What Leads to Premarital Sex among Young Males in Pakistan

Abstract

Sex is a basic human need. However, sex before and outside of marriage is considered a major sin in Islam and is socially, culturally and lawfully disdained in Pakistan. Human Rights Watch (2016) has reported 1096 honor killings for year 2015 alone based on these matters. Despite such alarming realities, incidents of premarital sex taking place seem to be on rise. To understand why young males engage in consensual premarital sex, qualitative research design was used. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were carried out till the point of saturation from N=8 male participants through snowball sampling. Inclusion criteria for a participant was being a heterosexual male aged between 18-35 years (Petry, 2002) having a consensual premarital penile-vaginal sexual experience. An exclusion criterion was being married, being bisexual or homosexual, or having only experienced oral or anal sex or sex against the will of a partner. All study participants had university education and belonged to middle or upper socioeconomic status. Following a constructivist paradigm, thematic analysis was used to make sense of the data using an inductive approach. Six main themes emerged were: (1) Early introduction to sex, (2) Sex related factors, (3) Psychological needs, (4) Sex for social gains (5) Personal norms towards premarital sex, and (6) Availability of opportunity for sex. Sexual activity which was a taboo to be talked about openly, in our society, is becoming increasingly common now. Newer generations due to an inappropriate and early exposure to sexualized content, easy access and availability of resources, opportunity and a much greater sense of independence are greatly involving in sexual activities. Young males have not only become more acceptable and permissive of premarital sex, but also, more promiscuous. Understanding the reasons for premarital sex can help curb this vice in our society.