Risky fantasies: 'bug chasing'

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What is “bug chasing” and why is it considered a sexual fantasy?

Darrell O'Donnell 0:00

What we have to distinguish though is there's the things that people talk about and there's the online world where people might play out some uh some of these kinds of fantasies and uh and then there's the real world. And in the real world, sex has got to be based on trust and it's gotta be based on uh consent, uh and mutuality in terms of the sorts of choices and the sorts of decisions we make uh that keep ourselves and others safe.

Unknown 0:26

The гука Love and

Sarah McVee 0:35

honey on.

Unknown 0:37

On Triple J.

Sarah McVee 0:40

Warning Sex and Adult Thames. Hey Sarah McVee with you for the Hookup. In this podcast, we'll find out about bug chasing. It's slang for trying to get HIV on purpose. And if you're thinking, what did I just hear? Well, yeah, it is pretty shocking. And this episode comes with a big content warning. And you should know it does discuss sexual assault. You'll hear from a HIV positive man who says he gets It up by HIV negative men on hookup apps asking to be infected. And you'll hear from HIV researchers and experts who say while it might be a fantasy, there's no evidence people are actually going through with it.

How does Will’s personal experience illustrate the dangers of non‑consensual HIV transmission?

Sarah McVee 1:23

First though, a young guy who we'll call Will is describing being sexually assaulted by someone with a fetish for giving people HIV.

Unknown 1:33

He started to tell me that he was coming inside of me. And the way that he said it made me feel a little bit weird. So I reaffirmed with him, you're wearing a condom, aren't you? Because I saw him put the condom on and he'd tell me no, he'd taken it off.

Sarah McVee 1:48

You might remember Will's story from Hack a few weeks ago. A guy he was having sex with took the condom off without his consent. And what he did next scared the shit out of him.

Unknown 1:58

He decided to say to me that he was HIV positive and that he wanted to infect me.

Sarah McVee 2:04

Keep in mind that before they'd had sex, Will had said condoms were non-negotiable and they'd told each other they were HIV negative. But then the guy said this

Unknown 2:13

I'm here to infect you. Why do you think that I was so rough with you before with my fingers? I want your blood mixed in with my sperm.

Dean Beck 2:24

Bug chasing is the fetishizing the transference of HIV.

Sarah McVee 2:30

Dean Beck is a journalist at Joy FM. It's an LGBT radio station in Melbourne.

What do HIV‑positive journalists like Dean Beck hear from people seeking infection?

Sarah McVee 2:36

He says fantasizing about giving or receiving HIV is pretty rare, but it does happen.

Dean Beck 2:42

gift giving theoretically is someone who is HIV positive giving the gift of HIV to somebody else. I Don't uh like that terminology because it's hardly a gift.

Sarah McVee 2:53

Dean's HIV positive and because he says so on his profiles on hookup apps, he gets messages about it. Like what would some of the messages that you've received be?

Dean Beck 3:02

Uh they'd say things like, I want your pos load, pos me up. You know, I even had one person say to me uh on one of those sites, Would I be prepared to stop taking treatment? so that I would become infectious and be able to pass it on. And I said No. I mean firstly not only would I be putting my own health at risk, I'd be putting other people's health at risk. And uh I just didn't get it.

Sarah McVee 3:29

Dean's on medication which keeps him healthy. It's the game changer that has stopped HIV from being a death sentence. But as a man who was young when people were still dying of AIDS, he gets pissed off when people send him those kinds of messages.

How do Australian HIV organisations explain the reality versus the hype around “sex roulette” parties?

Dean Beck 3:44

Um, I usually say, Listen, mate, you need to pull your head in and have a look bloody good look at yourself. It's no bed of roses and I move on.

Sarah McVee 3:52

A quick Google search shows that over the years there have been some pretty shocking stories written about bug chasing, about sex roulette parties where one guy is secretly HIV positive. According to a spokesperson for ACON, which is a HIV prevention organization in New South Wales, these stories are usually hyped up but low on proof.

Unknown 4:14

The work of ACON as a leading HIV and sexual health promotion organization is embedded within the gay community and we have never encountered the practice of sex roulette parties happening here in New South Wales or indeed Australia. Overwhelmingly, gay men, both positive and negative, take the necessary steps to protect themselves and their partners from HIV transmission.