More partners, less heteronormative practices… Sexuality has undergone “major changes” in France in ten years, reveals Inserm

Inserm published on Wednesday its fourth scientific survey on the sexual behavior of French people since 1970.

Do the French today have the same sexuality as their grandparents? Rather no, answers a vast Inserm survey published Wednesday November 13, which reveals that the sexuality of the French has experienced “major changes” in 10 years. “More varied practices”less frequent reports, but a level of violence still worrying… Franceinfo takes stock of the lessons of this study – the first of its kind since 2006 – carried out on more than 31,000 people.

A later first sexual intercourse… but more partners

In its first results for mainland France, the survey shows “a rise” of the median age of first sexual intercourse, to 18.2 years for women and 17.7 years for men in 2023 (compared to 17.3 years for both sexes in 2010).

The average number of partners of women aged 18-69 who have already had sexual intercourse has also increased from 3.4 partners on average during their lifetime in 1992 to 7.9 in 2023. For men, these figures, stable between 1992 and 2006 around 11, increased “substantially” to 16.4 partners on average in 2023.

Less uniformly heterosexual practices

The repertoire of practices was “significantly diverse”more and more men and women declaring having experimented with other sexual practices (masturbation, oral sex and anal intercourse) than vaginal intercourse. In 1992, 42.4% of women aged 18 to 69 reported having already masturbated, compared to 72.9% in 2023. The practice of anal penetration (performed or received) has also increased over time among women. , increasing from 23.4% in 1992 to 38.9% in 2023. The increase is more marked among men, going from 29.6% to 57.4%.

Another notable phenomenon: the proportion of people engaging in non-exclusively heterosexual sexuality “increases very significantly”et “women report more same-sex experiences than men in 2023 for the first time”. In 2023, 13.4% of women and 7.6% of men aged 18 to 89 also report having been attracted to people of the same sex during their life.

This increase goes hand in hand with the increase in social acceptance of homosexuality. In 2023, 69.6% of women over 18 and 56.2% of men of the same age thought that homosexuality is a sexuality like any other. Note that opinions on transidentity are significantly less favorable than those on homosexuality, since 41.9% of women and 31.6% of men consider that it is an identity like any other.

Sexual satisfaction up slightly

An improvement, after a decline. The proportion of people declaring themselves very satisfied with their current sex life stood, for women, at 47% in 1992, 43.6% in 2006 and 45.3% in 2023. The sexual satisfaction of men has decreased, going from 45.0% in 1992 to 35.1% in 2006, rising to 39.0% in 2023. Sexual satisfaction is nevertheless higher today, at all ages, than it was in 2006 for both sexes except between 30 and 39 years for women and after 60 years for men.

A sex life that lasts even in old age

In 2023, 56.6% of women and 73.8% of men remain sexually active after age 50. Part of these differences can be explained by being in a relationship at the time of the survey: among people in a relationship, 77.2% of women and 84.9% of men had sexual activity within 12 months. .

At the same time, some indicators of sexual activity decreased. In 2023, 77.2% of women (compared to 82.9% in 2006) and 81.6% of men (compared to 89.1% in 2006) aged 18-69 reported having had sexual activity with a partner in the last 12 months.

A still worrying level of violence

The results also show a decrease among women, since 2006, in the frequency of sexual relations accepted to please one’s partner without really wanting it oneself. Social mobilization against forms of sexual violence has “modified the normative frameworks of consent”but the investigation “paints a picture of the scale of this violence which remains worrying”. Thus in 2023, 36.8% of young women aged 18 to 29, compared to 12.4% of men in this age group, declared “have suffered forced intercourse or attempted forced intercourse during their life”compared to 16.5% and 4.7% in 2006. For women aged 18 to 69, the increase is again evident: 29.8% in 2023 compared to 15.9% in 2006. Et “many of these acts of violence occurred when the person was a minor at the time of the incident.”

Reports of sexual violence (forced intercourse or attempted forced intercourse) are very high among people who have declared same-sex partners: 53.1% of women and 29.5% of men. People who had thought about changing their gender were also victims of sexual violence in much higher proportions than people who had never thought about it (43.1% versus 17.2%).