Health and Science Bulletin: Non-marital Sexual Behaviour of Men in Bangladesh - Implications for HIV Transmission

A survey on sexual behaviour was conducted among 7122 males (aged 18-49 years) in six districts (three urban and three rural) in Bangladesh. Overall 18% of the respondents reported ever having sexual intercourse outside of marriage (10% with female sex workers, 9% with casual female partners and 2% with males/transgenders) in the past year.

There are limited data on the sexual behaviour and sexual networks of males in the general population and understanding these behaviors and networks may help identify potential trends and patterns of HIV transmission in the country. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of various non-marital sexual behaviours of males in the community. It also investigated variation of such behaviours among different socio-demographic groups.