Nationwide survey conducted by government body says husbands refuse to wear a condom and wives fear STDs, as they suspect extramarital affairs

'Not now, darling, I have a headache', is easily the most often 'no sex' phrase bandied around in popular culture. Now, there are statistics to prove it.

In a research conducted by the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), based out of Govandi, a whopping 89 per cent of married men complained that their wives say no to sex. But there's a rider.

The women say no because their husbands refuse to wear a condom, which they feel is absolutely necessary to protect them from sexually transmitted diseases (STD).

Clearly, this means 89 per cent of women feel their husbands cheat on them.

The survey reveals the truth. One in 20 Indian married men have multiple affairs more than two sexual partners apart from their wives.



However, doctors in Mumbai believe that the number is far higher and the respondents may not have been entirely truthful.

The study has revealed that 5.3 per cent married men engaged in high-risk sex, which means having sex with more than two partners without using protection.

This survey, conducted for the first time by IIPS across India, had a sample size of 80,000 men.

Wife is justified

Hearteningly, 83 per cent say the wife is justified in asking them to use condoms.

S K Singh, a researcher with IIPS, said, "On one hand the National Family Health Survey portrays a very impressive picture of Indian men who believe that if a husband has a sexually transmitted disease, his wife is justified in refusing to have sex with him. Or have sex only if they wear a condom.

But the survey also throws up a picture that men are cheating their wives with more than two partners."

The IIPS is an autonomous institution administered by the ministry of health and family welfare. It also conducts a national family health survey every year on behalf of the government.

YOU CHEAT: About 89 per cent of women feel their husbands cheat on them, reveals a survey by the International Institute for Population Sciences.