Reply #5 Chinatoon's post
I think your conclusion reflects a certain misinterpretation of statistics. If condoms are 99% effective (in reality the effectiveness is much higher than that), this means if you fuck a man with STD with condoms (correctly used), you will be infected once after every 100 intercourses. Your point that she has an 1 in 100 chance of getting infected is wrong, because not all her clients have STD. In reality, the chance of infection is much much lower.
It's, however, almost never possible to estimate the effectiveness of condoms because researchers can never ascertain that the condoms were always correctly used by the subjects. But we have some pretty strong data in the past 25 years. In a classical study, heterosexual couples in which one of the partners is HIV positive (the one partner is not) were monitored for two years. Condoms were used in all their intercourses. In the end of the studying period, none of the uninfected partners was HIV positive.
If you want to know more about this discussion, a brilliant book called The Wisdom of Whores is recommended. The incidence of HIV amongst prostitutes in many countries is actually lower than amongst women who are not professional sex workers. That's because sex workers know the risk and they insist of using condoms, while other women do not.
This leads back to the original question. A real professional sex worker ALWAYS uses protection in sex. If a sex worker suggests to go unprotected with you, because you are a special friend, without leaving this profession, this is an indication that she is not being professional. This puts her in the highest risk group in the community. The fact is, you may only be one of the many "special ones" in her life at this moment. | |
