Men's sexual behaviour in urban and rural southwest Nigeria: its cultural, social and attitudinal context.

Interview data were collected from 1749 men and 1976 women of mean age 36.0-39.7 years in Ado-Ekiti, Ondo State; Ibadan, Oyo State; Badagry, Lagos State; Ekiti West and Ekiti Southeast, Ondo State; and Egbeda Local Government Area, Oyo State. It is generally believed that men have a greater need for sex than do women, and that men should have unlimited sexual freedom while women are expected to have only one partner. Men's extramarital sexual activity is largely taken for granted. However, a growing number of men and women now believe that one woman is enough for one man at any given time and over a lifetime. Respondents often mentioned being afraid of sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS. Extramarital relations during a wife's postpartum abstinence are no longer important because of the rising level of contraception and the rapid decline in the duration of breastfeeding and postpartum abstinence. The double standards of male and female sex behavior will diminish with increased access to education and the move toward monogamous unions.