Abstract

Premarital sex is normatively unacceptable in Afghanistan, yet rapid social and cultural transformation in the country may be changing these traditional norms. In dialogue with cross-national scholarship, we examine attitudes toward premarital sex and experience of premarital sexual behaviours among urban Afghan youth. We use data from 1256 never married individuals aged 15–29 surveyed in ten Afghan cities. The results show that respondents, on average, have moderately liberal attitudes toward premarital sex and that almost one quarter of them had engaged in either sexual foreplay or penetrative intercourse. Multivariable results indicate that premarital sexual attitudes and behaviours were significantly associated with several individual-level characteristics, family and intergenerational relationships, and social ties and interactions. At the same time, instructive gender variations emerge. The findings illustrate the dynamics of premarital sexual relations in this and similar contexts where such relations are traditionally stigmatised but multifaceted, societal changes increasingly challenge this stigma.

摘要

在阿富汗，婚前性行为通常是不可接受的，但该国快速的社会和文化转型可能正在改变这些传统规范。在与跨国学术界的对话中，我们研究了阿富汗城市青年对婚前性行为的态度和婚前性行为的经历。我们使用了在阿富汗 10 个城市调查的 1256 名 15-29 岁未婚人士的数据。结果显示，受访者平均对婚前性行为持适度自由的态度，其中近四分之一的人进行过性前戏或插入式性交。多变量结果表明，婚前性态度和行为与一些个人层面的特征、家庭和代际关系以及社会关系和互动显着相关。与此同时，具有指导意义的性别差异也出现了。研究结果说明了婚前性关系在这种情况和类似情况下的动态，在这种情况下，这种关系传统上受到耻辱，但多方面的社会变化日益挑战这种耻辱。