During the curfew period at the beginning of this year, young people (16-24 years old) had less sex than in the period before corona, but they did experience sexual violence more often.
At the beginning of this year, 8 percent of women and 3 percent of men experienced sexual violence. In the summer, when the curfew was over, it was 5 percent and 1 percent, according to research of knowledge center for sexuality Rutgers and STD Aids Nederland.
The difference is understandable, says director Ton Coenen of Rutgers. An important part of the sexual violence takes place with acquaintances, a date or a partner. Due to the curfew, young people had to spend the night there more often, even if they didn’t really want to, he says in the NOS Radio 1 News.
The study also looked at the effect of the corona control on sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Young people who wanted to be tested often did not do so during the period studied. “For 1 in 5, they could not go to the care where they wanted to end up, because GGDs were so busy fighting corona that some of the soapolis were open less often. This is also reflected in these figures,” says Coenen. .
Still a bit ‘summer of love’
During the curfew period, young people had less sex, just like during the entire corona pandemic. That was the least in the first period, at the beginning of 2020, when 18 percent of the singles had sex. In the summer that rose to 30 percent, during the second lockdown at the end of last year it fell to 23 percent, and during the curfew at the beginning of this year it rose slightly again, to 25 percent.
Last summer it was a bit of a summer of love, write Rutgers and SOA Aids Nederland. The number of young people who had sex (35 percent) was almost back to the same level as in the months before corona (36 percent). “Young people are going back to flirting and dating. They are just resilient,” says Coenen.
less sexting
Online flirting, sexting – sending erotic photos or videos – and the use of dating apps did not increase during the corona crisis.
Online dating therefore does not appear to be an alternative to the decreased sex life among young people, as was also shown by previous research by Rutgers and SOA Aids Nederland. “The limitation of social contacts of young people also puts their love life on hold. Young people therefore have fewer opportunities to experiment with and enjoy sex, while that is crucial at this age,” said Rutgers researcher De Graaf.
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