Poll: Menstruation, same-sex marriage remain taboo topics in Czechia

Same-sex relationships remain taboo for 36 percent of people in Czechia today, according to data from a new survey by NMS Market Research cited by ČTK. For Czechs, however, menstruation is the biggest taboo among those hot-button topics presented in the survey. Forty percent of people said they wouldn't talk about it in public. 

NMS analysts say the responses varied drastically by age and gender. "Same-sex partnerships should not be discussed according to 44 percent of men, but only 27 percent of women," said analyst Michael Bouška in a press release from the agency.

Answers varied by region as well. While 31 percent of people living in Prague and the Central Bohemia region considered same-sex partnerships taboo, in Moravia it was a steeper 41 percent. The younger generation of Czechs was more inclined to openly discuss same-sex partnerships compared to those in their forties and fifties.

In a similar poll conducted in Slovakia, the discussion of same-sex relationships was considered taboo by 38 percent.

For Czechs, however, menstruation proved the greatest taboo; 40 percent of respondents wouldn't talk about periods in public. That included a discussion of period poverty, the idea of having limited access to adequate period products because of one's income.

Here opinions once again differed between the sexes – periods shouldn't be discussed at all according to half of the men polled. On the contrary, menstruation was taboo only for 31 percent of women. In this case, age positively affected opinions – younger people were significantly more willing to discuss periods openly.

The issues of infertility and gender equality were deemed lesser taboos: 23 percent of Czechs said they wouldn't discuss them.

So which issues do Czechs believe are worth talking about? According to the majority of people polled, domestic violence, sex, and mental illnesses should be openly talked about. Only thirteen percent of Czechs found mental illness, sex, and sex education taboo. Domestic violence was a taboo issue for only 6 percent of respondents.

The poll was conducted on 1,020 people between 18 and 64 this year in Czechia.