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Friday, Oct 13, 2006
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Study on unwanted sex within marriage

Special Correspondent

`Marriage does not inherently make sex safe, voluntary or pleasurable'

NEW DELHI: The prevalence of unwanted sex among married young women in India is substantial and it is often distinct from forced sex. The context in which it takes place and as well asits degree varies significantly.

According to a study "Consent and coercion: examining unwanted sex within marriage," carried out by the Population Council and the International Institute for Population Sciences, as a matter of right and health, it is imperative that sexual and reproductive health programmes address the issue of sexual coercion. It also underscores the need for further research to assess the effects of unwanted sex in marriage on sexual and reproductive health, and stresses how programmes could best prevent and address sexual coercion within marriage.

The study, presented at a two-day conference of the Population Council which began here on Thursday, suggests that sexual activity among adolescent girls and young women takes place overwhelmingly within the context of marriage — as many as 25 per cent of girls aged between 15 and 19 are already married, presumably sexually active, and under pressure to bear the first child, while fewer than 10 per cent of unmarried girls are reported to be sexually experienced. Although sexual activity occurs within the socially sanctioned institution of marriage, marriage does not inherently make sex safe, voluntary or pleasurable.

A recent review of studies in India suggests that large proportions of marriages initiated in adolescence are consummated with force and without the consent of the young bride, the study points out.

The study was conducted in two rural settings — the Vadodara block in Gujarat and the Diamond Harbour block in West Bengal. The findings indicate that a substantial proportion of young women in both places experienced sex that was unwanted and against their will.

Such unwanted sex may occur more or less frequently and vary qualitatively. Nine per cent of women in Gujarat and 14 per cent in West Bengal experienced unwanted sex `routinely.' Another 18 per cent in Gujarat and 44 per cent in West Bengal experienced unwanted sex occasionally.

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