Researcher Aki Gormezano wants to hear from Canadians who have had group sex in the last five years.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/UVic/Geoff Howe

University of Victoria researchers want to know how Canadians are having group sex.

The only North America research that’s been done on group sex is a 2017 study from the U.S. which found one in 10 people have participated in group sex at some point in their life, says Aki Gormezano, a postdoctoral research fellow with UVic’s school of public health and social policy. Some research has also looked at how gay, bisexual and queer men participate in group sex, he added.

“We don’t have equivalent data for Canada,” Gormezano said. “We can make guesses based on the States, but it would be great to know, first and foremost, how frequently are people participating in group sex in Canada? Is it similar to the States? Is it different, and how does that vary across provinces and territories?”

“What we know so far is mixed,” he said. “We know that it can take different forms and depending on what form it takes people use different approaches to sexually transmitted infection prevention and harm reduction. But the biggest gap is in what group sex looks like across Canada. What are the needs of this community and how can we best support health equity for this really diverse population?”

Gormezano is co-lead researcher, along with Nathan Lachowsky, a professor in the school of public health and social policy at UVic.

To answer their questions, Gormezano and Lachowsky put together the Group Sex Project, launched on Valentine’s Day, which asks Canadians about group sex: how to have it safely, what contributes to high-quality health care and what makes a group sex experience positive.

Anyone who is over 18 and who participated in group sex in the last five years is asked to fill out the online survey.

For this study, group sex is defined as “any sexual activity involving three or more people at the same time at the same event,” Gormezano said.

It’s important to keep the definition loose so the researchers can collect as wide of a data set as possible, he added.

“This will be the first Canada-wide study on group sex and we want to make sure we’re capturing all of the diversity in who’s participating and also in the ways in which they’re participating,” he said.

To set up this study the researchers worked in partnership with a community advisory board of people with experience having, attending and/or hosting group sex events in southwestern British Columbia.

“Through this local group we were able to get insights around different ways in which people participate in group sex, and I think that’s made the work that we’re doing a lot richer,” Gormezano said.

Stereotypes portray group sex as “hedonistic and entirely focused on sexual gratification,” he said.

But initial research by the project has shown that for a lot of people group sex centres community and belonging.

“People are really going to great lengths to keep themselves and their partners safe when it comes to their physical and emotional well-being, and that’s something we’re really hoping to explore further through this Canada-wide survey,” he said.

Gormezano says he hopes the study’s findings can be turned into informal tips for people who are thinking about having group sex or hosting a group sex event for the first time.

That could include tips on what contributes to a positive experience, how to have safer sex for STI prevention, how to discuss consent in a positive way and how to protect your emotional well-being, Gormezano said.

The research could also be used in public health, encouraging health-care providers to have conversations with patients about group sex and appropriate care, he said. Patients may be hesitant to initiate the conversation with their doctor because of stigma, he added.

“By focusing on what people in group sex communities are already doing, we’re really hoping that our findings are not only going to benefit people who are participating in group sex, but all sexually active adults,” Gormezano said. “My sense is there’s going to be a lot for everyone in terms of how we think about approaching consent, how we think about discussing STIs and STI prevention, based on what people in these communities are already doing.”

Gormezano says he chose to study sex because he’s always been drawn to topics and communities that are marginalized, considered taboo, or off-limits.

“I see a really big need here, where there’s a big gap in what we know about group sex communities in Canada and their well-being. I want to be part of getting more information that’s going to help improve health and health equity for this population,” he said.

Gormezano says about 300 participants have filled out the survey so far. Half the respondents are from B.C., a quarter are from Ontario and 17 per cent are from Alberta.

This likely is based on who has heard about the study so far, rather than the populations with the highest rates of group sex, he added.

He says he’s guessing that large urban centres, like Montreal, Toronto or Vancouver will have the highest rates of group sex because of population density.

“But wouldn’t it be really fun if P.E.I. turned out to be a group sex haven and we didn’t know about it until this survey?” he said.

The survey will be accepting responses until May and is available in English and French.

— This story was originally published by The Tyee

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