Exploring Young People Perspective on Premarital Sex in India

Abstract

Premarital sex is one of social phenomena that involve many social concerns in both developing and developed countries. Evidence from various research studies indicate that despite socio-cultural taboos, youth in India do engage in pre-marital sex. Therefore, the paper aims to explore youth perspective about premarital sex and other sexuality related issues. The study has elicited interesting results in terms of how sex has been interpreted differently by both males and females and different justifications for accepting or not accepting it. The study shows that acceptance of premarital sex is still fairly low among females and somewhat higher among males. Many females expressed their agreement on to engage in a pre-marital sex with the expectations of marriage while, for males, it is more associated with satisfying sexual needs, showing off, status symbol, dating, and physical intimacy etc.