Two thousand people aged 16 to 50 were involved in the poll — commissioned by the Department of Health and the Department for Children, Schools and Families — which aimed to highlight the public’s confusion about safe sex, the BBC reported.
About 19 percent of participants believed a woman could not fall pregnant if she had sex during her period, and a similar amount believed the withdrawal method was an effective form of contraception, the study found.
It seems to be a miracle that teenage pregnancy rates in the UK are at their lowest level in 15 years, as the poll found over a third of respondents — 37 percent — did not discuss contraception with their partners.
Sexual health was another area with worrying figures around information and communication. One in three respondents admitted they did not talk about sexual health with their partner, and 17 percent of respondents were unaware there were sexually transmitted diseases that could not be successfully treated with antibiotics, the BBC reported.
While the Brits seem to be happy to joke and laugh about sex, with 85 percent of participants admitting sex was no longer a taboo subject, when it comes to their own sex lives the study found one in four people wished they could talk about sex and relationships more openly. Sixty-two percent of people admitted to turning any serious discussions about sex into a joke.
“In spite of our love of talking about sex and relationships, the survey suggests it’s our lack of knowledge that is causing confusion,” Dr Pam Spurr, a sex and relationships expert said.
“I’m encouraged to see that we’ve overcome a long-held aversion to talking about sex, but we’ve still got some way to go before we swap jokes and banter for the open, honest and informed conversations about sexual health and relationships that most of us would like.”
