Men are more concerned about their health and are keen on using protection during sexual encounters with ‘side chics’ than women do during coital pleasures with men they are neither dating nor married to.
The Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS) 2022 shows that 19 per cent of women and 35 per cent of men had sex in the last 12 months with a person who was neither their husband nor wife and neither lived with them.
But despite this being a risk factor for contracting HIV/Aids and other sexually transmitted diseases, the data shows that only 37 per cent of the women used condoms with their secret partners popularly known as ‘mpango wa kando’ compared to 68 per cent of men who did so.
“It’s like women don’t perceive themselves to be at risk of getting HIV and other sexually transmitted infections,” acting Director of Health Patrick Amol said during the release of the survey at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre on Monday.
The findings further revealed more irresponsible sexual behaviour by both genders where it found that women aged 15–49 have had an average of 2.3 sexual partners in their lifetime while their male counterparts have had an average of 7.4 sexual partners.
“Four per cent of women aged 15–49 had two or more sexual partners in the last 12 months,” the survey report showed.
It revealed that about a quarter (24 per cent) of the women used a condom during their last sexual intercourse.
In comparison, 15 per cent of men aged 15–49 have had two or more sexual partners in the last 12 months.
“Among men with two or more sexual partners, 45 per cent reported using a condom during their last sexual intercourse,” the report shows.
Surprisingly, the report showed that the number of people who had sex in the last 12 months with persons who were neither their husband or wife nor a partner they lived with increased with their level of education.
Among women, the percentage rose from seven among those with no education to 27 per cent among those with secondary and above education.
In men, the percentage rose from 20 per cent among those with no education to 43 per cent among those with secondary and above education.
The data further shows that the percentage of women aged 15–49 who had intercourse in the last 12 months with a person who was neither their husband nor lived with them increases with the wealth quintile, from 14 per cent among those in the lowest quintile to 22 per cent among those in the highest quintile.
According to the data, Murang’a County has the highest percentage (11 per cent) of women aged 15–49 who had two or more sexual partners in the last 12 months.
The counties with the lowest percentage are Mandera, Tana River and Kwale counties with less than 1 per cent each.
Narok county has the highest percentage (43 per cent) of men aged 15–49 who had two or more sexual partners in the last 12 months, while Kirinyaga, Kericho and Garissa counties have the lowest percentage with two per cent each.