Sexual behaviour in context: a global perspective'

Research aimed at investigating sexual behaviour and assessinginterventions to improve sexual health has increased in recent decades.The resulting data, despite regional diff erences in quantity andquality, provide a historically unique opportunity to describe patternsof sexual behaviour and their implications for attempts to protectsexual health at the beginning of the 21st century. In this paper wepresent original analyses of sexual behaviour data from 59 countries forwhich they were available. The data show substantial diversity in sexualbehaviour by region and sex. No universal trend towards earlier sexualintercourse has occurred, but the shift towards later marriage in mostcountries has led to an increase in premarital sex, the prevalence ofwhich is generally higher in developed countries than in developingcountries, and is higher in men than in women. Monogamy is the dominantpattern everywhere, but having had two or more sexual partners in thepast year is more common in men than in women, and reported rates arehigher in industrialised than in non-industrialised countries. Condomuse has increased in prevalence almost everywhere, but rates remain lowin many developing countries.(The Lancet, 2006)