PROJECT
Formation and Experience of Sexual Partnerships Among Youth in India
In India, there is a dearth of population-based information on young people’s sexual and reproductive health situations, the formation of their sexual partnerships, the factors underlying their ability to ensure safe sexual and reproductive health, and their autonomy to make informed decisions about engaging in romantic or sexual partnerships, notably with regard to the safety and wantedness of the relationship. In addition, few population-based studies of sexual behavior have been conducted among young females and males. This pioneering study not only sheds light at a population level on the magnitude of risky and safe behaviors but also on the factors underlying them.
The project’s overall objective was to understand better the formation of sexual partnerships among married and unmarried females and males aged 15–24. Specific objectives were to explore:
how premarital and marital sexual partnerships are formed, including the paths to becoming sexually active;
decisionmaking with regard to marriage;
contraceptive use;
access to information and services; and
the role of such factors as awareness, gender attitudes, family interaction, and access to services in fostering or hindering safe and wanted outcomes, notably with regard to whether or not the relationship was consensual, pressured, or forced and whether, in the case of sex, condoms were used.
A pre-survey qualitative phase completed in 2003 assessed terminologies and practices and enabled researchers to gain insight into partnerships among young people. The project included a survey of 8,595 young married and unmarried females and males and in-depth interviews with selected survey respondents.
Results
Analysis is ongoing. Preliminary findings confirm that even in this outwardly traditional setting, opportunities exist for the formation of premarital partnerships—frequently termed loveship relationships—and young people devise strategies and find opportunities to mix with friends and communicate with potential partners. When they occur, partnerships are initiated at an early age, with significant differences in expectations of marriage and a clear continuum of courtship experiences. Wide gender differences have been observed in the reporting of experiences along this continuum, which includes making or receiving a proposal, accepting a loveship relationship or having a boy- or girlfriend, handholding, kissing on the lips, and, finally, sexual experience.
For those who engage in sexual relations, the duration from onset of relationship to onset of sexual relations is short, and relations too often are conducted without protection, without communication, and—in a disturbing minority of young women—without consent. The findings highlight the fact that partnership formation leads inevitably to physical intimacy, but there is a window of opportunity in which to ensure that intimacy is wanted, informed, and safe. The findings also highlight the need for programs that inform youth in nonthreatening, nonjudgmental, and confidential ways and that equip them to make safe choices and negotiate wanted outcomes.
Dissemination of the project's findings has included a presentation at the XVI Population Conference of the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population that took place in Tours, France, in July 2005.
Location
Slum site in Pune City and rural areas of Pune District (Mawal taluka)
Duration
June 2003–September 2006
Population Council researchers
Non-Council collaborators
Mallika Alexander, Laila Garda, Savita Kanade (KEM Hospital Research Centre, Pune)
Bela Ganatra (Ipas India)
Donors
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
See Also
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