Out of every ten Vietnamese men between 22-25 years old, three or nearly 30% have sex before marriage compared to just over 6% for women, according to a national survey released yesterday.

Photo for illustration: Marijni.

Out of every ten Vietnamese men between 22-25 years old, about three or 30 percent have sex before marriage compared to just over 6 percent for women, according to a national survey released on June 1.

This is the second survey of Vietnamese youth and underage people after the first one conducted in 2003.

This is a national-scale survey of more than 10,000 people ages 14-25 in 63 provinces and cities. The survey measures changes and development trends among Vietnamese youth and juveniles related to employment, education, reproductive health, HIV/AIDS and addictive substances.

The analysts found that the ratio of men who have sex before marriage rose by 2 percent over 2003. This ratio increases with age, as around 15 percent of men aged 18-24 have sex before marriage.

The survey also shows that 43 percent of youth and juveniles lack knowledge on HIV prevention. Many people believed that HIV could be transmitted via mosquitoes or insects, sharing bowls or chopsticks with HIV carriers or even through the respiratory tract.

Over four percent of people have considered suicide, with the ratio higher among women. The average age for having sex the first time is 18.1 and more urban youths have premarital sex than rural young people.

The ratio of ethnic minority youth who have sex before marriage changed in this survey, with higher rates than Kinh (ethnic Vietnamese) while in 2003 minority statistics were led than Kinh.

Up to 44 percent of people accept premarital relations compared with 36 percent in the first survey. Knowledge of reproductive health issues is very low, demonstrated by only 71 percent of respondents answering yes to the question of whether a girl can become pregnant from her first experience with sexual intercourse.

Only half of the interviewees were not ashamed about discussing sex with others.

The survey also points out that family violence is still a big issue. The ratio of women who were beaten by their husbands did not decline. Of nearly 1700 married people, 4 percent reported that they were beaten by their wives and husbands, however, most of the victims were women. Only 1 percent of men were beaten by their wives. The ratio of female victims is higher in urban areas.

Analysts assert that this survey provides a good picture of the development of Vietnamese youth and juveniles after five years.

PV