Long separation from their wives has made the suppression of
sexual needs a widespread problem among migrant workers, who have
been found to be connected with a large number of recent rape cases
in China, according to a new survey.
The survey randomly selected 200 migrant workers in the city of
Cixi in neighboring Zhejiang
Province and found that about 44 percent of them had left their
wives behind in their hometowns when they went to work in
Cixi.
Although about 28 percent of the migrant workers brought their
wives with them, they still rarely had sex because their small home
was usually shared with other couples due to financial
difficulties. The lack of a private room greatly reduced migrant
couples' opportunities to be intimate.
Most of the migrant workers said they often felt nervous and
depressed. They suffered from sex illusions from time to time due
to the repression of their physical needs.
About 31 percent of the workers said they felt a strong sexual
desire when they saw women, and about 70 percent of the men said
they often looked at pornographic books and videos.
As for the question of how they chose to deal with these strong
feelings of sexual need, about 40 percent of them said they had no
choice but to repress such urges. Another 30 percent said they
would think of ways to satisfy these desires, but refused to tell
how they would do so.
Although these long periods of unsatisfactory sex life may have
caused some migrant workers to turn to sexual violence, their
understanding of the dangers posed by contagious social diseases
seems to have improved in the past few years.
Most of them have basic knowledge of AIDS, and their attention
towards the AIDS prevention has also increased. About 74 percent of
the migrant workers surveyed knew that sexual intercourse can
spread the disease.
"We had very seldom paid any attention to the physical needs of the
migrant workers before," said Xu Wenping, an official with the
Zhejiang Provincial Population and Family Planning Commission, in
an interview with the Shanghai-based Oriental Morning
Post.
"The focus of the government work on migrant workers has long been
on how to alleviate their economic suffering and mental pressure.
We now have a new task, to also enhance their sexual education and
knowledge."
Statistics show that in 2003, China had some 140 million migrant
workers, amounting to more than 10 percent of the country's total
population. Since it is expected that the size of this migrant
population will continue to grow for the foreseeable future, the
social problems experienced by these floating citizens will also
pose a long-term challenge for the nation.
(Shanghai Star November 12, 2004)