Conducted among 30,000 people in France, the “Contexte des sexualités en France” survey paints a statistical portrait of sexual practices and representations in 2023. It compares these data with those collected in 1972 and 2006 to highlight fundamental changes.

Among the main conclusions:

• “Greater diversity and, at the same time, lower intensity of sexual activity with a partner. The diversification of sexual activity can be seen through the increase in the number of opposite-sex or same-sex partners, the prolongation of sexual activity at advanced ages, or the extension of sexual repertoires, particularly masturbation.”
• “A questioning of women’s sexual availability. The results show that, since 2006, there has been a decline in the frequency of sexual relations accepted to please one’s partner without really wanting to do so oneself. And it seems that the absence of sexual activity is less of a problem for younger women than it used to be. Similarly, the idea that men “by nature” have greater sexual needs than women, which was in the majority in 2006, is no longer the case in 2023.”
• “An increasingly marked questioning of the heterosexual norm in representations and practices. Social acceptance of non-heterosexual sexualities is much stronger than before, even if there is still marked resistance, and although discrimination against people with same-sex partners and even more so against trans people is still frequent and has deleterious effects on the mental health of these populations. Moreover, the proportion of people who engage in a sexuality that is not exclusively heterosexual is rising sharply.”
• “A steady increase in reports of sexual violence, a trend that began long before the #MeToo movement. Growing social mobilization against all forms of sexual violence has changed the normative frameworks of sexual consent. The increase in reporting therefore reflects both respondents’ consideration of events that were not previously considered violence, and a greater capacity to report them. The results of this new survey nevertheless paint a worrying picture of the extent of such violence, and the figures for the youngest generations attest to the continuing prevalence of the phenomenon”.

The main findings of this survey are summarized and illustrated in a France Culture podcast entitled “Dernières nouvelles du sexe: 20 ans d’évolution des sexualités”. This series of testimonials from people of all ages and social backgrounds puts the statistical data into words.