A recent sex survey by video content platform, Vitamin Stree, has revealed that though 46 percent of urban millennial in India learn about sex at the age of 13, a majority admitted to having had unprotected sex.
The online survey was conducted in October 2018 among 2,500 individuals, out of which 235 identified themselves as bisexual and 66 identified themselves as homosexuals.
Urban Millennials Learning about Sex Before 13
According to the survey, maximum number of millennial’s are learning about sex before the age of 13. The white paper released by Vitamin Stree states:
“Majority of our respondents said they learn about sex from their friends, since sex education is more or less absent in the Indian Education system. Porn and the internet come a close second when it comes to teaching young people about sex, with 30 percent men learning about sex via the two. Considering 99 percent of porn is a gross misrepresentation of sex, made only from and for the male gaze, it does not make for a great starting point.”
White Paper by Vitamin Stree
Sex Education Missing at Schools
The National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT) had announced in June 2018 that new books will be revised soon for the purpose of imparting sexual education at schools.
In order to raise awareness about child sexual abuse, NCERT had decided to label genitals for both the sexes. Lauding the initiative, the white paper by Vitamin Stree notes that:
“While this is a much needed and a big step forward, there has been no significant progress to explain sex as a natural process and definitely no effort to explain equally important aspects of respect, pleasure and consent.”
White Paper by Vitamin Stree
With the survey revealing that almost 50 percent urban millennials lose their virginity between the age of 14 and 18 years, the study highlights the need to educate youngsters about sex.
The survey suggests that urban millennials are forthcoming when it comes to self-pleasure techniques like masturbation. “50 percent of men and women said they figured it out themselves,” says the white paper.
Porn Viewing Habit in Urban India
After US and UK, India is the third biggest porn-watching nation and despite the ban on 857 porn sites by the government in 2015, 91 percent of urban millennials accepted that they watch porn.
“In our survey, 91 percent of men said they watch porn, with more than half saying they watched porn three to four times a week. Women are also watching, and increasingly so. 65 percent of women who took the survey said that they watch porn, and at least 34 percent of them are watching porn three to four times a month.”
White paper released by Vitamin Stree
Few Concerned About Sexual Health
In terms of adjectives, used to describe their experience after watching porn, few women did use terms like ‘violent’, ‘dirty’ and ‘disgusting’. This certainly highlights the vacuum that exists when it comes to making porn where women are not seen merely as pleasure givers.
For a country where urban millennials are becoming sexually mature at teenage, there is a sharp dip in awareness levels when it comes to sexual health.
The survey reveals, “78 percent of respondents admitted to having had unprotected sex – the cause of unwanted pregnancies, STDs, abuse of emergency contraceptives and lots of stress.”
Around 51 percent of female respondents and 63 percent male respondents said that they didn’t visit a doctor despite having a cause for concern.
As far as the reasons are concerned, 21 percent said that they didn’t go to a doctor for fear of being judged, 19 percent feared their family would find out, 17 percent found it to be too expensive to see a doctor and a majority (43 percent) said that they would rather google it as far as sexual health is concerned.