The Swedish governments declaration that it is to investigate the sex lives of its citizens relates to a number of areas of social life, from advertising, to population demographics, and to things that make the population happy. In launching the new study, which will take until July 2019 to complete, Health Minister Gabriel Wikstrom indicated that the nation’s sexual health policy should be guided not just by sexual problems, but also be informed by the pleasurable aspects of sex.
With problems, this relates to personal relationship issues and to the way that sex is portrayed by the general media. In an interview with the BBC, Mr. Wikstrom said she had noted that it was “paradoxical that, while our whole society seems permeated by sex, in everything from advertising and social media to much of daily life, the topic is still shrouded by shame… and absent from the political debate.”
Tweeting on this Claire Bowes (@ClaireBowes), a British politician, summed things up by saying: “Sweden says romance should be part of the debate about sexual health.” Following this the tabloid newspaper, The Daily Mirror, messaged: “Sweden orders SEX study as nation’s falling libido becomes ‘a political problem’.”
The motivation for the study has partly arisen from features in Swedish newspapers and on television that Swedes, in general, are having less sex (or at least there is the perception that time spent on this activity is decreasing.) For this reason the Swedish government are keen that the survey and the subsequent policy that develops does not solely focus on the big, and serious, issues of venereal disease, unwanted pregnancies and rape; and instead also focuses on why sex between consenting adults is falling. This issue not only feeds into how well partnerships work, it could also, if proven have worrying consequences for the population growth rate.
The study will be conducted by the Swedish Public Health Agency. The findings, according to The Guardian, will help to shape policies on sexual and reproductive health.
