How STIs reached record levels in ‘sexually-liberal’ Britain

Today, though, cases of gonorrhoea are now at their highest level since records began in 1918, standing at more than 82,500 cases in 2022. The annual number of cases of syphilis, a disease once thought consigned to history, have meanwhile doubled over the past decade and last year reached 8,700.

Neither disease is pleasant. Gonorrhoea symptoms include discharge from the vagina or penis and bleeding between periods for women. Around one in 10 people do not have symptoms, enabling it to spread, and, if left untreated, the infection can lead to infertility. 

Syphilis is more complex. Initially patients may find a small sore on their penis, vagina or anus. Without treatment, this can lead to the development of rashes. Serious complications, such as neurological damage and heart complaints, can emerge even decades later. 

So how is it that both infections have bounced back from relative obscurity in the UK?

Broader tastes with more partners

The “broadening of sexual repertoires” over the past 30 years, as seen in the National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal), is certainly one explanation.

The survey – which has collected data on the bedroom activities of the nation every 10 years since the late 1980s – shows that the UK population has become liberal and accepting of non-monogamous relationships. Homosexuality has also been normalised, it shows.

Crucially, the number of partners people say they have had over their lifetime has also increased, according to the survey. 

In 1990-91, women aged 16-44 reported an average of 3.7 opposite sex partners, rising to 7.7 two decades later. For men, the picture is slightly different – they had an average of 8.6 opposite sex partners in 1990, then 12.6 in 2000 before dropping to 11.7 in 2010. 

“Between 2000 and 2010 we saw big changes for young people – particularly young women – in the types of behaviour they were engaging in,” says Soazig Clifton, academic director of Natsal. “Young women were reporting more partners, more same sex partners and more anal sex.”

Since 2010, digital technology in the form of dating apps and sexting has had a huge impact on people’s sex lives – and the next survey will encompass this for the first time, says Ms Clifton. 

“We hardly touched on this in the previous surveys and this is a big area since 2010. So that includes things like pornography. It also includes meeting partners online via apps or websites, as well as sexting,” she adds.