Sexual behaviour of long distance truck drivers in India

Arvind Pandey, National Institute of Medical Statistics (ICMR), India
S. K. Benara, National Instiute of Medical Statistics
Ram Manohar Mishra, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)
Damodar Sahu, National Institute of Research in Medical Statistics (ICMR), India
Nandini Roy, UNIFEM
Rajatshruwa Adhikary, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)
Mandar K. Mainkar, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)

The present paper aims to present the profile of sexual behaviour of truck drivers particularly the long distance truck drivers in the country and the preventive measures taken by them. A baseline survey of 2066 long distance truck drivers (LDTDs) called Integrated Behavioural and Biological Assessment – National Highways (IBBA-NH) was conducted using a two-stage time-location cluster (TLC) sampling procedure. LDTDs spend 10-12 days on one round trip. The mean age at first sex is between 18-19 years across the four routes. In a month, the mean number of sexual contacts with wife was reportedly highest among drivers traveling in the SE route (12 contacts) compared to other routes (6–7 contacts). In every route some of the truck drivers had paid partners in the last 12 months and among the four routes more contacts with paid partners. Very few respondents have consistently used condom with spouse and non-paid female partner.