India hailed as the top country, with a staggering 72% of participants saying they felt sexually satisfied.
Durex has unveiled its Global Sex Survey; a report that reveals the changing attitudes towards sex in India.
Every five years, the condom company conducts this survey to explore how sex lives are evolving worldwide. From contraception use to losing virginity, they highlight key issues that need to be tackled.
For their third report on this, they received responses from 33,000 participants from 42 nations. Of which includes India and its 1,006 respondents.
Split into several categories based on age, gender, sexual orientation and more, the survey provides a key depth into how India now perceives sex.
Let’s take a closer look, and how the country compares with others.
Sexual Satisfaction
One of the survey biggest findings lied in sexual satisfaction. India hailed as the top country, with a staggering 72% of participants saying they felt satisfied. In addition, 79% admitted that they had sex weekly.
In comparison, Durex found that 50% of people were happy with their sex life globally. One may this quite surprising consider how sex still is a stigma in Indian society. However, this doesn’t mean they are having the most sex. The survey reported 14% admitted they weren’t enough sex than they preferred.
Another interesting find was what Indians classified as sex. Three definitions emerged from the participants as 59% believed it means vaginal penetration. But 45% thought it meant sexual contact and a shocking 40% thought it meant kissing.
However, this could suggest a lack of sex education within India. It continues to be a big debate in the country, with many divided over whether schools should implement into their education syllabus.
Perhaps, with this mix of confusion over what sex means, the government should improve their public’s sexual knowledge.
For example, on the topic of masturbation, 39% believed it was harmful, of which 41% who felt this were women. However, 73% felt it was acceptable for a man to masturbate, while 72% thought the same for women.
Durex also recorded that a growing number of Indians are pursuing multiple partners. In fact, 28% revealed they had slept with more than one partner. This means then, despite a majority of 63% only sleeping with one person, India is slowly becoming liberal in their sexuality.
Contraception and STDs
Taking a look at contraception use, more Indians are now practising safe sex as 73% said they frequently use a condom.
In particular, the highest proportion came from the 18-24 age group (70%). Interestingly, this group also cited flavoured condoms as their most popular contraceptive. They also have the highest number of sales, meaning they still dominate the industry in the country.
But while Indians are having more safe sex, their sexual health doesn’t appear as a high priority. Durex reported that participants felt more concerned about pregnancy rather than STDs.
This highlights a major issue in that some are not fully aware of the dangers of unsafe sex. Or even the concern of catching HIV.
However, Durex found safe sex is still a huge problem globally, especially with the spread of STDs.
Over half of participants admitted to having unprotected sex at least once. Even 16% haven’t considered protecting themselves.
As a result, the company have teamed up UniLad to create a new global campaign. Entitled ‘#CondomHero’, the project aims to promote safe sex worldwide. They also plan to donate 1 million condoms to UNAIDS, an organisation that combats the spread of AIDS.
As one can see, attitudes towards sex are changing in India. However, despite a steady increase in sexual freedom, there are still some issues that need more action. Especially with the awareness of STDs/HIV and a greater understanding of sex.
Despite the efforts of Durex, perhaps this lies more down to the Indian government. With sex regarded as taboo, the country should look at how to break these misconceptions. Allowing society more awareness of safe sex and proper understanding.