Study on men over 60 who pay for sex

[RobinX]

A study in this month's American Journal of Men's Health surveyed American men between the ages of 60 and 84 who pay for sex (http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-01/s-mo6010416.php)

The study found that men over 60 who pay for sex are predominately white, University-educated, married, have upper-middle income levels, and have 5-10 sex partners during a year.

More importantly, the study found that, among men over 60 who pay for sex, the older they were, the more frequently they paid for sex and the more likely they were to have experienced unprotected sexual intercourse multiple times with a sexworker.

The authors of the study warned that:

There is a nearly universal perception that older men do not pay for, or even engage sexually with regular frequency. This view may contribute to a false sense of security for both clients and sex workers during their encounters, and may lead to less protective strategies than with younger purchasers of sex. In addition, the exchange of emotional intimacy during the so-called 'Girlfriend Experience' as well as the possibility of being viewed as an elderly low-risk client who engages with only one or a very limited number of providers may contribute to a relaxation of boundaries and a false sense of security in avoiding STIs.

Medical and mental health clinicians should not assume that old age is a barrier to paying for sex, particularly among the generations that began engaging in sexual activity prior to the epidemic emergence of the HIV virus.

To reduce the incidence of STIs among sexually active older men, health care providers should ask their older male patients about their sexual partners and discuss protective strategies for avoiding STIs.

 

[gugu]

At the end of the day, it was a useless study by a couple of doctor/scientist chicks that have a prudish view of sex...

Martin Monto is not a chick, he is IMHO the world leading researcher on clients of prostitution (with our own Canadian Chris Atchison). He has published extensively on the subject in the last 20-25 years. He has deconstructed just about all the myths regarding the johns, including his famous rebuttal of the rape myth hypothesis. To my knowledge he is not prudish at all, at least in his writings. Milrod is a female psychologist and sex therapist who has done research with him in the past. She shares most of his views. I agree this study is of limited interest. It's mainly due to the fact that most of scientific funds available for research in prostitution come from the health sector. You point out good points however. Maybe there are answers in the article that I did not read.

 

[AmberRose]

Truthfully I'm not surprised by these findings at all, and it makes a lot of sense actually.

Sex education has been pretty bad for a long time, but it was almost completely useless for those coming from a much older generation.
Also, it's definitely not only low-priced providers offering unprotected sex, I've heard of a fair few higher end ones also offering it. Not only that, but even the providers priced in the middle, usually they're offering unprotected sex at a really high extra charge, so it's not likely the poor guys could even afford it.

There is a nearly universal perception that older men do not pay for, or even engage sexually with regular frequency. This view may contribute to a false sense of security for both clients and sex workers during their encounters, and may lead to less protective strategies than with younger purchasers of sex. In addition, the exchange of emotional intimacy during the so-called 'Girlfriend Experience' as well as the possibility of being viewed as an elderly low-risk client who engages with only one or a very limited number of providers may contribute to a relaxation of boundaries and a false sense of security in avoiding STIs.

This is what makes the most sense(though I mean logically it doesn't, but when we're talking young providers frame of mind). Many of the younger, less-educated-about-sexual-health providers may see this as a justification for taking an older man's offer for unprotected sex.

Then again, who really knows..