17 p.c. rural youth have pre-marital sex: study

A major State-wide study on various issues relating to youth found that 16 per cent of men and six per cent of women had pre-marital sex, “mostly with romantic partners.”

The rates were slightly higher among those in rural (17 per cent) than urban (14 per cent) areas. They were the same among women in both areas.

What is worrying is that most of the sex contacts were unsafe, the study noted, exposing them to risk of infections and unintended pregnancy. Twenty-two per cent of sexually experienced men and seven per cent of women reported having more than one partner.

The study on ‘Youth in India: Situation and Needs’ was conducted in six States—Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.
Disturbing trend

The findings in Andhra Pradesh were released by Principal Secretaries J. Satyanaryana (Health) and A. K. Parida (Youth Services and Sports) here on Friday.

Only 17 per cent of men and two per cent of women reported consistent condom use. Another disturbing aspect was that eight per cent women reported forced sexual ties.

The study showed that youth had limited awareness of sexual and reproductive matters--how pregnancy occurs, or HIV, safe sex practices and contraception. Just over two-fifths of men and over three-fifths of women were aware that a woman could get pregnant the first time she had sex. Only 30 per cent of men and 16 per cent of women reported awareness of sexually-transmitted infections, other than HIV.
Early marriages

The study found that marriage happens very early for young women in the State—almost one-fifth were married when aged below 15 years (18 per cent) and more than half (54 per cent) before the minimum legal age.

About 23 per cent women said they had experienced physical violence in marriage, while 20 per cent men said they had physically abused their wives.

The study also revealed that youth in the State were inadequately prepared for employment in a globalised economy. Invest more in youth is the main message of the study, said Shireen Jejeebhoy from the Population Council, which conducted it in collaboration with the International Institute of Population Sciences (IIPS).