Thaindian News

London, March 05 (ANI): An official study has found that more than a quarter of young men and women in America are still virgins.

Rising numbers of young Americans are abstaining from sex. Some 29 per cent of females and 27 per cent of males aged 15 to 24 said they had not had any sexual contact.

The figures have increased from 22 per cent for both sexes in 2002, when the large-scale research was previously carried out.

Experts said the National Survey of Family Growth findings showed a “backlash” against the ladette culture of the 1990s in which women thought they could have casual sex like men.

But they also indicate a resurgence of conservative values, as shown by the success of the Tea Party in last year’s mid-term elections.

In recent years several Christian movements have sprung up in America, encouraging young people to wait until they are married before having sex.

The most prominent is True Love Waits, in which followers wear an “abstinence ring” to show their commitment to remaining a virgin. The Silver Ring Thing is a similar church-based programme.

Dr Laura Berman, a leading expert on sexual health, said the survey showed that when it came to teenagers and sex, the U.S. was “starting to see the pendulum back in a different direction”.

“What I’ve heard for many years is that women are saying I want to be just like the guys and have casual sex,” the Daily Mail quoted her as saying.

“Due to chemical things going on in our bodies we can’t do that in the same way that boys might so we’re starting to see a backlash.

“A lot of these women have been hurt and they are realising that women and men should slow down,” she added.

The study covered the years 2006 to 2008 and was based on interviews with 13,500 men and women aged between 15 and 44. (ANI)