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Young couple in a park in central Delhi, 2019. Photo by the author, used with permission.
Persisting prejudice in India toward pre-marital sex means unmarried women face stigma by medical providers when trying to access sexual health services.
Societal norms are indeed changing in the country as increasingly more women choose to delay marriage. India is now the world’s fourth-largest user of online dating apps. However, despite the developing social and sexual landscape, attitudes in the medical profession on sexual issues, even in India’s largest cities, are still enmeshed with conservative thinking.
Over the last four years, a campaign called Health Over Stigma ran by Delhi-based youth organization Haiyya, has been challenging this system by linking unmarried women with sexual health and reproductive services and changing the views of India’s gynecologists.