Gender Difference in Premarital Sexual Activities among BPO Employees in Tamil Nadu, India

This paper tried to investigate the underlying factors influencing of prevalence of premarital sexual activities among BPO employees in Tamil Nadu, India. Samples were collected through a structured questionnaire from 526 unmarried respondents in Tamil Nadu, India, during Behavioural Surveillance Survey in 2009 by AIDS Prevention And Control (APAC) Project, Tamil Nadu, India. The logistic regression analysis is carried out for the net effect by various background characteristics. The results showed that about one-third of respondents reported ever involved premarital sexual activities among BPO employees in Tamil Nadu, India. However, a large difference observed between men (39.6 percent) and women (26.1 percent) on prevalence of premarital sexual activities. Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicates that Gender, younger, those living away from parents, watch blue films, consume alcohol, attend late night parties, and discussed with anyone about HIV/AIDS are significantly high likelihood of engaging pre-marital sex when other factors are controlled. The study concludes that there is a significant gender dimension in reporting of premarital sexual activity. This calls for further research and discussion.