At least, this is what students in 17 universities across Lebanon answered when asked about their sexual life by researchers (check the details at the end of the article).

But CAREFUL, this number is to be treated with caution, as talking about sex before marriage is still a huuuge taboo in the country. All the experts we interviewed say that this number is probably overestimated because of all the fuss about sex before marriage. 
It wouldn’t come as a surprise if some students lied, so it’s very likely that the percentage of 20-year-old virgins is actually lower than claimed !

If we look into the details of the study, what strikes us most is the difference between the answers of women and men ! Only 35% of men say that they are virgins, whereas 85 % of women claim to still have their V card !!

One of the authors of this study told us that she faced many obstacles while doing her research : some universities, especially the ones located outside of Beirut, refused to share the questionnaire with their students. And in other universities, it’s students who refused to answer. 

Researchers also conducted a survey on the sexual practices of high school students, but they  never received the authorization of the Ministry of Education to share their results

Sex before marriage is happening in Lebanon, whether we talk about it or not. Refusing to broach the subject puts the young generation at risk of sexually transmitted infections (according to this same study, only one third of sexually active students use condoms regularly), abortions, abuse, violence, mental illnesses, etc.

It’s happening, so let’s talk about it. 

#becausewealllovelabneh


Sources : Study led in 2015 among 3,384 single students across 17 universities in Lebanon. 2,700 students answered the questionnaire

Salameh, Pascale & Zeenny, Rony & Salamé, Joseph & Waked, Mirna & Barbour, Bernadette & Zeidan, Nina & Baldi, Isabelle. (2015). Attitude and practice of sexuality among university students in Lebanon. Journal of Biosocial Science.

Reporting and writing: Nada Maucourant Atallah & Soraya Hamdan
Translation: Nour Chidiac
Illustration: Eva Besse/ photo by Mathew Schawrtz on Unsplash
Editing: MJ Daoud