MANILA, Philippines, August 9, 2010 -- Although risky sexual behavior is high among professionals in general, a study showed that the levels are slightly higher among call center workers compared to those who work for different industries.

The study, conducted by the University of the Philippines (UP) Population Institute, focused on the lifestyle and reproductive health concerns of call center and non-call center workers in Metro Manila and Metro Cebu, 2 areas in the country said to have the highest number of call centers.

It revealed a higher percentage of call center employees engaged in pre-marital sex at 75% compared to non-call center workers at 66.6%.

The study also showed that more call center agents had sex before the age of 18 compared to non-call center empl.oyees (25% vs. 16%), had more than one sexual partner (25% vs. 20%), and have paid or were paid for sex (20% vs. 12.5%).

Moreover, the study said there were more males and females in call centers who engaged in casual sex than those who work for different industries (50% vs. 35% for males, 11.1% vs. 7% for females).

Despite this, the UP study showed that less male call center workers experienced unprotected sex compared to non-call center employees (30% vs. 32%).

'Don't judge us'

Most call center agents tend to party aggressively given their very late shifts, making them prone to sexually-transmitted infections such as the human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV), a group observed.

Early this year, the Association of Call Center and BPO Agents in the Philippines (ACCAP), a group that aims to address the needs of call center agents in the country, got an e-mail from "Joseph Ryan" asking for emotional and financial support as he continues to undergo treatment for HIV.

The 20-year-old former call center agent, however, stressed that he contracted HIV not solely because of his profession, but because he didn't practice safe sex.

"Ang pakiusap ko lamang po ay huwag ninyo kaming husgahan sa pagiging call center agent (All I ask of you is not to condemn us just because we're call center agents)," Joseph Ryan said in a video showed by ACCAP to ABS-CBN News last March.

The former call center agent's statement was echoed by ACCAP, who said that other jobs pose the same threat of HIV as well.

Other risks

Aside from HIV, another risk that comes with having pre-marital or casual sex is getting caught up in scandals.

Late last month, a call center agent was arrested by police authorities after uploading a sex video of himself and his ex-girlfriend on social networking site Facebook.

Edwadson Base, 26, said he posted the video on his ex-girlfriend's Facebook page "out of revenge" after learning that the latter dumped him for someone else. "I was fooled and blinded by love," he told ABS-CBN News.

Base was brought to the Manila Police District for violating Republic Act 9995 or the Anti-Photo and Video Voyeurism Act of 2009, a law that was passed following a series of sex video scandals involving Hayden Kho and some female celebrities.

The 20-year old victim, meanwhile, refused to comment about the issue, saying that she'll just let justice take its course.

Posted by Veronica Silva Cusi, news correspondent

Source: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com