Evidence of HIV transmission risk in barebacking men-who-have-sex-with-men: cases from the Internet

The purpose of this ethnographic study was to conduct an exploratory research investigation examining the phenomenon of barebacking among men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM) on the Internet. The researchers selected a case sample of 100 MSM advertisers on an Internet bareback sex site to assess HIV transmission risk as related to HIV serostatus, partner selection, and sexual risk-taking. The data suggest that while intentionally seeking to transmit or contract HIV was extremely rare, a small proportion of advertisers appeared to be relatively indifferent to HIV transmission. However, the great majority of advertisers for bareback sex appeared to practice 'sero-sorting' or seroconcordant behavior by HIV status with potential sexual partners as a strategy to minimize HIV transmission risk. KEYWORDS. AIDS, anal sex, barebacking, bisexual men, gay men, HIV, homosexuality, Internet, men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM), safer sex, seroconcordant, serodiscordant, sero-sorting, STI