Pre-marital sex higher among youth in villages than city counterparts

Forget sex in the city, the villages are where all the action is. A study has found that more youth in rural areas of the state indulge in pre-marital sex than their urban counterparts, thanks largely to the fact that they face none of the space and privacy problems young couples in cities are constantly grappling with.

Findings of the 'Youth in India- Situation and Needs' study, which were made public on Thursday, showed that the chances of young men in rural areas indulging in pre-marital sex is three times higher than young men in urban areas.

The study indicates that one in five young men in rural areas as compared to one in nine in urban areas had indulged in pre-marital sex.

For women, 4% in rural areas had sex before marriage as compared to 2% in urban areas.

Cutting across the urban-rural divide, the study found that 16% of young men and 3% of young women reported being physically intimate with their partners.

"It can safely be concluded that pre-marital sex is not an elite phenomenon any more," said Usha Ram, director, International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, which jointly carried out the study with the Population Council, New Delhi, in 2006-07.

"It was surprising to note that more rural men were indulging in pre-marital sex despite having little awareness," said Shireen Jejeebhoy, associate professor, Population Council.

Sumitra Deb Roy/ DNA-Daily News & Analysis Source: 3D Syndication