A youth event to highlight World AIDS Day which was labelled sleazy and immoral on its launch last year is returning to Christchurch next Sunday in Bromley Park. The second-annual Sex In The Park event stages live bands and other entertainment, ranging from the flippant (arm wrestling with water-based lube) to the serious (sexual health “warrants of fitness” which involves a written questionnaire). Canterbury District Health Board Community and Public Health nurse, Chris Woods, said the event had a serious message, because many young people were starting sexual activity at a younger age, and high sexually transmitted infection rates showed that condoms were not being used. Answers given in the “warrant of fitness” questionnaire last year showed that many teenagers did not know enough about sexually transmitted infections. 18 new cases of HIV were reported in the South Island last year, an increase of over 200% on the number of cases reported over each of the previous six years.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Sunday, 23rd November 2003 - 12:00pm