Out of all the hush-hush topics that exist on the taboo list of the common Indian society, sex education occupies one of the top positions. Myths, misconceptions, folklores, and restrictive beliefs currently dominate the sexual and reproductive health education for most adolescents in India. One might believe that being from the land of the Kama Sutra, the Indian population would be more open to the bare minimum that is required for leading a hygienic intimate health. To nobody’s surprise, the reality is starkly contrasting, and it refuses to change even at the expense of the country’s well-being and economy.
Comprehensive and credible sexual and reproductive education is a distant dream for teenagers in India. When it comes to navigating puberty, the most readily available resources for teenagers are their biology textbooks or the place of impending doom, the internet. However, in rural and urban areas alike, a lot of this information is heavily supplemented and influenced by myths and misconceptions that are being passed down from generations.
What most people don’t realise is that this lack of resources and information doesn’t just impact critically important albeit common things like modern contraception and menstrual hygiene practices but also the child’s understanding of topics like gender, sexuality, exploitation, gender sensitivity, consent, and laws around safety. A lack of necessary education like this also impacts overall health in later stages of life. Problems like cervical cancer and clinical depression might be a direct impact of not receiving such adequate and credible information in the early stages of life.
A study found that 27% of women in India are married before the age of 18, and only 10% of these adolescent women use modern contraceptive methods. Most of these women have experienced the process of childbearing, even multiple times, without any knowledge or awareness about how it might impact their bodies and health. Difficulties arising from early pregnancy is one of the most common causes of death in adolescent girls. These difficulties can also show up in later stages of life in the form of life-threatening complications and diseases. Sadly, people still underestimate how being equipped with credible knowledge about one’s own body at the right time can be essential.
Sexual and reproductive education manifests itself in the bigger picture by making the upcoming generation more sensitive to gender and sexuality. Modern sex educarion looks beyond the basic information dissemination of contraceptive methods and hygienic menstrual practices. Educating kids about gender sensitisation and consent might steadily help them unlearn years of patriarchal views and learn fresh inclusive information through which they can build their own understanding and opinions. This has the potential of creating safe spaces for oppressed genders and allows kids to learn more about their bodies and themselves.
Much deliberation and discussion can be done on the effects of sexual and reproductive education but the only way it’ll impact its target receivers in a country like India is through the involvement of the government. Currently, sex education in India hasn’t seen much success; with few state governments banning it, to the central government releasing a basic and restrictive curriculum, we are still hanging around at level 1.
Whenever the government has tried to release a workbook or a manual regarding sex education, it has more often than not faced backlash over some or the other section of the publication. Ironically those manuals are never about real and useful sex education but more about gender-focused life skills, hygiene practices, and puberty changes. If the backlash over such basic handbooks is so critical, India might still take years to develop a mindset that’ll be open to the idea of modern sex education.
While comprehensive and modern sex education might sound like a far off dream, various NGOs and independent organisation have been working towards making it a reality. Through independent curriculums, teacher training programs, and in-school workshops, these organisations are witnessing steady success in their engagement with schools and parents. Sadly, a lot of these organisations are restricted to urban areas, making the entire project a privileged enterprise. Although, organisations that focus on spreading awareness in the rural areas are slowly but steadily coming up.
The stigma around sexual and reproductive health is one of the biggest social issues faced by India. It is not just the nature of this issue that makes it critical but the fact that it is still going to take us years as a society to unlearn the past prejudices and restrictive mindsets, and then even more time for it to reflect in our policy frameworks and laws. This is an extremely crucial agenda that we, as a country, need to tackle because of the multitude of rights and issues it impacts. Considering the entrenched and dominant nature of the stigma around sex and sex education, it will take a lot of time and effort for policies and laws to bring about a change. Public opinion impacts how policies play out in the real world, and hence if a more progressive and open-minded mindset is not cultivated, the policy, no matter how strong it is, will fail. Such problems need to be addressed at the grassroot level for issues that are new and progressive for society. A comprehensive and credible sexual and reproductive health curriculum is probably the best bet for India in the current scenario.
Ananya is studying Philosophy with a minor in Political Science at Lady Shri Ram College for Women. She is passionate about Public Policy and International Development and enjoys indulging in good food and books in her leisure time.