Introduction

The concept of risk has become central to policy debate on young people and sexual behaviour in at least two ways. First, one prominent view, drawn upon in recent policy developments and by Tony Blair in the extract quoted above, sees sex as potentially risky and young people as sexual risk takers. The main risks associated with sexual intercourse are sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unintended pregnancy. For teenage mothers, a further consequential risk is social exclusion for themselves and their children (SEU, 1999). Second, a currently less influential meaning characterises sex itself as a risk that young people should be taught to avoid (Family Education Trust, 2002). These two approaches are evident in debate around sexual health services for young people in the UK. Indeed, they represent opposing views on the development of such services and have different implications for policy development. They are at different stages in a continuum, which ranges from approaches based upon ‘anything goes’ to advocating abstinence.

As sexual health policy was developed in the 1980s, in response to concern about HIV/AIDS, it drew heavily on the concept of risk. There was a new urgency to analyse the extent to which sexual behaviour could be described as safe or unsafe, and formulate policy to promote the practice of safe sex (Wellings et al, 1994). Towards the end of the 1990s, as New Labour began to prioritise reducing the rate of teenage pregnancy, the focus on the risks of sex to young people was strengthened. The aim was to promote ‘health-seeking behaviour’ and develop policies that would curtail ‘risk behaviour’ (SEU, 1999; DH, 2001). It was not sex as such that was deemed ‘risky’ but rather sex in particular circumstances. Those circumstances include the age of the participants. Such considerations invariably connect sexual health policy and practice to public and political debate on sexual morality and what constitutes acceptable sexual activity.