NEW DELHI: Women on average have more sex partners than men in 11 states and union territories in India, however, the percentage of men who had sexual intercourse with someone who was neither their spouse or lived with stood at four per cent, much higher than that of women at 0.5 per cent, according to the NFHS-5 data.
The National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-5 2019-21 which was conducted among 1.1 lakh women and 1 lakh men showed that the number of sex partners on average for women was higher than men in many states and union territories.
Rajasthan had the highest number of women who had on an average 3.1 sex partners as against the 1.8 for men.
The other states and union territories are Haryana, Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Puducherry, and Tamil Nadu.
But the percentage of men who had sexual intercourse with someone who was neither their spouse nor live-in partner, in the 12 months preceding the survey, stood at four per cent. For women, the figure stood at 0.5 per cent.
The NFHS -5 conducted during 2019-21 surveyed 707 districts of the country from 28 states and eight union territories.
However, the percentage of young people age 15-24 who have had sex before age 15 has decreased insignificantly between NFHS-4 and NFHS-5 for women (from 3 percent to 2 percent) and men (from 0.9 percent to 0.5 percent).
The data also said that urban women age 25-49 begin having sex almost two years later than rural women. The median age at first sex is 20.2 years for women in urban areas, compared with 18.5 years for women in rural areas.
In India, the median age at first sexual intercourse is 18.9 years for women age 25-49. Ten percent of women age 25-49 had sex before age 15, and 39 percent before age 18.
By age 20, 60 percent of women age 25-49 have had sexual intercourse.
The median age at first sexual intercourse for men age 25-49 in India is 24.8, six years older than women. One percent of men age 25-49 first had sexual intercourse before age 15, and 6 percent had sexual intercourse before age 18. By age 25, 52 percent of men age 25-49 have had sexual intercourse.
The median age at first intercourse increases with schooling for both women and men. Among women age 25-49, there is a gap of 5.3 years in the median age of first sex between those with no schooling (17.5 years of age) and those with 12 or more years of schooling (22.8 years of age).
The survey said that two percent of men aged 15-49 in India say that they paid for sexual intercourse in the 12 months preceding the survey. About half (51 percent) of men who reported paying for sex in the past 12 months reported using a condom during their last paid sexual intercourse
Abortion
A majority of the abortions were performed in the private health sector (53%), whereas 20 percent were performed in the public health sector. More than one-fourth (27%) of the abortions were performed by the woman herself at home. Sixteen percent of women reporting an abortion said that they had post-abortion complications, and most of them (90%) sought treatment for these complications
Almost half of the women (48%) said that the main reason for seeking an abortion was an unplanned pregnancy, followed by her health didn’t permit continuing her pregnancy.
Wife beating
Wife beating has declined by 7 percentage points from 52 percent in NFHS-4; but for men, it has increased by 2 percentage points, from 42 percent in NFHS-4.
Forty-five percent of women and 44 percent of men believe that a husband is justified in beating his wife in at least one of seven specified circumstances
For both women and men, agreement with wife beating is lower in urban than rural areas and it tends to decrease with schooling and wealth. For example, agreement declines from 53 percent among women and 51 percent among men with less than 5 years of schooling to 38 percent among women, and 39 percent among men with 12 or more years of schooling.
Agreement with wife beating is lower among Jains (24%) than among any other subgroup of men.
Woman justified in refusing sex to husband
The majority of women (80%) and men (66%) in India believe that a woman is justified in refusing sex to her husband
Eight percent of women and 10 percent of men do not agree that a wife can refuse sex
Domestic violence
Twenty-nine percent of women age 18-49 have experienced physical violence since age 15, and 6 percent have ever experienced sexual violence in their lifetime. Three percent of ever-pregnant women age 18-49 haveexperienced physical violence during any pregnancy.
Spousal violence: Thirty-two percent of ever-married women age 18-49 have experienced physical, sexual, or emotional spousal violence. The most common type of spousal violence is physical violence (28%), followed by emotional violence (14%).
Six percent of ever-married women age 18-49 have experienced spousal sexual violence.
Trends in spousal physical or sexual violence: Ever-married women’s ever experience of spousal physical or sexual violence has declined from 31 percent in NFHS-4 to 29 percent in NFHS-5
Only 14 percent of women who have experienced physical or sexual violence by anyone have sought help to stop the violence.
Women participation in decision making
Seventy-one percent of currently married women participate in making decisions about their own health care, major household purchases, and visits to their own family or relatives alone or jointly with their husband, while 11 percent do not participate in any of the three decisions. Women’s participation in decision making has increased since NFHS-4.
Forty-two percent of women and 60 percent of men own a house alone or jointly with someone, and 32 percent of women and 42 percent of men own land alone or jointly with someone.
Premarital Sex
Ninety-seven percent of never married women and 89 percent of never married men age 15-24 have never had sexual intercourse. Only 2 percent of never married women and 7 percent of never married men age 15-24 had sex in the past 12 months.