BY: SAMANTHA TAPP
Strapped for cash? In a healthy, sexual relationship? Feeling a little frisky? Coventry University, located in Coventry, England, is offering up £400 ($491 US or $644 Cdn) for young couples aged 18-25 to have sex on tape. The “tasteful” films are apart of the school’s project, Chance2Change, which aims at reducing the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and encouraging the use of condoms. Romance takes 2 and if your love life needs help seek out Individual and Couples Therapy in Hamilton, ON.
The idea is to show couples getting it on in natural settings, such as in a dorm room or in a car, in the hopes of showing young people that condoms can be sexy and don’t have to be mood killers. The National Health Service in England spends £620 million annually on treating STIs, which is just above the $16 billion annually spent on STI treatment in both Canada and the United States. Experts in England are blaming the stigma around condoms being unsexy as the reason why youths are opting to go bare.
The sex tapes are a part of a bigger initiative titled ‘Wrapped.’ The sex tapes will be available through Wrapped to those over 18 who order a chlamydia self testing kit. Along with the test and the tapes, users can also get a free variety 12 pack of condoms, a headphones case with a secret condom pocket, and access to instructional videos on how to use condoms in a way that increases sexual pleasure.
According to the leader of the project, Dr. Katie Newby, the ultimate goal is to change the way young people think about condoms. “We believe that someone who is seeking STI testing is likely to be particularly receptive to the messages around condom use, and we hope to convince them that condoms needn’t be awkward, embarrassing or an obstacle to enjoyable sex,” Newby said.