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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
M. E. Khan, PhD, Bangladesh Country Office, Population Council, Asia & Near East Region, House CES (B) 21, Road 118, Gulshan, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 8802-8821227, mekhan@pcdhaka.org, John Townsend, PhD, Frontiers in Reproductive Health, Population Council, 4301 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 280, Washington, DC 20008, and Sharif Mohammed Ismail Hossain, MBBS MPH, Popualtion Council, House #CES(B) 21, Road #118, Gulshan, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
To understand men sexuality and their risk behaviour, study of men's psyche is critically important. One way to understand this is to study their concept of masculinity and how this concept influence their sexual behaviour.
The study based on both qualitative (72 in-depth interview of men) and quantitative data (sample survey of 600 men) tries to analyse the concept of masculinity in rural Bangladesh. The two data set complement each other to demonstrate that prevailing concept of masculinity in Bangladesh is imbedded in gender inequality and dual standard of sexuality for men and women. Some of the important traits of masculinity as identified by the informants include: strong physics, ability to satisfy sexual partners, having sex with many women and keeping wife in control and having forced sex with her, if she refuse to oblige.
While high social value is attached to the virginity of girls, a significant proportion of men have premarital sex, often with CSWs, cousins or sister-in-laws. In majority of such encounters they did not use condom. Post-marital sex is not uncommon and many get indulge with risk behaviour without knowing its adverse consequences. Knowledge of STD is low and the study shows high prevalence of sexual health worries/problem among men.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Male Reproductive Health, Sexual Behavior
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Population Council
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.