A cross-sectional study to assess the pre-marital sexual practices among Panjab University students, Chandigarh, India

BACKGROUND: In India, premarital partnerships whether involving sex or not are widely unacceptable. Various studies in India have reported heightened premarital sexual activities among youngsters. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to assess the involvement of youth in premarital sexual practices studying at Panjab University. METHODS: The cross-sectional study was conducted at Panjab University situated in Chandigarh, India between February and August 2020. Purposive sampling was used to recruit students. Data was collected using a pre-tested, semi-structured, self-administered questionnaire. The nature of the data was quantitative and was analyzed through SPSS version 20. RESULTS: A total of 211 (female/male: 51.7%/48.3%, mean age: 22.5 years) respondents were enrolled. Prevalence of premarital sex was 68.7% with an average age of sexual debut 18.5 years. 62.1% of respondents were practicing unprotected sex. 91% of respondents were involved in vaginal sex, 61.4% in oral sex, 29% in online sex, and 19.3% in anal sex. 66.8% of respondents were involved in the habit of masturbation. In students having a positive premarital sexual background, 78.2% of respondents had sexting, 38.8% had friends with benefits, 33.9% had one-night stands, 4.8% had a threesome and 2.3% had gay sex. Out of all the respondents involved in premarital sexual practices, 86.9% were satisfied with sexual life. CONCLUSION: There is a need to empower the younger population involved in risky sexual behavior by accelerating their sexual and reproductive rights education to propagate safe sexual behavior in premarital sexual practices.