Dr. Mallika Mitra Biswas, PhD¹, Dr. Sona Sethi¹, and Kakali Bhattacharya². (1) Planned Parenthood Federation of America-International, C-120, Sector E, Aliganj, Lucknow, India, 91-522-2327258, mallikamitra.biswas@ppfa.org, (2) Adolescent Resource Center, Child In Need Institute, 23/44 Golpark, Gariahat Road, Kolkata, India

A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted in 2003 among 2,533 young people in West Bengal to ascertain levels and patterns of knowledge, attitude, and practice among married and unmarried youths (15-24 years). The findings indicate misperceptions about sexual and reproductive health (SRH) matters among male and female respondents; 45% of the respondents mentioned that menses makes a woman unclean and 42% that masturbation is harmful for health. There is a significant gender difference in attitudes towards sexual issues: about 10% females feel confident that they could insist on condom usage at every sexual act compared to 30% males. There is also a significant gender difference (p<0.000) in reported sexual intentions with 75% females preferring to wait until marriage to have sex compared to 40% males. Among unmarried young people having girl/ boyfriend at the time of survey, 10% males reported to be sexually active compared to less than 2% females. More males describe current sexual relationship as casual than females. Three percent of the married female respondents reported having two or more abortions and 11% experienced abortion complications. About 25% of sexually active young people reported use of contraceptive methods and 12% reported condom use at last sex.

Learning Objectives: