Do you drink?

Do you frequent pubs? Then you are at an increased risk of AIDS. No really, that is the conclusion of a UN/WHO Report, “Alcohol Use and Sexual Risk Behaviour: A Cross-Cultural Study in Eight Countries” summarised here.

While we all know that drinking has its bad effects, violence both public and domestic and a host of other things, this is one of the range of attacks on alcohol, this time an attempt to link drinking and AIDS.

The basic plotline is: You are more likely to have sex if pissed, thus more likely to get AIDS. QED Booze is a root cause of AIDS - And must be banned.

However I will just pluck out some of the priceless prose and research efforts,

Alcohol use as part of the construction of maleness
"In South Africa, for example, “being able to hold one’s drink and drink heavily were regarded as sign of masculinity”... In Romania, alcohol consumption was not only culturally accepted as an excuse for irresponsible behaviour... implying that alcohol use-related irresponsible behaviour wasculturally accepted as an assertion manifestation of maleness... in Zambia “buying alcohol for women showed that a man had money”. In Belarus in particular “alcohol use was conventional and an essential part of sexual relations”; and “at discos alcohol was much more consumed by those who showed up single and searched for apartner than those who came with a partner”.

I bet that gave you a shock didn't it?

Alcohol as a facilitator for sexual encounters and intercourse
Alcohol is commonly used as a disinhibitor, a sex facilitator, a symbol of masculinity, and a means of relaxation, recreation, socializing and improving communication skills (e.g. in Mexico and Romania). Alcoholic beverages are also used as a facilitator in approaching the opposite sex... in South Africa some research participants noted that “alcohol use and sex were a match made in heaven”... In Mexico “young people and homosexual men used alcohol to build courage to approach a possible sexual contact”.

Young people had some Dutch courage to steal themselves chat up that gorgeous specimen over there! Surely this cannot be true?

some persons noting that alcohol use during sexual intercourse made “them become more attractive”. It was also found in Belarus that alcohol use was the third most frequent reason for girls to have sex the first time. In Romania it was noted that, as a rule, “alcohol was taken as a socializer and a facilitator of sex”.

Now call nme a cynic, but those Belerus girls might just have been using alcohol as an excuse when talking to the researchers. Is it possible that a proportion of them were using the alcohol to pluck up the courage to do something that they wanted to do in the first place? Maybe?

Alcohol-serving places as contact places for sexual encounters
The WHO study identified drinking places like bars, restaurants etc as venues were the combination of alcohol and sexual encounters lead to an increased risk of HIV transmission.
“In Mexico some members of NGOs with a health promotion mission were owners of venues that animated/encouraged high-risk sex, e.g. dark rooms (for anonymous sex)... In Mexican beer halls, food was sometimes offered for free if a customer drank a certain number of beers. Moreover, drinking venues also hosted contests to see who was able to drink the most. The contests were organized by the owners and the reward was alcohol. Men and women participated.

Stop sniggering at the back this is serious, and there is worse to come...

In some bars visitors were “forced” to drink by waiters walking among them and offering them tequila (for the competition).

Don't you love the quotes round forced. "If you don't drink this free tequila we will have you lined up against that wall and shot".

Alcohol in special risk groups
The WHO reports points to the fact that certain groups are in particular vulnerable to the combination of alcohol and risky sex; female commercial sex workers (FCSW), truck drivers and youth...Drinking alcohol and visiting commercial sex workers are evident among long-distance drivers all over the world... Alcohol use, especially among young adolescents, is associated with casual sex encounters,

I am trying to get my head round this. Truck drivers a long way for home might stop at a bar and look for casual sex! Well who would have thunk it? Vulnerable no less. but of course. Prostitutes are vulnerable to sex. No that is what they do. I am vulnerable to sending out press releases and getting the odd sharp word from my boss under these terms. And the young... not so much vulnerable but desperate I might suggest.

Groups vulnerable to alcohol use, sexual risk behaviour and HIV
Alcohol use is associated with certain types of sexual activity, concludes the WHO report: “Crime often plays a role in unprotected casual sex, group sex and anal sex when participants in these activities are under the influence of alcohol. Alcohol use has also been linked to early sexual experiences (e.g. Belarus, the Russian Federation, Kenya and South Africa). Alcohol use and sexual risk behaviours are particularly prevalent in settings such as nightclubs, bars, dark houses, highway eating joints and motels, and brothels.

Furthermore, alcohol is commonly used as a disinhibitor, a sex facilitator, a symbol of masculinity, and a means of relaxation, recreation, socializing and improving communication skills(e.g. in Mexico and Romania). Alcoholic beverages are also used as a facilitator in approaching the opposite sex. “Masculinity” is often linked to the ability to have multiple partners, imbibe alcohol and engage in promiscuous behaviour. Among women, alcohol use increases involvement in risky sexual encounters and sexual victimization, exposing them to the risk of unwanted pregnancies and STIs (e.g. in the Russian Federation and South Africa).
It has also been shown that alcohol use and sexual risk behaviours increase during certain festivities and celebrations across countries (e.g. in South Africa, Kenya and Romania).

So let me get this straight, the researchers noted that sexual activity and drink was available in brothels. Wow. People get pissed and sleep with each other at parties, hold the front page. And that bit about criminal activities leaves me reeling, along with the thought that alcohol is used for " a disinhibitor, a sex facilitator, a symbol of masculinity, and a means of relaxation, recreation, socializing and improving communication skills".

One piece of news to me was this,

Alcohol use and promiscuity are customary during funerals among certain population groups in Kenya.

Blimey

Go on read the whole thing you will be appalled. (And yes there some serious aspects of the work, but when they get onto infecting monkeys with monkey HIV and then forcing them to binge drink my blood started to run cold).