BHUBANESWAR: Odisha is among the top-six states where the number of average sex partners for men is more than that of women. The recently released National Family Health Survey (NFHS 5) revealed men had 2.6 sex partners in a lifetime against 1.3 in the case of women in the State.
The percentage of men who had sexual intercourse with someone who was neither their spouse nor lived with them was much higher than women. While 1.1 pc men had a sexual relationship with a person who was neither wife nor lived with them, 0.2 pc women were involved in the act with a person other than their husband.
The higher mean number of sexual partners in a lifetime for men in the State has put behind the alike in states and metros like Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Delhi, Chandigarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Assam and Manipur. Other states, which had higher mean numbers than Odisha, included Meghalaya (9.6), Sikkim (7.1) Uttarakhand (4.7), Arunachal Pradesh (3.5) and Uttar Pradesh (3).
The findings came to the fore during the survey predominantly conducted to measure the pervasiveness of higher-risk sexual intercourse and condom usage during such sex as low condom usage could generally put people at greater risk of HIV/AIDS.
As per NFHS-5 conducted during 2019-21, the median age at first sexual intercourse for men aged 25-49 in the country is 24.8, six years older than women. One pc of men aged 25-49 first had sexual intercourse before the age of 15 and six pc had sexual intercourse before the age of 18.
The survey conducted by International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) found that 26.9 pc women and 24.3 pc men, who had two or more partners, had used condoms while having sex with their partners in the past 12 months. Only 2.7 pc women, who had intercourse with a person, who was neither their husband, had used of condom during the last sexual act against 39.3 pc men.
Since being able to negotiate safe sex is critical for the prevention of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections, both women and men aged 15-49 were asked if a wife is justified in refusing to have sexual intercourse with her husband.
The national health survey indicated that 80.3 per cent of men and 88.5 per cent of women believed the wife was justified in refusing sex if he has a sexually transmitted disease. Similarly, 86.7 pc men agreed that the wife was justified in asking her husband that they use a condom when they have sex.
Assistant Professor of IIPS Manas Ranjan Pradhan said the survey was conducted among the reproductive age population and it should not be generalised. “Men often exaggerate during such survey on a sexual act to show their masculinity and over-report while women under-report such things to avoid stigma,” he added.