Lesbian encounters among British women quadruple, according to national survey

The number of British women having lesbian encounters has quadrupled in the last 20 years, according to the largest-ever survey of Britain’s sexual habits.

The National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles, which quizzed more than 15,000 Britons about their sex lives, found that nearly 8% of women had been with female partners, compared with just 1.8% in 1990. In contrast, the number of men having gay sex has remained more stable over the same period, and now stands at 4.8% according to the findings published in the Lancet medical journal.

Professor Kaye Wellings of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, which co-ran the study, said there had been a “remarkable” change in women’s sexual behaviour since the first survey two decades ago.