Young people participate in a sexuality education session run by the YP Foundation. Credit: Smita Sharma for IWHC via Flickr.
For every fifteen minutes, a woman is being raped in India. We have come a long way after the 2012 incident of Nirbhaya, who was gang-raped in a moving bus in Delhi.
It is 2021, yet nothing has changed; women are still being abused; girl children are getting violated; marital rapes are increasing; menstruation remains a hushed topic for all these years.
Have you ever wondered that these misfortunes often happen because of the lack of sex education in Indian schools and maybe proper knowledge on the subject would prevent some of the tragedies in the future?
Sex education remains one of the most controversial topics in India because many people believe that exposing sex to teenagers might cause some unnecessary troubles.
Indian families pretend to ignore or hesitate in initiating the conversations about the menstrual cycle, sex, or sexual hygiene. Sudden silence among the family members when a romantic encounter or a sanitary napkin ad played on the television, is the best example we could quote which explains the situation.
Because of these preconceptions, children assume that sex is something dirty and they are even afraid to discuss proper hygienic methods. Most female children do not know what happens to their bodies when they undergo menstruation.
They are forced to think that they are tainted whereas the whole process of menstruation is vital for the survival of the human race continuation.
So, what is sex education?
Sexuality Education is a comprehensive program with the objectives of teaching and learning appropriate and adequate information about one’s identity, intimacy, relationships, and sexual hygiene to adolescent kids.
It also aims to increase their awareness about their own body and as well as their opposite gender. Sex Education can also be defined as a curriculum that provides knowledge about sexuality, contraception, and covering topics like gender identity, consent, and awareness about sexual abuse as well.
The Importance of Sex Education in Schools of India:
Sexuality Education is a comprehensive program with the objectives of teaching and learning appropriate and adequate information about one’s identity, intimacy, relationships, and sexual hygiene to adolescent kids.
It also aims to increase their awareness about their own body and as well as their opposite gender. Sex Education can also be defined as a curriculum that provides knowledge about sexuality, contraception, and covering topics like gender identity, consent, and awareness about sexual abuse as well.
Implementation of Adolescence Education Program in Schools of India:
Adolescence Education Program (AEP) was initiated by the Government of India in 1993 and it was again included in the National Curriculum Framework in 2005. But because of the non-consensus from the state governments, the implementation never happened. Most of the state governments banned the program saying that it is ‘inappropriate’ and increases risky sexual behaviors among teens.
The Prime minister of India, Narendra Modi rolled out a new AEP in 2007, in collaboration with National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) and United Nations Children’s Fund.
The program included topics such as gender and sexuality, Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), physical characteristics, violence and abuse, and sexual health. Still, the program failed to introduce the subject of ‘consent’ and ‘attraction’, which acts as the important factors of sexual abuse.
Message from Bliss Naturals:
A comprehensive Sexuality Education can help in preventing AIDS and other STIs by incorporating healthy sexual habits. The program can educate girls on how to prevent unwanted pregnancies and warn boys on gender equality and consent in our male-controlled society.
Government should use this COVID pandemic time as an advantage to introduce these concepts via online and social media. Private schools should take a step in training their teachers and form a group of parents, students, and educators to decide on the curriculum for this sexuality program.
The Tamil Nadu State Government introduced the ‘Free Sanitary Napkins Scheme for the government school girls’ in December 2020. However, as the schools are now closed due to the pandemic the girl children in rural areas are deprived of this opportunity.
We urge the government, NGOs, and other social organizations to help these girls in the time of this lockdown and despair.
We Bliss Naturals, along with rotary clubs initiates a fund-raising campaign called ‘Varam’ and managed to provide more than 75,000 free herbal Bliss Pads to the underprivileged women, female migrant workers, and sanitary workers.
The Adolescent education program is the best way to sensitize younger kids and pave way for a safer and blissful environment for women and children.
