A WHO study warns of a decline in condom use among young people in Europe. In Lyon, while no teenager we met admitted to having risky sex, condoms do not seem to be systematic for all their friends.
:quality(50)/2023/07/07/64a7df4c5fe71_placeholder-36b69ec8.png)
Published
Reading time: 2 min
:quality(50)/2024/08/29/maxnewsfrfour075615-66d0b322f1051249382716.jpg)
WHO is concerned about the decline in condom use among adolescents. According to a study that looked at the situation in 42 countries in Europe and Asia, in 2022, 61% of boys reported using a condom during their last sexual intercourse, compared to 70% in 2014. Among adolescent girls, over the same period, the proportion fell from 63 to 57%.
In Lyon, for some adolescents interviewed by franceinfo, the condom is non-negotiable, especially “When you start a relationship, it’s important.” None of them admit to having risky sex, but many of them have friends who are. This is the case for Pierre, 18. Some of his friends get involved without any protection.
“No pills, no condoms, no tests, no nothing. They went in blind and did everything. I wouldn’t have taken the risk personally.” But that doesn’t surprise him.“It seems normal, when we talk about it with friends, to do it without. I will try to talk about it with the person to tell them that there are still risks.”
And he’s not alone. Jules, 17, also has friends who don’t use condoms. “My cousin, he’s lazy. If he doesn’t have any, he doesn’t have any, and that’s okay.”
Young people having unprotected sex is not surprising to Louise Kinga pharmacist in Lyon. She then finds these young people, who have engaged in risky behavior, in her pharmacy. “We have morning-after pills. For STDs, I’ve rarely seen prescriptions for that in teenagers.”
“I think that there are still a lot of young people who are not sufficiently aware of the issue of STDs, of the risk of a potential pregnancy.”
Louise Rey, pharmacist in Lyonto franceinfo
According to the World Health Organization, girls have more sex without a condom than boys. They are 27% compared to 23% for their male peers. “Girls have a harder time taking on the responsibility of having condoms in their bags, even more than boys, Nathalie laments Boulesteix, school nurse. They may also sometimes be afraid of being called easy girls. It’s a very masculine and very gendered object.”
For her, there needs to be even more awareness and families need to contribute more to sex education.