Sexual Equality: Women in France are

the country's new 'sexual predators'

Yet one in five young men manifest 'no interest in sex'

Women, on the other hand, are sleeping with

twice as many men as they used to

and losing their virginity earlier

French Women's Sex Demands

Women in France are the country's new 'sexual predators', according to a survey of over 12,000 individuals.

With one in five young men manifesting 'no interest in sex', women, on the other hand, are sleeping with twice as many men as they used to and losing their virginity earlier.

'Are women just like men?' asked French Aids research agency Le Nouvel Observateur, which commissioned the 'Study on Sexuality' in France.

Only 42% of women in the country have had only one partner today, in comparison to 68% in 1970, and the average number of partners now stands at just over five. (Men, meanwhile, claim to have slept with an average of 13 women.)

The big surprise, however, wasn't what women want, but what men don't want. According to the research, one in five men aged between 18 and 24 claims to have 'no interest in sex' and abstinence rates for those under 35 are currently twice as high for men as they are for women.

'The good old dichotomy (male predators, females patiently awaiting the warrior's return in front of the cave entrance) is in big trouble,' notes Le Nouvel Observateur.

French women now the sexual aggressors

French women are becoming increasingly assertive in their sexual habits, while one in five French young men "has no interest in sex," according to one of the most comprehensive surveys of the love lives of the French.

Females now have more than twice as many partners as they did in the 1970s, found the study conducted by the French government-backed AIDS research agency.

"Are women just like men?" asked Le Nouvel Observateur, which released exclusive extracts Thursday of the Study on sexuality in France -- a 600-page tome bringing together in-depth interviews of 12,000 French people of all ages conducted during 2005-06.

One of the "biggest changes in recent years," according to the report, was that male and female sexual behaviour had become increasingly similar.

The proportion of French women who claim to have had only one partner has dropped from 68 per cent in 1970, to 43 per cent in 1992 and 34 per cent in 2006.

A woman's average number of partners has risen from fewer than two in 1970 to more than five today, while a man's has remained the same for four decades (almost 13).

French women's first experience of sex is now almost as early as that of the opposite sex: In 1950 there was two year gap, while today it has narrowed to just four months, at around 17 and a half.

French women also remain sexually active far longer than previously -- nine-of-10 of those over 50 compared to a half in 1970.

"The good old dichotomy (male predators, females patiently awaiting the warrior's return in front of the cave entrance) is in big trouble", said le Nouvel Observateur.

Female sexual emancipation has been a hot topic in France ever since President Nicolas Sarkozy met Carla Bruni -- now his wife.

The Italian model recently declared monogamy "terribly boring" and spoke in relaxed fashion about her numerous past conquests, including Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton.

"I am a tamer of men, a cat, an Italian," she told Le Figaro last year. "I am faithful . . . to myself! I am monogamous from time to time but I prefer polygamy and polyandry its female equivalent."

At the same time, she reinforced old-fashioned stereotypes of the link between status and virility by reportedly declaring: "I want a man with nuclear power."

Despite the changes in female behaviour observed in the study, some things have not altered in 40 years.

Men found it easier than women to disassociate sex from love, but suggested this was due to nurture rather than nature:

"Young women are still educated to consider their entrance into sexuality as a sentimental-relationship experience," it said.

One of the more surprising findings was that one in five French men aged between 18 and 24 "manifests no interest in sexuality or in a couple," while abstinence rates for men under 35 was twice as high as for women.

The two sociologists who compiled the new study said that the French had fewer sexual taboos and inhibitions than before, but were more anxious about lovemaking.

Never have sex counsellors been so busy in France: According to one estimate, they receive half a million patients per year.