Sex surveys: India Today, Outlook in court

...Recently, another sex survey had rankled the parents of many college girls in Chandigarh. The survey, which claimed that 33% of college girls (which is one in three) in Chandigarh are sexually active raised the hackles of many students and parents, who felt that the survey cast them in a poor light. "From now, the boys will start thinking that many of the girls are available for sex. If not one, then another," said a furious college student.

The survey has got the parents upset too. Blasting the Urban Health Centre for conducting the survey is one thing - the risk of wayward ways highlighted by the survey on their children is another.

According to the Chandigarh sex survey, 33% of the girl students admitted to having sex, while 28% refused to comment. The implication is that the figure could be higher than 33%.

The surveyors drew criticism for publishing the survey results. The Health Centre later said that the idea was not to highlight licentious behaviour in campuses, but to find out the awareness levels on contraception and safe sex among adolescents. Many college principals too trashed the results of the survey.

However, this is not the first time that sex surveys have pushed up eyebrows. In one of its earliest editions (in 1995) Outlook published a sex survey which clearly attracted new readers. As recently as 2003, both news magazines again came up with sex surveys. And now, just two years after that, the surveyors are out in the street again. Not just India Today and Outlook, many others too have tried to board the sex survey caravan before. The way the latest case proceeds may be an eye-opener for all.
SOURCE: http://www.dancewithshadows.com
MORE: sexsurvey.blogspot.com