Women in India are not too far behind men when it comes to have multiple sexual partners in their lifetime. This was revealed by the data in the latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS). In fact, women in several parts of the country have had more sexual partners than men in their lifetime, the survey data showed.
The survey, which included around 1.1 lakh women and 1 lakh men, showed that urban women on average have 1.5 sexual partners in their lifetime, as compared to men who have 1.7. The number goes higher for both genders in rural areas, as the figure stood at 1.8 for women and 2.3 for men on average.
The number of sexual partners on average for women remained higher than men in many states and union territories, including Rajasthan, Haryana, Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Puducherry and Tamil Nadu.
Rajasthan topped the list with women on average having 3.1 sexual partners as against the 1.8 for men.
However, the percentage of men who had sexual intercourse with someone who was neither their spouse or lived with, in the 12 months preceding the survey, stood at 4 per cent—much higher than that of women, who at 0.5 per cent were, it looked like, more monogamous than men.
The survey was conducted to assess the risk of HIV-AIDS among people having multiple sexual partners.