Across the survey period profound changes in a range of sexual health behaviours are observed. In terms of HIV testing, in 1996, 28.4% of men reported having had a test in the previous year, by 2011 this had risen to 57.1%. In terms of basic measures of HIV risk related behaviour, levels of unprotected anal intercourse (UAI) have also changed dramatically, from 8.3 % in 1996 reporting UAI with more than two partners, to 15.5% in 2010. The analysis of qualitative data illustrates the complexity and centrality of sexual identity and sexual cultures in shaping sexual conduct.
HIV-related risk behaviours have changed dramatically over the last 15 years in Scotland and elsewhere. We explore potential explanatory frameworks to contextualise these changes, namely increasingly sophisticated means of managing HIV risk amongst some populations of gay men, the impact of ART and the use of medical technologies in managing HIV risks and the rise of new sexual identities and sub-cultures within gay men’s sexual cultures.
