Bareback Sex: From a Sexual Culture to the Reality of Risk-Taking

Journal of Sex Research, Feb, 2006

Bareback Sex: From a Sexual Culture to the Reality of Risk-Taking, Alain Leobon, Unite Mixte de Recherche Espace et Societe du CNRS Laboratoire CARTA, France; Louis-Robert Frigault and Joseph J. Levy, UQAM, Canada

We reported on the reality and specificities of bareback sex on the French internet network, with results derived from an online survey conducted among homosexual men residing in France. In all, 2,303 respondents completed the online questionnaire, which focused on internet use and its impacts on the gay community. The targeted sites were grouped into three broad categories: BDSM (n = 957; from 1 site), bareback (n = 452; from 1 site) and general (n = 894; from 6 sites). The average age of the respondents ranged from 31 to 36, depending on the site. In terms of strategies toward HIV/AIDS and STI prevention, the survey results show significant differences between the respondents according to their site of recruitment. High rates of risk-taking and of sexual encounters were observed in the bareback site, with participants reporting an average close to 20 partners in the previous 6 months. While 90% of respondents from this site claimed to have barebacked, less than 25% of respondents from the BDSM site and less than 10% of those recruited in the general sites reported this practice. In fact, when questioned about the use of condoms during anal sex, only 30% of internet users from the bareback site claimed to have never used protection. Ten percent always used condoms and 60% used them rarely, sometimes, or often. The term bareback thus seems to be understood as consciously and occasionally engaging in unprotected sex and can be clearly distinguished from the notion of relapse. Of participants recruited from the other sites, over 90% reported often or always using protection. Together, these proportions put into perspective a practice that is exercised by a minority and that concerns a group of internet users who identify as HIV-positive and as enjoying group sex, anal sex, fist-fucking, and the exchange of bodily fluids. These results revealed that barebackers frequently negotiate safer sex. Furthermore, the practice of bareback sex does not follow a linear path. These results highlight the importance of pursuing research on this phenomenon to orient prevention or risk-reduction messages.