The restrictive influence of culture and religion on our sexual behaviour, most of which we were shamed into acquiring, due to successive influences, probably since the 14th century, is the reason why it’s so difficult to do authentic sex-researches in the Indian sub-continent anymore.

A first of its kind study on the sexual frequency of people in India, Nepal and Bangladesh, conducted by three medical sex researchers— Sujita Kumar Kar (King George’s Medical University, Lucknow; Pawan Sharma, Patan Academy of Health Sciences, Nepal and SM Yasir Arafat, Enam Medical College and Hospital Dhaka—published in the Journal of Psychosexual Health, aims to address this gap.

So what are the findings? To know more we spoke to Dr TSS Rao renowned sexual health expert, founding editor of the Journal of Psychosexual Health and co-founder Vvox.

Dr TSS Rao: Indian couples reported the lowest sexual inactivity (about once a week) among the three countries, with Nepal the highest (about twice a week).

Since measuring sexual activity or inactivity is not easy, we took data only for a recent short period of time (the study was conducted during the early phase of Covid-19 lockdown), thereby enabling couples to recall their sexual activity more accurately.

We have also tried to minimise the self-reporting bias that’s characteristic of sex studies, where men tend to exaggerate and women underreport their sexual activity, by conducting the study through online questionnaire.