Sources of Sex Information Used by Young British Women Who Have Sex with Women (WSW) and Women Who Have Sex Exclusively with Men (WSEM): Evidence from the National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles

Sarah Burkill,Philippa Waterhouse

doi:10.1007/s13178-018-0327-z

Abstract

There is little consideration about the provision of information about sex to women who have sex with women (WSW). This study drew on data from the third National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles, a nationally representative survey of people in Great Britain. Logistic regression was undertaken to examine firstly the relationships between WSW and women who have sex exclusively with men (WSEM) and their main source of information about sex, and secondly between WSW/WSEM and unmet need for information about sex. Each source was included as the binary outcome indicating yes as this was the main source, or no as this was not the main source of information about sex. The results found that WSW had significantly lower odds of reporting lessons at schools as their main source of information and significantly higher odds of reporting sources defined as ‘other’ (predominantly first girlfriend/boyfriend or sexual partner) as their main source of information. Reported levels of unmet need for information were also higher among young WSW compared with WSEM. This study provides new insights into the sex educational needs of young women and highlights the need for sex education in schools in Great Britain to include information on a full range of sexual practices, including same-sex sexual relationships.

Highlights

There is little consideration about the provision of information about sex to women who have sex with women (WSW)
The mean number of opposite-sex sexual partners reported was significantly higher among WSW compared to WSEM (14.5 vs 6.6; p < 0.001)
This paper provides the first consideration of differences between WSW and WSEM in main sources of information about sex and unmet need for information about sex among young women in Great Britain

Summary

Introduction

There is little consideration about the provision of information about sex to women who have sex with women (WSW). In the context of Great Britain, Tanton et al.’s (2015) analysis of nationally representative data reveals that over the past two decades, there have been changes in what young people report as their main source of information about sex. For both young women and men, there has been a marked increase in ‘lessons from school’ forming young peoples’ main source of information. The unmet need for sex information is high in Great Britain, with two-thirds of young people reporting that at the time they first felt ready for some sexual experience, they would have liked to have known more about sex (Tanton et al, 2015). This study draws on data from young women aged between 16 and 25 years of age in the third National Survey on Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal-3)

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Discussion

Conclusion