Virginity is the new 'in' thing, according to study



Lesbianism also on the rise

Women twice as likely to have same-sex experience than men



Virginity is making a comeback.



Fewer young Americans are having sex, according to a report released today by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.

Almost a third of all 15 to 24 year olds - 29 per cent - have never had sex, up seven per cent from the year before.

No sex: More young people in America are not having sexual contact of any kind and it appears to be on the rise

The findings were based on in-person interviews with approximately 13,500 men and women between the ages of 15 to 44.

The report described in detail who was having sex with who, what kind of sex they were having and who was not having any sex at all.

Between 2006 and 2008, the percentage of 15 to 24-year -old men who had never had any form of sexual contact with another person was 27 per cent - up 22 per cent from 2002 - while for women it was 29 per cent - also up from 22 per cent.

Health scientist at the NCHS and lead author of the study Anjani Chandra said that 15- to 19-year-olds made up the lion’s share of this category, a finding that seems to counter other reports regarding teen sex trends.

Study: U.S. health officials say the proportion of 15- to 24-year-olds who have had some kind of sex dropped in the past decade from 78 percent to about 72 percent

Sex education: The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention also released a study that showed anal intercourse was on the rise

She told MSNBC: 'I think a lot of people misconstrue this as meaning they’ve never had vaginal sex. But this is no sexual contact of any kind.

'They didn’t have oral sex or anal sex. They didn’t have anything.'

ANAL SEX: HEALTH RISKS

Virginity was not the only thing on the rise among people surveyed. The amount of men and women who have had anal sex has also increased - almost half of all men surveyed had done it at least once.

Anal sex is considered a high-risk sexual practice. It exposes participants to two principal dangers - infections, due to the high number of infectious micro-organisms not found elsewhere on the body, and physical damage to the anus and the rectum.

Frequent anal sex is associated with haemorrhoids, anal prolapse, leakage, ano-rectal pain and ulcers and fissures.



Experts say that as social mores ease, more young heterosexuals are engaging in anal sex, a behaviour once rarely mentioned in polite circles. And the experimentation, they worry, may be linked to the current increase in sexually transmitted diseases as anal sex carries with it a much greater risk of passing on an STD than vaginal sex.

Ms Chandra says she could not speculate as to why there appears to be more virgins in our midst, but said it could be due to sex education, messages about abstinence or that it might hinge on the truthfulness of the respondents.

The data also found that women aged 15 to 44 were more than twice as likely to have had a same-sex experience as men of the same age - about 12.5 per cent of women compared to 5.2 per cent of men.

Women with four or more sexual partners in their lifetime were more likely to have had a female sexual partner, compared with those who had one or none.

Although the same amount from both sexes reported they were either straight or homosexual, three times as many women said they were bisexual.

Ms Chandra said: 'There was speculation that it was possibly just experimentation among college girls but we didn’t see anything to support that.

'We saw the opposite. When we look at college-degreed women, they were less likely to report same-sex activity than other educational groups.



'Among men, there’s more same-sex activity among higher-educated men. And for women, the highest level of same-sex activity was reported by those with less education.'

Experimenting: Women were twice as likely as men to have had same sex relations and three times more likely to be bisexual

Director of the Gender & Sexuality Center at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, Karen Williamsen, said there are several reasons women report same-sex experiences at higher rates than men.

'This data would support that it is more common for women to fluctuate and explore their sexuality. It's also more socially acceptable, so they feel like they could report it.

'I do still think we have to consider the impact of internalized homophobia, that even for people who may have had a same-sex experience, admitting it, even anonymously, might not be possible.'



According to Chandra, data from the survey - which is the largest and most in-depth federal report to date on sexual behaviour, sexual attraction and sexual identity in the U.S. - will be used to provide better education and STD prevention efforts.



But she says the data is also essential in order to better understand people’s sexual activities and proclivities.

She said: 'It’s important to realize there are not separate groups of sexual people. You can’t just think "Here are the heterosexual people; here are the homosexual people".



'People draw their partners from all different places. There are not necessarily clear boundaries between the population groups that engage in this behaviour or that behaviour.'

Straight sex among heterosexuals was the most common, with around 98 per cent of participants.

89 per cent of females and 90 per cent of men have had oral sex with an opposite-sex partner while only 36 per cent of females and 44 per cent of males have had anal sex with an opposite-sex partner.