Most Dutch check consent before sex; Condom use down, more STI's

“The Dutch have a positive attitude toward topics related to sexual health and rights,” Rutgers concluded from its Sexual Health Monitor 2023. Most check consent before sex, support women’s right to abortion care, and want sex education at school. On the worrying side, condom use is down, and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are on the rise. Sexual violence remains high, and many people from the LGBTQIA+ community face homonegativity.

Almost all Netherlands residents (96%) check consent before having sex. Most also think that sex education should be mandatory in schools (88 percent) and that women must be able to choose for themselves whether they want an abortion (86 percent).

“Sexual health is essential for people’s well-being,” Rutgers researcher Hanneke de Graaf said. “It not only protects us against diseases and unwanted pregnancies but also contributes to our happiness. Provided that we have the freedom to make our own choices in this regard. Fortunately, most Dutch people consider this freedom of choice essential.”

However, the study also showed that some aspects of sexual health and rights are under pressure. Condoms are increasingly omitted during sex, and STIs have continued to rise in recent years. In 2017, two in five people said they didn’t use a condom with their last sexual partner. Last year that had grown to half. Of people whose last sexual partner was a one-night stand, 43 percent of men and 56 percent of women did not use a condom.

The use of the pill as a contraceptive has also decreased. Among women aged 18 to 49, pill use fell from 30 to 24 percent in the past six years. IUDs are more popular, rising from 17 to 21 percent. Of the women in this age group who don’t use contraceptives at all, a third said it was because they don’t want to use hormones.

Sexual violence remains a problem. A quarter of women and 5 percent of men have experienced sexual violence at some point in their lives - about the same percentage as six years ago. Most sexual violence occured when the victims were between 18 and 21 years old.

Many people from the LGBTQIA+ community are confronted with homonegativity. “About a quarter of LGBTQIA+ people aged 25 and older have been verbally abused because of their sexual orientation in the past year. One in five has been bullied, and one in ten has been threatened,” De Graaf said.

Rutgers urged the government to continue to invest in and monitor sexual health and education.

Over 70 percent of Dutch adults had sex in the past six months. Men and women are equally happy with their sex lives, with both genders rating it an average of 7.0 out of 10. Four out of five people said they enjoy sex very much.

The Sexual Health Monitor is periodically conducted by Rutgers in collaboration with the RIVM and Statistics Netherlands. The researchers surveyed over 15,000 adults aged 18 to 80 on a wide range of sexuality-related themes. The study was previously conducted in 2006, 2009, 2012, and 2017.