In India, sex or any topic related to physical intimacy is still considered a taboo. Most young people grow up believing sex as an activity which is restricted to all except married couple and anyone who has sex outside marriage is looked down upon by all.
No wonder we have concepts like ‘pativrata’ in India where a pious wife is compared to a goddess and a married woman who has sex with a man other than her husband is shunned by all. However, a recent study conducted by a global extra-marital dating app named Gleeden has brought to light some shattering facts—according to the research, 53 per cent of Indian wives admitted to having had an intimate relationship outside their marriage as compared to 43 per cent men.
“Indian women seem particularly open-minded about infidelity, especially when it involves romance. Gleeden offers a virtual environment where it starts a new love story with like-minded individuals without the downside of a real-life affair,” said Solene Paillet, Marketing Director of Gleeden.
The study that made some shocking revelations was conducted online and surveyed a sample size of over 1,500 people from across major cities like Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Pune, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.
Even the number of women who admitted to having regular sexual intercourse with a man other than her husband far exceded the number of men who had sex outside marriage. As per the study, the number of married women having regular sex with a man who is not her husband stood at 40 per cent while only 26 per cent married men regularly got physically intimate with a second woman.
Nearly 50 per cent of married people in India confessed to having had an intimate relationship with someone other than the spouse, while almost five out of 10 have already indulged in casual sex (47 per cent) or one-night stands (46 per cent).
In fact, 48 per cent of Indians believe that it is indeed possible to be in love with two people at the same time, while the 46 per cent think that it is possible to be cheating on a person while still be in love with him/her. This is probably why Indians are ready to forgive their partner in case they found out about the affair.
While 37 per cent would forgive the partner without a second thought, 40 per cent would do so if the circumstances were extenuating. Similarly, they expect to be forgiven by their partner, said the report.
However, this research conducted by the app for an extra-marital affair is not and all-inclusive study because the sample size of around 1,500 participants does not reflect the traits of the citizens of a nation of millions. What might stand true for that small number of participants may not be the same for all.