Barebacking

Barebacking (English "riding without a saddle", literally: "bare back" = "bare back") was originally a sociolect of gay men for unprotected anal intercourse , which is now also used for unprotected sexual intercourse between men and women. Unprotected intercourse carries a significant risk of infection with sexually transmitted diseases . The decision to dispense with protective measures is generally made consciously and often with knowledge of the risk of infection; there are many reasons for this decision.

definition

The term barebacking , which was originally limited to gay intercourse , is now also used generally, i.e. also in relation to unprotected intercourse between men and women. Before the onset of HIV , unprotected sex was common. Unprotected sex between two uninfected partners within a committed relationship or marriage in which sexual fidelity has been agreed is often viewed as low-risk - however, critics of this view counter that the people involved only have control over their own sexual behavior, but not over it that of the partner and that this trust is inappropriate given the frequency of affairs. Infections in permanent partnerships by an unfaithful partner do happen.

Risks

• There is a very high risk of infecting yourself or your sexual partner with a sexually transmitted disease such as hepatitis , the HIV virus or syphilis .
• Even if both partners are HIV positive, there is not only the risk of contracting another sexually transmitted disease or sexually transmitted disease , but also the risk of reinfection with HIV or other HIV strains. This can lead to poor treatability or resistance to available drugs. The life-prolonging therapy of HIV-positive people can thus be made difficult or impossible. The level of re-infection risk is controversial as it has not yet been proven, but it cannot be ruled out.
• Because of the long diagnostic gap, infection with HIV or a sexually transmitted disease can often only be ruled out two weeks at the earliest ( reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction ) or two to three months after the last sexual contact with a potentially infected person. During this period, none of the parties involved can be certain that they have not already been infected. This means that people can unknowingly be infected with HIV or hepatitis and thus be contagious. If unprotected sex is practiced again after a test, the test is of no significance.

distribution

Since the end of 2004 in particular, some media reports and political statements have reduced barebacking to sexual behavior exclusively practiced by homosexuals. This corresponds to the origin of the term, but not to the actual sexual behavior. A report on barebacking sent on November 28, 2005 by Report Mainz described it as "gay sex without a condom"; the term was then picked up by the media and some politicians.

Research by the Robert Koch Institute has shown that bareback behavior is more common among heterosexuals than among homosexuals. Unsafe sexual behavior has increased in recent years, but "as a group, homosexual men practice safer sex much more frequently than heterosexual people." It is controversial whether the higher infection rates among homosexual men are due to a higher promiscuity , the higher rate of already infected potential sexual partners or that higher risk of infection with anal intercourse compared to vaginal intercourse.

The frequency of unprotected intercourse has increased compared to the time immediately after the onset of HIV. This development could be justified by the fact that AIDS is no longer being discussed so much in public and many trust the improved therapies. Refraining from using condoms in a relationship agreed as monogamous cannot be compared with unprotected intercourse with anonymous sex or group sex in corresponding locations such as darkrooms or swinger clubs , because the risk is significantly lower in the former. But there is also a risk in allegedly or actually monogamous relationships. For example, infection with HIV can occur if the partner was monogamous, but was infected before the relationship or was infected by other means.

A nationwide cross-sectional study KABaSTI by the Robert Koch Institute on the knowledge, attitudes and behavior of homosexual men with regard to sexually transmitted infections in Germany also included survey results from a designated bareback portal of its test subjects

• were older compared to the participants on the other websites,
• lived in relatively high numbers in urban environments and
• had the highest proportion of men who knew of their HIV-positive status or had previously been infected with other sexually transmitted diseases
• had a disproportionately high number of friends, acquaintances and steadfast partners who were also HIV-positive.

Motivational situation

The motivational situation of the barebackers was examined by various researchers and in studies; Various reasons were given for the usually conscious decision in favor of barebacking and its risks. This includes:

• A general rejection or a negative attitude towards the use of condoms.
• The idea for barebacking among people who are HIV-positive are proven, no safe sex is more necessary, or at barebacking between persons who are proven HIV-negative, was still not safe sex needed.
• The desire to learn the difference between an affectionate and responsible partnership and fast, commitment-free sex with and without a condom.
• A special closeness to and identification with the gay scene.
• A homophobia directed against yourself or others .
• The feeling of inevitability of contagion as a gay person.
• The idea that unprotected intercourse is more natural, more romantic, more exciting, more masculine and more intimate.

In addition to these reasons, the repression or denial of HIV is given, especially for younger homosexuals , and there are a number of favorable factors that lead to a decision, for example depression , abuse in childhood and the sometimes existing social aggression against homosexuals. In studies, the willingness to engage in unprotected sexual intercourse has been attributed in particular to the use of drugs.

Attitude of AIDS help in Germany

Doctors, health authorities and AIDS organizations strongly recommend safe sex during sexual intercourse. This also applies to sex within stable relationships. In this context, Aids-Hilfe particularly points out that most HIV infections are carried through flinging into "steady" relationships and speaks of the so-called "risk factor love". However, if you have changing partners, you would be much more likely to protect yourself, says the AIDS service. It is particularly fatal that HIV-positive people are most infectious in the first three months after their own infection.

