New Delhi: Indian youths discover sex late but when they do, they play the field before deciding to settle down with one partner. They are also shockingly lax about using protection, a recent survey has revealed.
In the second part of the IBNLive "How Young India loves: the under-25 sex survey" we bring you the sexual habits of young Indians exploring life, love and fidelity.
Marrying Late
Indians no longer marry young, it seems. In a nation of large, intimately woven families obsessed with marrying right and at the "right age", a surprising fact turned up in the course of analyzing the results of our survey.
The majority of respondents said they were unmarried. Though the number of women was far lower then the number of men who took the survey, young Indians are marrying late and exploring their options before tying the knot.
When asked "Are you married?" 61 per cent of respondents answered in the negative, 38 per cent said "yes" and 2 per cent chose not to reveal their marital status.
Multiple Partners
Monogamy is no longer an Indian tradition beat into youngsters' psyche by cautious parents and an overbearing society.
In fact, we found out most young men and women have had multiple sexual partners before the age of 25. When we asked them "How many sexual partners have you had?" only 41 per cent said they’ve had a single sexual partner.
But 59 per cent youths said they’ve had sex with multiple partners. (Thirty-three per cent of youths have had two to three sexual partners, 17 per cent have had more than five and 9 per cent have had four to five sexual partners before 25.)
Using Protection
An alarming fact came to light in the course of the survey. Late blooming Indian youths acted irresponsibly when it came to protecting their partners against pregnancy and infection.
We asked them "Do you use protection during sex?" Only a meagre 39 per cent said "Always, without exception". A shocking 60 per cent are casual about the use of appropriate contraceptives. (Thirty-one per cent said they mostly used protection, 18 per cent used them sometimes while 11 per cent never used protection)
The data is grim even for married Indian youths. A shocking 68 per cent of married men and women said they mostly, sometimes or never use protection during sex.
It’s a miracle then that 76 per cent of people who took the survey said neither they nor their partners have ever been pregnant. A majority have also never been involved in one or more cases of medical termination of pregnancy (89 per cent said no and 11 per cent said yes)
Sexual Partners
We touched the sticky subject of fidelity and were surprised at the findings!
How loyal are Indian men and women towards their partners?
Indian youths are by and large loyal to their partners. We asked them "Do you have one or more than one sexual partner at present?" Most (78 per cent) said they had a single partner and 22 per cent had more than one.
But a shocker awaited us when we analyzed data for married men and women.
A fairly moderate section (14 per cent) of married men and women said they had more than one sexual partner at the present. Do you agree with this figure or does it reflect only a part of the reality of the Indian society today?
Age Gap
Couger isn’t the way to go for most Indian youths who feel better connected sexually to men or women two to five years older or younger than them.
When we asked them "What is the age difference between you and your current sexual partner?" 62 per cent said "Three years or less", 22 per cent "More than three but less than five years, 12 per cent “More than five but less than ten years" while only 4 per cent prefer partners who are older by 10 years or more.
Indians are loving more, making the most of their options but risking the life and health of their partners due to their negligent attitude towards safe sex. For more, wait for part III.
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