As a style statement a large number of youth in India
embrace various reckless behaviors. One with an alarming increase is smoking Tabaco.
While Indian Government has increased the taxes impaired on Tabaco and Tabaco related
products, which make them more expensive to acquire, the move has not helped in
reducing the use of the same.
While youth is okay to spend a cool Rs100 on a packet of
cigarette what makes me wonder is why is there an apprehension on spending a
mere Rs25 on a packet of Condoms?
With 1.2 billion people, India’s barely a nation that can
afford to be lax about contraception but according to the health ministry,
condom usage has dropped by 38%. To find out what exactly is causing
this decline we need to take a look at some of these factors.
1.
Scarcity and Lack of Awareness
With a huge population like India, it is difficult
to educate the entire society about safe sex. Therefore a large section of
rural India remains aloof from the whole idea of using a condom not just as an
contraceptive but also to avoid major STI’s. Non availability of free condoms
and lack of awareness is major reason that is causing the dip in its usage.
2.
Morality
In every society, people have their own
moral, religious and ethnic doctrines that have not only reinforced their
social fabrics but, due to prolonged observance in the community, also have pervaded
the psychosocial environment of the individual. Obviously, an intervention
(condom use) altering their age-old natural reproductive practices may be
opposed or rejected by the individual or the community though people deeply
feel the need of resolving socio-economic constraints associated with the
explosive growth of the population.
3.
Religion
With a country like India where we have a
large bouquet of religions, they tend to interfere and influence the sexual
practices that we follow. Many religions prescribe the use of condom as against
the law of the creator. As these religious beliefs are strongly embedded in our
mental system all the other hazards of not using a protective barrier while
have sexual intercourse is forgotten and perhaps ignored.
4.
Social Stigma
This again is associated with lack of
awareness and care for one’s health. Men find it awkward to walk up to a
pharmacy to ask for a packet of condom. The uneasy look that the man behind the
counter gives scares the sh*t out of the guy who probably is doing it for the
first time. Social discouragement given once to this youngster, he will never
walk up to that pharmacy again.
5.
Partner Characteristics
In our country polygamy is not a widespread
culture. Heterosexual couples restrict to just a few partners as compared to
the couples in the west. Therefore the comfort level that develops between the
participating individuals that the need to use the protection dies eventually.
Having blind trust on your partner can push someone down the hill inching
towards any dangerous STI. Although with homosexual couples polygamy is
rampant. Trust or no trust using a condom should be imperative.
6.
Personal Factors
Individual perception, notion and
constraint is likely to influence condom use. Many youngsters report that non-use
of a condom because they did not think either they or their partner had an infection,
and a similar proportion did not use a condom because they applied other contraceptive
measures. ‘I do not have the AIDS virus’ and ‘I thought I was safe’, apparently
indicating their low perceived susceptibility behind avoidance of condom use. Thus,
individual perception of risk or pleasure often affects condom use.
7.
Condom – As contraceptive
Many couples just consider condom as a
contraceptive. Pregnancy is considered to be the only outcome of having sexual
intercourse. So they refrain from using a condom as they find many other ways
to avoid a possible chance of pregnancy. They forget that many other STI’s
including HIV and AIDS can be avoided by using a condom.
8.
Psychological Factors
Severe depressive symptoms affecting adolescent
males are significantly predictive in non-usage of condoms. Social anxiety
among gay and bisexual youths is found to be associated with unprotected anal
intercourse. A depressed mood, female gender and unemployment increased the
likelihood of engaging in unprotected sex among young people.
9.
Substance Abuse
Acute alcohol consumption by college
students significantly predicted their perceived likelihood that they would
have sexual intercourse without a condom. A feeling of emotional closeness has
often been reported to be associated with the consumption of the drug Ecstasy
(methylene-dioxy-methamphetamine; MDMA); some have also mentioned an increased sexual
arousal and some, in particular gay and bisexual men, have used MDMA
specifically for sexual enhancement. The sexual risk taking behavior –having multiple
sexual partners and engaging in sex without a condom- was prevalent among
persons having sex during MDMA episode.
1. Issues with Condom use
Many couples stay away from condom because
of the discomfort they experience while using them. Lack of sensation, vaginal irritation,
and condom slippage are some excuses. Finding the right condom for some people
has been very difficult even when condom manufacturers have introduced many
variants like flavors, dots and lubrications.
While there can be no reason to take risk
with your own life, using a simple condom can just give you another lease of
life.
