"Many Women Have Multiple Sexual Partners, Surveys Show"

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1992. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

"Many Women Have Multiple Sexual Partners, Surveys Show"

United Press International (12/10/92)

Abstract: New York--The majority of women in the United States have had more than one sex partner in their lives, and several neglect to use condoms as a form of protection from HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, researchers reported Wednesday in Family Planning Perspectives. Researchers from the Alan Guttmacher Institute examined two large national surveys and discovered that a substantial percentage of American women have multiple sex partners. The authors, Kathryn Kost and Jacqueline Darroch Forrest, reported, "The available data again provide proof that behavior many people would prefer not to acknowledge--sex outside of marriage and multiple sexual relationships, either over time or concurrently--is not limited to a few men and women or to certain groups in the United States." They said the findings suggest that a large proportion of Americans continue to be at risk for sexually transmitted diseases. The researchers analyzed data collected through the 1988 National Survey of Family Growth and the 1988 and 1989 General Social Surveys and found that 67 percent of all women aged 15-44 who have ever had sex have had more than one partner. The research showed that 41 percent had had four or more partners, 23 percent had six or more partners, and 8 percent had more than 10 partners. The study also revealed that women in all age groups and racial or ethnic groups seem equally likely to have multiple partners while unmarried. Moreover, 20 percent of currently sexually active women reported using condoms, but one in five condom users had not used one during their last intercourse.

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