexually transmitted infection.
“Unsafe sex on holiday is a major concern, particularly where women plan ahead to have sex with new partners without using condoms,” the Daily Mail quoted Steele as saying.
“Women meet men on holiday who are complete strangers.
“They may know almost nothing about the men they meet, and having sex without contraception is a sure-fire way to increase the chances of contracting a sexually transmitted infection,” he said.
The study also found 12 percent think contraception is not always readily available when it is needed.
Despite being older and wiser, one in ten women over the age of thirty still feels embarrassed to bring up the subject of protection with a new partner.
The report also found that women aged between 30 and 40 were most likely to have contracted a sexually transmitted infection, followed by those in the 18 to 29 age group.
One in ten of all women polled said that they were likely to have unprotected sex when they are on holiday.
Women in their forties were also twice as likely to have had an unwanted pregnancy as those in the 18 to 29 age group.
Those in the 30 to 40 age group were most likely to have taken the morning-after pill.
It also emerged that 16 percent of the over-thirties insist that they have got worse at using contraception as they have get older.
One in five 30 to 40-year-old women have had unsafe sex in the last three months, compared to one in seven women in their teens and twenties.
Nearly a third of women in their thirties say the younger generation has grown up in a world where sex education and STIs are openly discussed.
All age groups were in agreement that contraception should be equally shared between both men and women, which is perhaps surprising as it is women who often end up bearing the consequences of a pregnancy.
“The issue of contraception should be dealt with by both parties, but women need to protect themselves, even when men are not playing their part,” Dr Steele said.
“The consequences of not using contraception for both unwanted pregnancy and for STI’s can be huge,” Steele added.
ANI
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