HOW SEX EDUCATION IS TREATED IN INDIA?
by: AMISHA RAJPUT
According to the International Institute of Population Science database, 45% of women in India marry before 18 years of age and 22% of them give birth to their first child even before they attain the legal age for marriage. With the given fact, one can understand how India hasn’t overcome the sexual taboos yet and is still lagging when it comes to sexual awareness.
In India, talking about sex or even saying “sex” is considered inappropriate. In many Indian households, women can’t even say “menstruation” or “pregnancy” as that will also be termed as inappropriate. From buying sanitary napkins in a black polythene bag to “not talking about male-sexual abuse”, most of the adolescents grow up. No one talks about the advantages of contraceptive devices, therefore, modern contraceptive usage is as low as 12% in Delhi and 2% in Bihar. That’s how most of the teenage girls end up being pregnant. In addition to that, the data says that the rising cases of HIV/AIDS with the adolescent or young population comprises 36% of the total AIDS burden.
DEFINITION AND LAW:
Sexual education refers to the curriculum program which has an awareness program about sexual health, human sexuality, sexual reproductions, reproductive health, menstrual hygiene, consent, reproductive rights, sexual abstinence, and contraception.
In 2005, the Central Board of Secondary Education issued a circular, introducing a program called, “The Adolescence Reproductive and Sexual Health Education” project. Later on, 12 Indian state governments banned this program in their respective states by calling it “inappropriate”.
HOW “NOT-TALKING-ABOUT-SEX” IS AFFECTING OUR YOUNGSTERS?
BULLYING: Sex education doesn’t only talk about sexual health, it also talks about sexual abuse, sexuality, and gender indifference. Moreover, every day, children are getting bullied because of how their body looks or what is their sexuality.
RISE IN SEXUAL ABUSE: Sexual abuse graph is not decreasing in India and not only women, but even men are also getting abused. A study conducted by the Indian Ministry of Women and Children Development, by UNICEF, revealed that 53% of children between the ages of 5 and 12 have been sexually abused. Also, the last government research in India to touch on the issue was carried out in 2007, when 53.2% of children reported having experienced some form of sexual abuse. Of those, 52.9% were boys. How sexual abuse can hamper a child mentally and physically is not unknown to anyone.
NO MENSTRUAL HYGIENE: Sex education also promotes menstruation hygiene and awareness. Menstruation is one of those topics which is still not talked about openly. According to National Family Health Per Survey, 62% of young women, in between the age-group of 15 to 24 years still use cloth for menstrual protection.
RISE IN STIs: STI, short for Sexual Transmitted Infections. Contraception is used rarely by anyone, whether it is before or after marriage. Due to the lack of awareness, this leads to a rise in STI or the cases of HIV/AIDS in the adolescent population. Unwanted pregnancies also occur. Because of the lack of availability of safe abortion or the social stigma, either the teenager needs to give birth to the child or often, suicide is also seen.
WHY INDIAN PARENTS DON’T FEEL COMFORTABLE TO TALK ABOUT “SEX”?
In India, having an active sex life before marriage is considered a “haww” moment and it is not only limited to this. Parents talking about sex comfortably is also one of the “haww” moment in our Indian society. Indian parents never talk about sex to their children until one day when they arrange the marriage and decorate the room so their children can have sex. I mean, funny, right.
The reason behind why they don’t feel comfortable is because, for most of their lives, parents don’t look at their children as sexual beings. Like, the thought of their child having an active sex life, never cross their mind. The lack of getting a sex talk from parents affects adolescents in many ways. Because of the lack of conversation about sex, boys are getting more raged and incidents like “boys locker room” occur. Parents need to talk about sex to their children so that the children can understand how normal it is. It is nothing other than a basic need.
When one educate their child about the sexual organs of respective genders or aware of the homosexuals, transgenders, the cases of bullying and the eve-teasing declines. Most of the time, the habit of ‘not talking’ builds curiosity and turns them into the abusers. I think parents are unable to see the fact that what “not taking” can do to their children.
Also, parents have pressurized themselves under the social norms that they are not ready to make a change in their lives. But, they also need to understand that the change will start from them. When they will aware of their child about sex, sexual abuse, homosexuality, only then, the change will start and it will help in decreasing the rape cases. Respecting each other sexual identity is as important as breathing. So, to all the parents who are reading this: initiate the conversation. Talk and listen. Only then, the real change will begin.
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