SA women reveal all in sex poll
2007-03-22 13:46
Cape Town - Half of South African women never use a condom, and two-thirds believe it's highly unlikely that they'll contract HIV/Aids.
These were among the findings of the Female Nation Survey, revealed by Women24 on Thursday. The survey was conducted by Women24 online and over 7 500 women participated.
The poll was weighted to reflect women aged 15 to 65 and earning more than R3 000 a month in urban areas. It was representative in terms of age, race and income.
It showed that almost two-thirds of white women never use a condom, and 38% of all women have had an unplanned pregnancy.
Most are unhappy with their bodies
Thirteen percent of SA women have had an eating disorder and over half of these women are still unhappy with their bodies. Among ethnic groups, black women are the most likely to have had an eating disorder (20%) and coloured women are the least likely (8%).
Of the active types, competitive athletes were the most likely to have had an eating disorder (16%) and gym-goers the least (11%).
Almost a sixth of women didn't have sex at all in the last year - and two thirds of those who say they "don't have sex" also don't masturbate either.
Mothers who are the main breadwinners in the family tend also to be the primary caregivers (87%) and of those who are divorced or separated, 85% are also the primary caregivers of the children.
Money stress figured highly for South African women; two-thirds of all women are stressed about their finances - even more breadwinners (75%) - and nearly two-thirds (64%) think their income isn't sufficient.
Over three-quarters of women have personal debt and 70% of women believe they have not saved enough for retirement.
Over a fifth of women hide their savings and half of all housewives have secret savings.
Risks, vices and the joys of sex
Almost half of women have never smoked and nearly a fifth of women say they've never touched a drop of alcohol - particularly Asian/Indian women (45%).
Of the potential alcoholics, over three-quarters of them are white (79%). Almost half of women victims of crime are binge-drinkers (46%).
Women who have never drunk alcohol are more likely than heavy drinkers to feel unsafe at home and married women feel more unsafe at home than unmarried women.
Over three-quarters of women say they enjoy sex most of (45%) or all of the time (33%).
Apparently, having a child increases the joy of sex, particularly among women with children under a year old, because a whopping 90% of them said they enjoy it most of or all of the time.
Maturity also increases sexual enjoyment - 56% of 40-44 year-olds enjoy it all the time. While the trend is for gay women to have sex less regularly than straight women, an amazing 90% of them say they enjoy sex either most or all of the time.
A quarter of those who are undecided about their sexual orientation don't have sex at all. Four percent of women fake orgasm all the time and, curiously, of these almost two-thirds say they enjoy sex all the time.
Not that liberated
Nearly half of women say they never masturbate (45%) and only 16% of straight women have a sex toy - compared with half of other sexual orientations.
Also half of women are against abortion on demand and more than half (55%) of women who haven't had children think abortion should never be permitted under any circumstances - even rape.
Ironically, women who never use a condom were most likely to think abortion should never be permitted. Black and white women were the most conservative about abortion.
A huge 90% of students and 94% of pupils want affirmative action for women and nearly two-thirds of women are positive about South Africa's future - 87% of black women are positive while less than half of white women share this sentiment (48%).