Health Aspects in the Porn Industry

In recent years - prior to 2008 - there has been a tremendous increase in so-called "bareback pornography " in the gay sector of the porn film industry. While the share of such films in the heterosexual sector has always been almost 100 percent, their market share in the gay porn film industry in North America and Europe had only gradually declined and increased rapidly again from the beginning of 2008, in Europe already to 60 percent. An incident in March 2008 caused a greater stir in which four male actors in Great Britain became infected with the HIV virus during the production of the same film. One of the reasons for the high risk of infection in the production of hardcore gay porn films has been identified as the lack of effective control mechanisms to reduce the risk of infection, such as the mandatory implementation of HIV tests before each shoot. But even an HIV test immediately before the start of production is no guarantee that the actors have an HIV-negative status. The HIV test reliably only shows the HIV status from fourteen days ago.

Nowadays, gay porn actors' confessions to their HIV positive status have become a regular occurrence. As early as 2004, some of the porn films in question were assigned a role model for the spread of barebacking. However , this approach does not provide an explanation for the fact that, conversely, the previously prevalent predominance of safe sex films in the gay porn film sector could not develop a corresponding role model.

Bareback parties

There are so-called bareback parties where guests only have unprotected sexual intercourse. These events are organized privately and also take place outside the metropolitan regions. Occasionally, HIV-positive people, so-called giftgivers, and HIV-negative people who actively and consciously strive for what they consider to be an inevitable infection with HIV should also take part in such events . These are called bug chasers (virus hunters). The existence and significant spread of the latter type of party, the claim of which is essentially based on an article in Rolling Stone from 2003, is, however, contested; evidence of their existence beyond hearsay could not be provided.

However , there are also gangbang parties that do not use condoms for straight people. The parties are usually called AO sex parties (AO = all without) and from time to time a quick test is used before the gangbang, but this cannot provide any reliable information about an infection. There are many bareback portals in Germany for straight men who are looking for bareback sex (also known as bareback sex) with prostitutes. In the meantime, many erotic portals also have the function of looking for bareback sex. Several studies have confirmed that heterosexual men and women test for HIV too late. On the other hand, MSM can often be tested for HIV and sexually transmitted diseases very early after exposure to risk. In general, the willingness to test is greater under MSM, the studies have found.

Legal situation

In Austria there are laws against negligent (§ 179 ÖStGB ) and intentional (§ 178 ÖStGB) endangering people from communicable diseases. In this case, the endangerment would be classified as a publicly dangerous criminal act.

In Germany, at least the willful infection of someone else with the HI virus and other illnesses is punishable as bodily harm (§§ 223 ff. StGB).

In Switzerland, both negligent and intentional spreading of human diseases is punishable under Art. 231 of the Criminal Code.

For the legal assessment of sexual intercourse after secretly removing the condom, see: Stealthing .

literature

• Michael Shernoff: Without Condoms: Unprotected Sex, Gay Men & Barebacking , CRC Press 2006, ISBN 0-415-95024-4
• Konstantin Mascher: Homosexuality among men and the threat of AIDS In: Heide Funk, Karl Lenz: Sexualities: Discourses and patterns of action in change , Juventa 2005, ISBN 3-7799-1373-9

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ulrich Markus in a post on Box Online
2. ↑ Gay HIV epidemic worsens. (No longer available online.) Die Zeit , July 20, 2012, archived from the original on February 23, 2014 ; accessed on February 17, 2014 . 
3. ↑ rki.de Study by the Robert Koch Institute on knowledge, attitudes and behavior regarding sexually transmitted infections in homosexual men. see final report on the KAB | a | STI study (PDF)
4. ↑ List of the individual studies in Michael Shernoff: Without Condoms: Unprotected Sex, Gay Men & Barebacking , CRC Press 2006, page 71, ISBN 0-415-95024-4
5. ↑ Heide Funk, Karl Lenz: Sexualities: Discourses and Patterns of Action in Change , Juventa 2005, Chapter 5.2 “Barebacking”, pages 169–171, ISBN 3-7799-1373-9
6. ↑ Listing of these additional factors in Michael Shernoff: Without Condoms: Unprotected Sex, Gay Men & Barebacking , CRC Press 2006, pp. 71-77, ISBN 0-415-95024-4
7. ↑ Sex trends in the porn scene
8. ^ Todd G. Morrison: Eclectic Views on Gay Male Pornography: Pornucopia , Haworth Press 2004, pages 110-124, ISBN 1-56023-291-9
9. ↑ Sex for life and death - a report by the magazine »Die Zeit« from 2004
10. ↑ Axel Schock: HIV tests: many missed opportunities , on magazin.hiv, from November 22, 2013.
11. ↑ More and more late diagnoses: women underestimate HIV infection , on n-tv.de, from March 7, 2015.
12. ↑ "Adults let themselves be tested too late" , on derstandard.at, from June 5, 2007.
13. ↑ Andrew Sullivan: Sex- and death-crazed gays play viral Russian Roulette! , on salon.com, from January 24, 2003: Which study found this alarming result? The answer is: none. The entire premise for the story, as published, is based on one doctor's "estimate." […] How many actual bug chasers are interviewed? A grand total of two, one of whom - the one who provides all the most lurid quotes - is clearly disturbed and is given a pseudonym. How many HIV-positive “gift givers” are interviewed? None. So there you have it. One anonymous source; one named source; one doctor's completely unsubstantiated estimate; and lurid details from some.
14. ↑ Heide Funk, Karl Lenz: Sexualities: Discourses and Patterns of Action in Change , Juventa 2005, Chapter 5.3 “Bug Chasing”, pages 170–171, ISBN 3-7799-1373-9
15. ↑ StGB Art. 231

This article is about a health issue. It is not used for self-diagnosis and does not replace a diagnosis by a doctor. Please note the information on health issues !

Please note the information on legal issues!