Push to minimise risky sex practices

A new ACON campaign, soon to be seen around bars and sex on premises venues, aims to raise awareness of the risks involved with serosorting.

The poster and information campaign warns of the risks involved with seeking unprotected sex, based on presumptions of a common HIV status.

Targeting both HIV positive and negative men, the message is that serosorting is not always effective, because you just don’t know.

This new campaign aims to reduce HIV infection rates in NSW by helping gay men understand that this kind of approach doesn’t always work, ACON CEO Stevie Clayton said.

The posters, which feature a question mark tilted to resemble an errection, come with captions specific to various parts of the community, including had a test since your last fuck?.

In many sexual equations, there are lots of unknowns – and a person’s HIV status is often one of them. That’s why we developed the question mark motif that features in the campaign, Clayton said.

For HIV negative guys, the message is just because a sex partner tells you they’re HIV negative, you just don’t know. They could be HIV positive but don’t know it and having unprotected sex with them could mean the HIV virus is passed on.

For HIV positive guys, the message is, just because a sex partner doesn’t disclose their HIV status doesn’t mean they’re HIV positive to.

Recent research shows that one in five gay men who recently contracted HIV had been under the impression that their sexual partner was HIV negative.

While it is recognised that serosorting is a common and at times beneficial practice, it is not a flawless system. ACON stresses the use of condoms and lube with casual sex partners as the best possible method of protection.

For more details on the campaign or negotiating safe sex visit www.acon.org.au