What makes young people have sex?

Social Pressures Drive Young People's Sexual Choices

Young people worldwide make decisions about sex and condom use based on social pressures, according to a meta-analysis in the Lancet.

The authors analyzed nearly 250 studies of men and women aged 10 to 25 in a number of different countries. They found several international, cross-cultural trends. Briefly, young people tend to:

-- Judge a partner's disease risk using unreliable indicators such as appearance.

-- Associate condoms with mistrust and promiscuity.

-- Be rewarded for being sexually active if male but not if female. [I will reward you, my darling slut.]

-- Hold females responsible for preventing pregnancy.

"Our findings help explain why many HIV programmes have not been effective," the authors write. "Programmes that merely provide information and condoms, without addressing the crucial social factors identified are only tackling part of the problem," they add.

See why here.