Friday 14 October 2011

Do 275,000 Swiss people engage in Zoophilia?

275,000 Swiss people have sexual relationships with animals, a survey revealed

Up to 275,000 Swiss people — out of a population of 8million — have sex with animals, a survey claimed last year.

I read these stories today and was startled by this fact that was thrown out in the Daily Mail and The Sun. Extraordinary stories which I thought may have received more coverage when the Survey happened.

So I did a little research and found this article in a Swiss paper - which appears to be the on the same story from a few days earlier. Not sure if it's the source of the UK articles, but it does state -
Despite it being against the law, last June Tages Anzeiger reported that an estimated 275,000 people practised zoophilia in Switzerland. The Zurich paper said that 5 percent of Swiss males and 2 percent of Swiss women had sexual relationships with animals.
Theres a link to the relevant article for sourcing this claim - which is here.
Now I never did German at school - but the Google Translate version of the article seems to lay out pretty clearly the basis for this "Survey" number
When Albert Kinsey wrote in the fifties, his report, for which he examined 20,000 interviews with the sexual behavior of Americans, gave at 8 percent of men and 3.5 percent of the women, at least once to have had sexual contact with animals . Because at that time such acts were punished, it was assumed, reasonably certain that the information provided. Mid-seventies, the figures were then due to recent - albeit less - Investigations corrected downwards: It is now estimated that 5 percent of men and 2 percent of the female population at some time sexual intercourse with an animal, usually in the form of orally- genital contact or masturbation of the animal. 
Extrapolated to Switzerland means: There are approximately 275,000 zoophiles. Where it is not at all a rural phenomenon - in the face of hundreds of thousands of pets in the cities, the availability is also ensured since. And zoophiles are by no means marginalized or retarded, but how to become white, formed on the large part.
 So an authoritative "Survey" which the British press quotes as happening last year as a source, is nothing of the sort!
It's a vague extrapolation of a number based on Kinsey's old research, and stated for discussion in a conference speech. Nothing more, nothing less.

 Gotta love the British press


Edit: I think the Original 'Research' comes from here  I believe (also in German) which states the same assumptions, as the article. I can find no other mentions of this 275,000 number so unless disproved - I'd assume this was it.

1 comment:

Dr Mark Griffiths said...

For those interested in other aspects of zoophilia including sex with birds and sex with insects, then check out some of my blog articles. Dr Mark Griffiths

http://drmarkgriffiths.wordpress.com/2012/05/18/fowl-play-a-brief-overview-of-avian-bestiality/
http://drmarkgriffiths.wordpress.com/2012/04/03/ants-in-your-pants-a-beginners-guide-to-formicophilia/
http://drmarkgriffiths.wordpress.com/2012/01/26/animal-passions-the-strange-world-of-zoophilia/
http://drmarkgriffiths.wordpress.com/2012/04/30/animal-charm-a-new-classification-of-zoophiles/
http://drmarkgriffiths.wordpress.com/2012/04/23/cruel-proof-a-brief-overview-of-zoosadism/