Women ‘more vulnerable’ to STIs
Women are more vulnerable to sexually transmitted infections (STIs) ‘biologically, culturally and socio-economically’ and this must be taken into account if any new sexual health strategy is to be successful, a new report has found.
The report, Women and STIs: A Gendered Analysis, from the Women’s Health Council (WHC), emphasises the importance of taking gender differences into account when considering a sexual health strategy.
“Women are at greater risk of STIs than men in a number of ways, including the risk of acquiring an infection and the severity of the health repercussions from such an infection. Moreover, women’s lower social position in society and the gender stereotypes that accompany it give them less power in sexual relationships and ensure greater stigma is attached to infection for them”, said WHC director, Geraldine Luddy.
She pointed out that culturally, women ‘have always been responsible for contraception’. She said that this places an unfair burden of responsibility on them and discourages men from engaging in sexual health promotion activities. It also further establishes men’s fear and unease at dealing with sexual health and other health matters.
However despite women’s greater vulnerability in this area, the WHC does not support targeted screening of women only. While it supports the introduction of a national chlamydia screening programme, the report claims that screening women only is not justified.
“Countries such as Sweden and the USA, where only women are screened for chlamydia, have seen a new rise in diagnosed numbers because of their failure to include men”, the WHC said.
The report meanwhile also recommends the development and restructuring of sexual health services in conjunction with the implementation of the Primary Care Strategy.
It proposes the establishment of sexual health clinics nationwide, which would deal with issues such as contraception, STIs and sexual dysfunction.
