One in 10 British men have paid for sex, with men in their late 20s and early 30s most likely to have seen a sex worker in recent years.
The paper, published in ‘Sexually Transmitted Infections’, analysed data from 15,162 Britons who had taken part in the third National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles.
Of the 6,108 men surveyed, 3.6 per cent had paid for sex in the past five years and 1.1 per cent in the past year.
Men in their late 20s and early 30s were most likely to have paid for sex in recent years. They were generally single, in managerial or professional occupations, and had a high number of sexual partners.
“The picture that emerges does not necessarily fit the stereotype of the lonely older man,” said lead researcher of the study Dr Cath Mercer.
“In fact, men who pay for sex are more likely to be young professionals with many unpaid sexual partners. Many report other hedonistic and risky behaviours including heavy drinking and drug taking.”
"Men who pay for sex are evidently at high risk of infection, but this does not necessarily mean STIs are spread through their paid sex."
The British study also found that those who paid for sex in the past five years were twice as likely to be diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection. They also tend to pay for sex while overseas in sex tourism hotspots such as Bangkok or Amsterdam.
“Paying for sex may seem more permissible abroad, at a place removed from the day-to-day lives of most men,” Dr Mercer added.
She said that men who pay for sex are evidently at high risk of infection, but this did not necessarily mean STIs were spread through paid sex.
“Instead, we found that these men report engaging in other risky sexual behaviours, such as having concurrent – or overlapping – partners, and so should be considered a core-group for sexual health interventions and services.
“Paid sex can also be more readily available in certain areas. So if men mention to their health professional that they will be travelling to destinations known for sex tourism - and especially those where the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections and HIV is high - then it would be opportunistic to have a conversation about safe sex.”
One in six Aussie men have paid for sex
The figures are similar to those in Australia. As part of the Second Australian Study of Health and Relationships, researchers found that one in six Australian men - or nearly 17 per cent - have paid for sex. (However, only 0.3 per cent of women surveyed said they have paid for sex).
Of those who had paid for sex in the past year (around two per cent, or one in 50 men), those aged between 25 and 34 were most likely to have seen a sex worker (three per cent).
The survey had a representative sample of 20,094 Australians.
Interestingly, paying for sex seems to lower the risk of STIs in Australian men.
"In our clinic-based studies, paying for sex workers has been found to lower the risk of current STIs," Professor Basil Donovan, head of The Kirby Institute's Sexual Health Program at the University of NSW, told SBS.
"This is a little surprising as the clients of sex workers are generally more sexually adventurous so you would expect STIs to be higher. Perhaps their interaction with Australia’s largest group of safe sex educators - sex workers - is protecting them."
