Place and practice: Sexual risk behaviour while travelling abroad among Swedish men who have sex with men

Persson, Kristina Ingemarsdotter; Berglund, Torsten; Bergström, Jakob; Tikkanen, Ronny; Thorson, Anna; Forsberg, Birger C

doi:10.1016/j.tmaid.2018.01.009

Cited by 11 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 133 publications

(230 reference statements)

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“…The in-depth analysis of that data suggests however that travelling per se does not alter sexual practice,46 which is aligned with the results in this study since our informants stated that safer sex strategies did not depend on whether they had sex in Sweden or Berlin. This contradicts other findings but in different ways.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

“You can smell the freedom”: a qualitative study on perceptions and experiences of sex among Swedish men who have sex with men in Berlin

Dennermalm

Persson²,

Thomsen

2019

BMJ Open

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PurposeThe purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions and experiences of sex among Swedish Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) in Berlin.BackgroundMSM are disproportionally affected by HIV.Berlin is also a key destination when looking into where Swedish MSM sero-convert, while travelling.MethodA qualitative study with semi-structured interviews using open-ended questions with participants recruited through network sampling. Data were analysed with content analysis.Participants15 Swedish cis-men (as in non-transgender) who have sex with men aged 25–44 years, who travelled to or were living in Berlin. To be included in the study, the participants had to be cis-MSM, Swedish citizens, spending time in Berlin and having sex in both settings.ResultsFor a majority of the participants, sex was the main reason for going to Berlin but cultural aspects like art and the techno scene were also important. Berlin was perceived as a sex-oriented city providing venues where respondents did not have to care about reputation and status and where social and sexual spaces co-existed side by side. This in sharp contrast to Sweden, which represented a limiting environment both in culture and what was available culturally and sexually.ConclusionThe men interviewed experienced multiple partners and had a broad sexual repertoire both abroad and at home. However, the behaviour was amplified in Berlin. The men did not alter their safer sex practice depending on if they had sex in Sweden or Berlin. The high mobility and vulnerability for HIV/sexually transmitted infection (STI) among these men highlights the need of increased access to antiretroviral treatment, pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV and low-threshold HIV/STI testing services in Europe.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

“You can smell the freedom”: a qualitative study on perceptions and experiences of sex among Swedish men who have sex with men in Berlin

Dennermalm

Persson²,

Thomsen

2019

BMJ Open

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“…Further studies in the US on MSM travellers to Key West, a popular destination for LGBTQ+ travellers in Florida, found that of the sexually active participants, 34% had new partners, and 59% had unprotected anal intercourse (UAI) [19]. Among Swedish MSM travellers, 13.5% reported UAI during their overseas travels, the majority of whom met a new partner abroad [20]. Additional studies in China involving MSM found that 5% identified as sex tourists, a third of this group identified the purchase of sex as a primary reason for travel, and another third had UAI while travelling [21].…”

Section: The Lgbtq+ Community and Travel Sex Behaviourmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While limited research exists on other categories of travellers within the LGBTQ+ community, one paper on transgender women in Bangladesh revealed that those who crossed international borders had a greater number of transactional sex partners and reduced use of condoms [22]. Across all of these studies, regular associations between travel and drug and alcohol use, transactional sex, group sex, a history of STIs and a greater number of past partners were reported [18][19][20][21][22][23].…”

Section: The Lgbtq+ Community and Travel Sex Behaviourmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Networks of MSM implicated in the transmission of STIs and HIV have been suggested in the literature. Persson et al suggested the presence of a network in Sweden with a high prevalence of STI/HIV [20], and an examination of HIV clusters in Central America found that half of the people living with HIV were MSM, with serotypes closely related to international clusters [49]. The suggestion of international MSM networks and travel playing a role in the dispersion of STI/HIV was reinforced by Takebe et al in 2014 [50].…”

Section: The Lgbtq+ Community and Travel Sex Behaviourmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sun, sea and sex: a review of the sex tourism literature

Holmes

Noone

et al. 2020

Trop Dis Travel Med Vaccines

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Background Sex tourism is defined as travel planned specifically for the purpose of sex, generally to a country where prostitution is legal. While much of the literature on sex tourism relates to the commercial sex worker industry, sex tourism also finds expression in non-transactional sexual encounters. This narrative review explores current concepts related to travel and sex, with a focus on trans-national sex tourism. Methods The PubMed database was accessed to source relevant literature, using combinations of pertinent search terms. Only articles published in the English language were selected. Reference lists of published articles were also examined for relevant articles. Results With regard to preferred destinations, South/Central America and the Caribbean were more likely to receive tourists looking for casual sex. Longer duration of travel, travelling alone or with friends, alcohol or drug use, being younger and being single were factors associated with higher levels of casual sex overseas. The majority of literature retrieved on sex workers focused on risk behaviours, sexually transmitted infections (STI), mobility of sex workers and how these factors affected their lives. Sex tourists require better access to effective methods of preventing HIV, such as pre-exposure prophylaxis, and better education on HIV prevention. Drugs and alcohol play a major role as risk factors for and cofactors in casual sexual behaviour while abroad. Conclusions Travellers need to be informed of the increased risks of STI before travel. They should be aware of the local prevalence of STIs and the risks associated with their sexual practices when they travel, including engaging with commercial sex workers, having unprotected sexual intercourse and becoming victims of sexual violence.

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“…4 One study from the United Kingdom showed that having sex abroad was associated with an increased risk of self-reported sexually transmitted disease (STD) diagnosis. 2 Moreover, increased drug use was reported among MSM traveling abroad compared with MSM staying at their home country, 5,6 and this could contribute to an increased risk for STDs or drug use-related accidents. Recently, the use of certain drugs during sex to boost sexual pleasure has increasingly been described among MSM, and this has been associated with condomless sex and STDs.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex Abroad Among Men Who Have Sex With Men and Its Association With Chemsex, Sexual Risk Behavior, and Sexually Transmitted Diseases: A Cross-Sectional Study in the Netherlands

et al. 2020

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Place and practice: Sexual risk behaviour while travelling abroad among Swedish men who have sex with men

Cited by 11 publications

References 133 publications

“You can smell the freedom”: a qualitative study on perceptions and experiences of sex among Swedish men who have sex with men in Berlin

“You can smell the freedom”: a qualitative study on perceptions and experiences of sex among Swedish men who have sex with men in Berlin

Sun, sea and sex: a review of the sex tourism literature

Sex Abroad Among Men Who Have Sex With Men and Its Association With Chemsex, Sexual Risk Behavior, and Sexually Transmitted Diseases: A Cross-Sectional Study in the Netherlands

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