Those numbers fell this year, with 37 percent admitting to having had unprotected sex -- two points more than the global average -- and less than half of respondents (48 percent) worrying about HIV/AIDS. Another 37 percent were concerned with unplanned pregnancy and a carefree 4 percent said they have no concerns about sex.
These kinds of numbers often help guide pundits and politicians in crafting public health policies. Realizing this, Durex this year asked even more direct questions regarding what role respondents feel government should play in the sex lives of its citizenry. For Taiwan, the results were surprising.
more sex education desired
Despite a heated political environment, Taiwanese were more likely than any other nation polled to call for government educational incentives regarding sex. Another 38 percent said the government should focus on implementing a sex education syllabus in schools and 8 percent said it should just provide free contraception.
Few were willing to entirely hand over sex education to the government. More than half of respondents (55 percent) felt parents should be responsible for teaching kids about the birds and the bees. Only 7 percent felt the government should be handed the task. In China, 14 percent of the people said instruction about intimacy is the government's responsibility, more than any nation surveyed and twice the global average.
There are other numbers about which the government can do very little. Last year's survey asked if respondents were happy with their sex lives. Taiwan ranked third from the bottom, with 61 percent of respondents answering in the affirmative. Taiwanese, according to the survey, were only 2 points happier with their sex lives than Finns or Russians, who tied as the least-satisfied nations at 59 percent. The global average was 73 percent.
Some claim that ranking at the bottom of a global survey on sex isn't such a bad thing, citing a different set of statistics which show that with a low frequency of sex come low rates of sexually transmitted diseases and unplanned pregnancy.
Wang Ping (王蘋), the secretary general of the Gender/Sexuality Rights Association Taiwan (台灣性別人權協會) and an author known for her lascivious literary style, has a different opinion. "Our sexuality is not just part of who we are, it's the primary thing that makes us a society," she said. "It's the thing that brings us together. ... Having less sex might lead to fewer problems, but it will also lead to a weaker understanding of ourselves."
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