Dating dangerously: Nearly half of women over 50 never use protection against STIs

How New Zealanders form relationships had changed and it was clear that technology had a key part in this change. Photo / 123rf

A new online dating survey shows nearly half of straight women over the age of 50 say they never use protection against sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

The Aotearoa Online Sex and Dating Survey - which involved 823 people - was conducted to look into how and why New Zealanders were using dating apps.

One finding revealed 42 per cent of women over 50 say they never use protection against STIs. That's compared to 16 per cent under 30.

GP Emily Cavana said this was a "massive concern" when you think about all the infections they could get and over 50s being less likely to be immunised against cervical cancer because it's not funded for that age group.

"Condoms are the primary barrier against infections, some of which are silent such as chlamydia and gonorrhoea which can do significant damage to your pelvis.

"There has also been an increase of syphilis and you go 'that died out with the sailors' but unfortunately it didn't," she said.

Cavana said syphilis could also be difficult to detect as people often don't think to get a blood test as well as swabs for STI checks.

"And syphilis untreated can cause neurological degeneration, cardiac problems and death as can HIV."

Cavana - who currently works at a youth health clinic in Hutt Valley - said it was likely older women felt they didn't need to use protection because they were no longer fertile or had just come out of a long-term relationship and didn't have that "socialised norm" of using condoms.

"If they had been with a partner for 15, 20 or 30 years then possibly they hadn't been having a lot of sex and certainly not using condoms."

Tania Domett, research director of Project Gender which conducted the survey, said the results signalled older people needed to be reminded about STI protection.

She said how New Zealanders form relationships had changed and it was clear that technology had a key part in this change.

"Online dating has really taken off in the last decade, with more and more New Zealanders using apps like Tinder, Bumble and Grindr to meet new people.

"No longer a source of embarrassment or shame, couples are now proudly declaring that they met on Tinder, and singles everywhere are using the apps to get laid, find a 'friend with benefits' or even just to make new friends," Domett said.

However, those reasons Kiwis' used dating apps tended to vary significantly between genders.

While 72 per cent of men reported they were looking for causal sexual relationships, i.e "no strings attached" or "friends with benefits", only 46 of women surveyed were looking for the same.

The survey also showed younger age groups were more likely to feel pressured into doing something sexual that they weren't comfortable with. Only 64 per cent of those under 30 were able to say they never felt pressured, compared to 80 per cent of those over 50.

Younger age groups, under 30, were also twice as likely than those over 30 to have been choked or suffocated during sex (43 per cent vs 22 per cent), with only half (53 per cent) always giving consent for this to happen across all age groups.

"These results show us that these young women perhaps don't have the agency over their sexual experiences that us older feminists hoped they would have," Domett said.