in march 2020 when the world went into lockdown due to the newly announced covid-19 pandemic, the media quickly speculated that a baby boom would follow nine months later . after all, what else would people do with all of this extra time on their hands while isolated with a partner?
i hold a canada research chair in women’s sexual health, am a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the university of british columbia and lead the provincial women’s health research institute . i have been fascinated by the study of sexual desire for two decades.
our team at ubc sexual health research swiftly mobilized a pan-canadian study of sexual desire and behaviour at the start of the pandemic essentially asking the question: what effect does pandemic-related stress, relationship status and living situation have on sexual desire and behaviour ?
more pandemic-related stress in the early days of lockdown produced higher rates of sexual coercion for people living with a partner, but had no effect for people who did not live with their partners. this was not surprising, and mirrors findings from past pandemics that stress can trigger or exacerbate interpersonal sexual violence in a relationship . the long-term effects of these increased sexual violence rates will remain a major issue for our health systems to address, particularly as shelters and other outlets for safety were out of reach and people (mostly women) were isolated with their partners.
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our findings mirror those coming out of the united states and europe . however, in a study led by researchers at the kinsey institute, a small proportion of americans were found to be engaging in more diverse and experimental sexual activity , as well as more masturbation. it may be that solo sex was an outlet for managing pandemic stress and isolation since masturbation can be self-soothing.
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how can these findings be used, beyond helping us understand what elicits and extinguishes sexual desire and behaviour? many experts predict lasting psychosocial effects of the covid-19 pandemic , and this might also spill into the realm of sexuality. at present, however, there are limited resources to support people who struggle with sexual response.
perhaps this is an opportunity to increase training in health education and medical schools to ensure that providers know how to provide support to people struggling with sexual health. given the known effects of sexual dysfunction on mood, anxiety, stress, relationship satisfaction and other facets of health , we can use what we learn about sexuality during the pandemic to break down myths about sex, and begin to have authentic and candid conversations about sexuality.