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home / 世界杯决赛2022

the pandemic sex lives of canadian youth: adventurous, risky, online

“i can tell you that sex has not stopped,” says the founder of letsstopaids, even though covid has meant changes to young people's sexual landscape.

by hayley juhl

jul 31 2022
read time 3 minute read
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“the imagination that was graced upon me in terms of sex positions was truly aristotelian.”
aristotle is blushing. everyone else should shrug off their discomfort — the time for apprehension over talking about sex has passed.

the aristotelian quote and dozens of others — some honest, some pithy, some despondent — are included in a wide-ranging report on the pandemic sex lives of young adults.

the report is based on a poll of 1,018 young canadians conducted in june by hiv prevention group letsstopaids and angus reid. as the last of the covid-19 restrictions were lifted, 18-to-24-year-olds told pollsters that over the previous three months they were less likely to receive treatment for sexually transmitted infections, used fewer condoms and were worried about the pandemic’s effect on their mental health. they also said they were more likely to have sex on the first date, send nudes, were more sexually adventurous and experienced more instances of “backsliding” with exes during lockdown.

“i can tell you that sex has not stopped,” says letsstopaids founder shamin mohamed jr., even though restrictions meant people couldn’t meet at the café or movie theatre or even get a haircut so they’d feel great.
shamin mohamed jr. is the founder and president of letsstopaids, canada’s largest youth-driven charity focused on hiv prevention and knowledge exchange.
shamin mohamed jr. is the founder and president of letsstopaids, canada’s largest youth-driven charity focused on hiv prevention and knowledge exchange. courtesy of letsstopaids
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“the last group to get covid vaccines was teenagers. when there are so many discussions about mental health, you wonder how it felt when you were told, ‘you’re going to be the last group.’ so if you want to be sexually adventurous, you have to wait the longest.”
the poll found a 64-per-cent increase in online dating in the previous three months. “where else was everyone going to go?” mohamed asks. “then we heard that during lockdown youth were having sex with partners from different households — so they were getting out, clearly.” while respondents said they were 34 per cent more likely than they were pre-pandemic to have sex on the first date, mohamed notes “the power of texting and sending photos. you’ve already been building the relationship.”
yet youth who had or thought they might have an sti were less likely to seek treatment and the percentage of sexually active youth who didn’t use condoms doubled. the poll found youth were less likely to know about hiv-prevention treatments like prep and pep.

at 34, mohamed has spent nearly half his life advocating for hiv education.

“fifteen-year-old me had friends who were getting pregnant, who were getting stis, and no one wanted to talk about it,” mohamed says. his high-school principal wasn’t keen on the idea of him starting letsstopaids at his toronto school, but things started to change when local media picked up the story. mohamed caught the attention of bill clinton and bill gates, who were attending the international aids conference in toronto in 2006.
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“a little bit of activism and media attention can go a long way,” mohamed says. he’s since worked with hiv charities in southern africa, india, austria, china and elsewhere around the globe.
“let’s go back to canada,” he says. “we have our indigenous communities, where access to hiv testing is non-existent. let’s go to our inner-city communities in montreal or even toronto. think about how difficult it is to book a walk-in clinic visit. think about how invasive it can be. i know young women who said they’ve gone to their family doctor to be tested for hiv and the doctor is like, ‘why do you need to get tested for that?’”
canada can learn from southern african countries, which mohamed says are ages ahead in hiv social development and where there is greater access to hiv and sti self-testing kits.
mohamed had to self-test for covid while travelling and “they figured out a way to get those swabs. we do have the logistics and capabilities. they’re the same skills we just learned from covid. even then, there’s no point getting tested for hiv if you don’t have the tools and support.”
young people need real results and change, not pats on the back, he says.

“it’s not just an lgbtq2+ issue any more. this is women, this is young immigrants, in a country that’s so diverse. they need skills, tools, opportunities and a voice.”

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at a glance

the aids 2022 conference is in montreal july 29-aug. 2. letsstopaids has organized montreal youth force to involve young people in the city’s hiv response. aids2022.org.

find out more about letsstopaids at letsstopaids.org. read the sex lives report at bit.ly/3pk20dt.

no time to wait, nov. 20-21, is canada’s largest youth conference focusing on leadership and hiv advocacy. notimetowait.ca.

sign up for our parenting newsletter at montrealgazette.com/newsletters.

hjuhl@postmedia.com
twitter.com/hjuhl
hayley juhl, montreal gazette
hayley juhl, montreal gazette

i’m a queer mom who has been walking the various halls of the montreal gazette since 1989. i write feminist and parent-positive columns and, as a copy editor, am vigilant about inclusive language and sourcing. i believe true change starts with children and continues with lifelong learning.

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